Moulting. Help

[Rebecca dean]

Right I have sort of new to owning Pekin bantams. I rescused a lavender bantam she was roughly around 6 months when I rescued her she was laying eggs then stopped in the October and started to moult then stopped moulting then started again in November for a few days then stopped then has just started again. My main concern is that is is normal for a chicken to moult this much. She has lost a little weight. I have checked her for mites she is clean and I use Verm x for worming. Poo is normal she is her normal healthy self with a nice red face and wattle. They have healthy diet and are free range in my garden. She has a friend which is a little bobtail and she's not laid or moulted yet as she is only young still. Few pictures of my girls.

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

Beautiful ladies! Also, welcome to BYC!

 

[Jetblack2004]

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on molting, but

And good luck with you chickens!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Happyto have you join the family. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

While its not healthy for them to do so, some birds will molt completely and then mini molt again. Some will even molt completely twice. It is hard on them, molting requires a ton of protein to reproduce feathers. I have an old hen doing this right now as well.

The best advice I can give you is to supplement the diet with extra vitamins and minerals, as well as add some cooked ground turkey or beef to the diet. A handful of meat every other day will help greatly with protien needs and calories.

I have also found that many birds go off their feed during heavy molts. Alfalfa leaves seem to be readily eaten by chickens however, and due to their high protein, mineral and calorie content, it makes a wonderful diet for molters that turn up their beaks at layer feed during a molt. I free feed it during molting season.

Good luck and welcome to our community!

 

[N F C]

Looks like some good advice from TwoCrows (as usual!) so I'll just say hello and thanks for joining us!

 

[Rebecca dean]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

While its not healthy for them to do so, some birds will molt completely and then mini molt again. Some will even molt completely twice. It is hard on them, molting requires a ton of protein to reproduce feathers. I have an old hen doing this right now as well.

The best advice I can give you is to supplement the diet with extra vitamins and minerals, as well as add some cooked ground turkey or beef to the diet. A handful of meat every other day will help greatly with protien needs and calories.

I have also found that many birds go off their feed during heavy molts. Alfalfa leaves seem to be readily eaten by chickens however, and due to their high protein, mineral and calorie content, it makes a wonderful diet for molters that turn up their beaks at layer feed during a molt. I free feed it during molting season.

Good luck and welcome to our community!

My girls are really fussy they are on layers and have got apple cider vinegar tonic in their water they love a treat of meal worms. But if I give them anything else and leave it out before putting there food out they will wait.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Good information from TwoCrows.

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[drumstick diva]

Two Crows has given you excellent advice, so I will just say Welcome to Backyard chickens