Molting

[Happy Chooks]

They grow back in pretty quickly, 2-3 weeks. There are other reasons for feather loss, but molting is the most likely this time of year. Others are broodies, lice/mites, rooster mating.

 

[Blackshirt]

I have 8 chickens, 4 breads. One Isa is loosing all her back feathers and most of her tail feathers. It doesn't look like pecking because there is no blood or signs of that. All the chickens are hens and all about 10 months old. Could this be molting?

 

[TheTwoRoos]

Yes, older hens will molt every year. Some take a while longer to get going than the rest. I have one hen still growing in feathers right now. Sometimes they do a gradual replacement of feathers. I've seen hens lose and grow in body feathers, then lose the hackle feathers and grow new ones in, then lose tail feathers and so on - so they never truly look naked.

Not all hens molt every year. I had a hen who missed 2 years of molt.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Do you add lights? None of my birds have ever missed a molt.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

I actually think a few times we did, because this year the hen molted and we haven't been using heat lamp but I think maybe the two days it got below 0.

 

[ccat1]

Here's my question to add to this molting thread....
I have 4 copper marans (one blue) who will be 2 years old in March.
One is apparently molting, as I do notice feather loss, but my question is.....is it normal for her to sleep in the egg/nest box?
I can run her out and she will eventually jump up on the roost for the night.
I have just let her sleep in the box as I am thinking it is a molting behavior.
Should I discourage this? All 4 CM's are not laying now and I could even shut the boxes off for awhile if needed.
The blue maran has molted back in the fall, but is losing several lighter colored feathers now as well.
Thanks in advance.
ccat1

 

[Happy Chooks]

Here's my question to add to this molting thread....
I have 4 copper marans (one blue) who will be 2 years old in March.
One is apparently molting, as I do notice feather loss, but my question is.....is it normal for her to sleep in the egg/nest box?
I can run her out and she will eventually jump up on the roost for the night.
I have just let her sleep in the box as I am thinking it is a molting behavior.
Should I discourage this? All 4 CM's are not laying now and I could even shut the boxes off for awhile if needed.
The blue maran has molted back in the fall, but is losing several lighter colored feathers now as well.
Thanks in advance.
ccat1

Several possibilities:
She could be molting her wing feathers and not able to make it to the roost.
She could be looking for warmth in the nest box.
Others could be picking on her.

They do tend to be withdrawn and just want to be left alone when they are molting. Some birds will molt in stages. My welsummers molted their bodies back in the fall. Now they are replacing their hackle feathers.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

When chickens molt, they get very unfriendly. Some of my chickens become shy and won't go up at night, so I must force them. Some become scared, while some become more defensive and defiantly more aggressive.

If she was high in the pecking order and got shoved down, she could be sulking.

 

[micstrachan]

My Plymouth Barred Rock is not quite a year old yet and is molting. Is there any reason for me to be concerned her first molt is early? One of her flock mates is also taking a break from laying (and having a mini molt herself), while another flock mate is ramping her laying up to full speed. They are all the same age, but different breeds. Is it normal and healthy to have this much variation? Thanks!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It has been an odd molting year. I have been reading about a lot of younger birds molting. For me it was a long molting season with hens still at it in December. Not sure what is causing it. Some hens will go through a neck molt in early spring, but it's unusual for them to have a full bodied molt this time of year.