Molting

[Fields Mountain Farm]

View attachment 1473865

Oh my goodness.. they just look so funny at that point..

 

[Jersey Born And Bred]

I'm new to chickens, and the book that came with them said they'll molt from the neck and then work back. Mine seem to have started near their tails. Are they molting, or is this something else? They're RIRs crossed with white rocks, if that makes any difference. Other than the feathers being a little thinner near their tails, they don't look like they've lost much at all in way of feathers, though I am finding more in their pen every day.

Also, it's fall now, and I'm worried that if they don't fully molt soon they'll end up molting when its really cold out. They don't have artificial light or heat in their coop, so that isn't delaying them. They are outside most of the day, though I always have the coop open so they can go in if they want.

 

[aart]

I'm new to chickens, and the book that came with them said they'll molt from the neck and then work back. Mine seem to have started near their tails.

They don't read the books
Actually molting can happen in many different ways and durations.
Some go fast and hard, like my pic above, some go slow and easy.
Nothing to worry about, and there's nothing you can do anyway.
I've had birds molt in January and they were fine.