No problem! It may get a little worse before it gets better (potentially loss of tail etc) but in the end she'll look as good or even better than before with a new batch of feathers!Thank you!! I appreciate your helpShe’s awfully scraggly looking… Poor gal! Hopefully she’ll be back to normal soon enough.
My chickens are almost a year old and today I went to the coop to collect eggs and one of my beautiful fat fluffy black hybrid has no feathers on her neck and she looks thin. I've noticed more feathers in coop but haven't been concerned until now. She is the only one out of my 10 girls who have lost their feathers. Its getting cold and freezing at night. Should I be concerned? What do I do for her/them during this time?
Depending on what you feed you can increase protein in their diet to help her re-feather. Otherwise I don't see a need to do anything. "Looking thing" would be expected as the feathers make them look much larger than they actually are... without getting weight info there's no way to know if she's actually "thin" compared to pre-feather loss. It is normal to see molting birds off feed during the worst parts of their molt.
Thank you for your reply.. They are fed 16% protein layer feed. Meely Worms for extra protein. I worried the other girls would pick on her but I sat in the coop and observed and she's kind of testy to the other girls. I hate to say I was relieved they aren't picking on her. Her appetite is still good. She's dropped her long tail feathers and has a buzzard neck. Her comb isn't as red but I assume its because her egg production has slowed a bit. Anyway, she's getting protein and even boiled eggs. Hopefully, she will regrow
I finally posted her pictures. She is skittish and I haven't picked her up because I read they are sensitive when molting so didn't want to stress her out more. I've observed her and don't see any bugs. I noticed last night her butt under her vent is bare and she's lost her pretty tail feathers.
Looks pretty normal for a molting bird. I agree she probably doesn't want to be handled at all right now, so as long as she's still eating and drinking I wouldn't worry about it. She'll feel much better once those feathers finish coming in.
Thank you. I've worried since she's the only one molting.
