My welsummer is moulting??

kycklingmamma

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I have 5 hens all about the same age, I don't know for sure but about 12-15 months old. One of my welsummers looks like she was put into the dryer, about 50% of her feathers are gone, even tail feathers and when I looked at her yesterday all of them are coming in again in new follicles. Is this a moult? Can I help her in any way? She looks horrible, but understand that it is pretty normal for that to be the case when a moult is present...isn't she pretty early? None of the other ones look as bad or bad at all, I don't even think they have started their moult yet.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Kycklingmamma
 
It's not typical for a moult this time of year but i actually have a few chickens in a molt now. So not completely uncommon.
Black oil sunflower and dry cat food as a little supplement to give them extra protein seems to speed up feather growth.
 
I did go ahead and made them some scrambled eggs and veggie mix, so she could get some extra protein in her. If I were to go out and get sunflower seeds, raw or roasted? It is easier to find roasted at the grocery store and that is were I am heading..
Any dry cat food?
 
She has been looking a little frazzled this past couple of days, I thought it was the 107+ heat that we have had, but yesterday afternoon, oh my --- she looked horrible all of a sudden. Since I checked her over and there are tons of new follicle growth coming in, I am ruling out anything other then a molt..
Thanks for all of your responses..
 
Just by the cheapest cat food they got, your not going for fewer furr balls, less smelly poo or pretty fur
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When I first started feeding dry cat food I mixed with water first and let it get soft, they wouldn't eat it dry at first but once they knew what it was they always eat it up.
 
Now that you mentioned the heat we had a week of 100+ weather and shortly after I noticed mine molt, that is probably the stress point.
 
Just by the cheapest cat food they got, your not going for fewer furr balls, less smelly poo or pretty fur

Funny, I needed that laugh, thanks.

Alright I will let my cat share her food for know, and then I go out and get cheap stuff later today..how much, in a bowl free serve kind of style or keep an eye on how much they are eating? She is in there with 4 other 15-18 mo olds as well as seven 20 week olds and three 20 week old roos. Should I just let her eat it, which will get complicated, or is it OK for al of them to have som cat food treats? So far she is the only on that is looking so frazzled​
 
It's fine for them all, the cat food helps the feather growth as cat food is 30% protien, that's why folks feed it during the molt, so the extra protien in moderation doesn't hurt any of them.

I would just start with a couple handfuls, I just throw mine around in the run so they all get some. Mine like it so much that if I were to put in there trough or a bowl the hens higher on the pecking order would guard the bowl and not let the lower ranking birds have any.

It's said that chickens don't have much in the way of a sense for taste but there is something about cat food they love.
 

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