moulting, or something else?

[billmac]

My hens (rhode island reds) were born last April. Recently they have begun to look ragged, like their feathers are thinning out. I'm getting 8-10 eggs/day from 13 hens. One hen has a large bare spot on her breast. None of the others are that bad, but as I said, they look ragged. Isn't a bit early for their first moult? Could this be something else?

 

[KOTurkeyRanch]

Check for mites or lice

 

[dawg53]

Yes, it sounds like they are in moult to me, they are almost a year old so it's that time of the year. I agree that they should be checked for lice/mites, just in case.

 

[billmac]

How do I check them? Are these pests easily visible?

 

[dawg53]

Feather lice are white,very tiny and you can see them moving in the chickens' feathers. Mites are dark colored and usually stick around the base of the feathers, mostly can be seen around the vent area. Also check your chicken house at night,around a nest,in corners etc... if you see them crawling around you know you have a problem. Type in "lice/mites" in the search space and you'll find a wealth of info about them.

 

[Mrs.Puff]

Bird lice are usually amber/light brown colored, and you can easily see them crawling around the vent. I don't think they are likely moulting. Feathers do get older and raggedy after a while. Good layers have ugly feathers sometimes. They're putting their energy into the eggs, not their feathers. Do you have a roo? He'll get the feathers all ugly looking. Is the one without the feathers on the breast getting broody maybe?

Are there feathers laying all around the coop? If not, they could be pulling out each other's feathers and eating them due to a need for more protein.

 

[musson]

I have two chickens that were born last April that have gone through a "mini molt", which according to some others on this forum is normal. One is a Brown leghorn and the other is a RIR (she is molting now).

Caught me by surprise as I thought they wouldn't molt until 18 months.