My six 10 week olds appear to be molting!!! theres snow coming up here in colorado...... I keep finding down and primaries in the coop... please help!
Young chickens do lose some feathers as they grow. Are there lots of feathers or just some now and then?
there are at least 7 primaries every time I go in, and when my girls flap a bit of down comes off, sometimes a primary.
My 16 week old is losing quite a bit too, so it may be a slow molt. Now, if it looks like somebody tore up a feather pillow in your coop overnight when you go out there each morning, that's a hard molt. I've always heard that chickens wouldn't molt until their first Fall as an adult. That may be the general rule of thumb, but I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions....
My three ladies are 14 weeks now. They've been molting on and off for the last two months and are currently doing it again. I can't remember where I read it, but there was a post that said chickens will go through regular mini molts as they grow; I beleive at 10, 14 and 20 weeks. It's just part of them growing up and getting full adult feathers in. I feel you regarding the weather; I'm down in Col. Springs and its been getting pritty chilly at night. Best I could tell you is that with my girls they never lost a large number of feathers (no pillow explosion) but they have been loosing their primaries a lot and some fuzzy feathers. I clipped the primaries on one wing at ten weeks to help keep them in the yard and as of yesterday they had all regrown all but two or three of the primaries. So, as long as you don't see them going bald somewhere you should be fine.
Quote:Don't worry, mine are molting too. I live in Oregon, and snow will be coming our way also. It seems like they always molt during this time of year. When I first started with chickens several years ago, I was worried to death. But no more, they'll be fine. They're heartier than you think.
