Molting

[ktdeluxe]

We live near OKC and our girls were a year old at the beginning of July, so this will be our first molting season. About when should we start a higher protein diet for them? Any advice for a newbie?

 

[Teila]

Howdy ktdeluxe

I am sharing my moult experience but it is just my experience and others may have differing opinions.

My first experience with a hard moult was interesting to say the least

I have a Bantam Langshan, Dusty. She had been dropping a few feathers here and there but so had the rest of the flock. When I left for work she looked fine, when I got home there were black feathers everywhere and my heart sank … someone has been attacked/eaten!

I raced over and found Dusty, very miserable, in the corner of the coop, picked her up to check her over and she did not seem very happy about that [first mistake]. This is what she looked like:

April 2014, her first hard moult and when she was 14 months old




My mistake was that I did not realise chickens could lose so many feathers in such a short time [7 hours] and also that they are very tender during a moult and picking them up will hurt them

Anyways, that lesson learnt, that was when I increased her protein to assist feather regrowth.

She has since been through a second hard moult:

March this year, 2 years 1 month old:





I did not change her base feed of organic coarse grain layer mix but made sure she also got some eggs (scrambled and boiled; I mashed up the boiled eggs, shell and all) beef, tuna chicken, mince and as a treat, cheese (not too much; once a week).

Some folks do not like to feed their chickens meat and I respect that; different strokes etc

I also add ACV [Apple Cider Vinegar; with Mother] to my chicken's water .... the pros and cons of ACV have and will probably continue to be a hotly debated topic and for that reason, I will not open that can of worms by saying why I use it but can do if asked.

I respect that others reading this post may have made a decision to not use ACV and hope that they can respect my decision to use it.

Dusty is my only girl so far who has experienced a hard moult. I have a two and half and a one and a half year old Bantam Cochin and neither of them have experienced a hard moult, only soft. My nearly two year old Frizzle Bantam Cochin has also never experienced a hard moult. My remaining two little gals are only 5 months old, so time will tell with them.

Egg production will definitely decrease during a moult and with Dusty, she stopped laying for 2-3 months during each hard moult.

Dusty gets a little 'off' during a moult and tends to hide out a bit and for obvious reasons, does not like to be touched and will keep away from her flock mates. She also does not like wind, probably for the same reason.

When she is like this I make sure she gets lots of love, lots of protein and is warm.

And just to show what a pretty girl she actually is and that she is not always bald

 

[ktdeluxe]

Hiya Teila:

This reply is very helpful! Poor Dusty! I hope we don't experience that with our girls. We have 3 barred rocks, 3 Rhode Islands, 4 New Hampshires and 1 Buforpington. We are looking forward to the molting season just because it is so different. And I had read not to touch them because it hurts so we will be very careful! I suppose I should look up the ACV discussions so I don't bring more comments down on your head because I ask you to explain it to me. I do know that people who are far more experienced than I do have different opinions about certain aspects of chicken raising. We are just newbies, trying to do our best. One thing we have done that I think is just so cool is that from the first egg laid (Thanksgiving Day), we have kept a daily count and are now over 2100 eggs from 11 chickens! (I could give you an exact count but it's in the other room and I am very comfortable right now! lol) We have eaten a whole bunch (more than we used to when we bought them), given them to friends and to our local church that cooks a hearty meal each day for anyone who shows up. So not a single egg has gone to waste. Haven't even dropped any. We treat them like little jewels! As indeed, they are to us. We have so enjoyed adding chickens to our little urban farm (even though we had to fence our vegetable garden in!)

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

Katie