Open Contest Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2025

[Lacy Duckwing]

This contest is brought to you by our BYC Sponsors
(click to view & support them)

Official BYC Contest
Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2025
Ends December 31st, 2025

Are Your Chickens Molting?
We Want Your Pics!
​

It's that time of year again when our birds start their metamorphosis into... well, okay, they don't turn into anything, but it sure is interesting to see them go through their molting process and leaving feathers all over the place!

​

For more information on your flock's annual molt, see here:

• Molting: All You Need To Know
• What Happens When Chickens Molt?
• Chickens Losing Feathers? Managing Your Flock's Molt
• Molting- Your Flock's Seasonal Shedding
• DISCUSSION: For the new folks that haven't experienced a molt yet.

How to enter
The contest is simple, post pictures of your birds in the worst part of their molt. Once we're past the molting season, our esteemed panel of judges will pick a loser... er... winner!

Prizes - At least one 3-month PFM

To increase your chances of winning, please read the rules before entering.
.
Rules:

1. An entry is up to 50 pictures of your molting chicken. Please include:
   • Name
   • Breed
2. Chickens only.
3. If you have more than one chicken to enter, do them in separate posts.
4. Must be your pictures that were taken THIS YEAR, so probably within the last few weeks and over the next few months (depending on your climate, birds, etc.).
5. Molt pictures submitted to our previous molt contests are not eligible for this contest.
6. Images that have been resized might be disqualified if they are too small to judge.
7. ALL pictures MUST be uploaded to BYC and not hosted on other image sites, personal websites, etc.
8. No screenshots, watermarks, date stamps, text, etc., on the photo. No collages.
9. The photo needs to have been taken by you.
10. You cannot use a photo that won an award in another BYC-sponsored contest.
11. High-quality images are recommended. Basic editing, such as cropping and other subtle changes, are allowed.
12. ALL photos MUST be uploaded to BYC.
13. Prizes are limited to one per person per contest.
14. All BYC rules apply: Terms and rules
15. Accepting entries through December 31st, 2025, at 11:59 pm Pacific Time

Good luck to you and your ugly... er.. molting chickens!

If entries warrant, we will have two categories, "Frizzle" and "Non-Frizzles" (on account of Frizzles having some pretty bad molting genes and winning this contest for a few years

), and the following prizes will be awarded to both categories.

​

Photography tips from fellow BYC members:

• Photography Tips from BYC's jolenesdad
• Photography Tips from BYC's mdees88
• Photography Tips from BYC's TudyBot

2024 Winners

From left to right, photos by @fowltemptress, @alinas2010, @Poultrybonkers, & @CHlCKEN

2023 Winners

From left to right, photos by @guess_what, @coach723, @fowltemptress, & @MT813

2022 Frizzle Winners

From left to right, photos by @gimmie birdies, @taprock, & @kurby22
See more pictures here.

2022 Non-Frizzle Winners

From left to right, photos by: @Poultrybonkers, @HorseGirlAbby, @Artichoke Lover, @pipdzipdnreadytogo, @Judy Chicken Mama, @Paradisewife, @cluckingheck, @OneMountainAcres, & @Miss Cheep
See more pictures here.

​

2021 Winners

From left to right: @The Moonshiner , @Naisha, @higginskzoo, @locoyosh, @SteveE, @Wildgrass, & @wolfinator
See more pictures here.

2020 Contest​

Non-Frizzle Category	Frizzle Category
@Aussie-Chookmum See more pictures here.	@Dorothy Dandurand See more pictures here.

Spoiler: Previous Molt Contests

Year	Thread
2024	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2024
2023	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2023
2022	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2022
2021	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2021
2020	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures - 2020
2019	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2019
2018	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2018
2017	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2017
2016	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2016
2015	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2015
2014	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2014
2013	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2013
2012	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2012
2011	Official BYC Contest—Post Your Best (Worst) Chicken Molt Pictures—Fall/Winter 2011

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

This is always a fun one, and sometimes painful one to watch.

 

[The Moonshiner]

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Thankfully, as far as I know, nobody has ever entered that many pictures of their chicken, and I'm sure their chickens has thanked them.

On the limit itself, there is an unsaid limit of 50 images per a post in a thread and in an article page (and most likely in a PM post, but I haven't tested that out yet). On an article, there is a secret trick around that limit so you could post more than 50 pictures on a page, but I don't know if it works for thread posts yet because I haven't tested that either. Either way, we do need to set a limit for this contest because we do permit multiple pictures to show how bad the chicken is molting, but don't want so many that even the website can't handle it.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thankfully, as far as I know, nobody has ever entered that many pictures of their chicken, and I'm sure their chickens has thanked them.

On the limit itself, there is an unsaid limit of 50 images per a post in a thread and in an article page (and most likely in a PM post, but I haven't tested that out yet). On an article, there is a secret trick around that limit so you could post more than 50 pictures on a page, but I don't know if it works for thread posts yet because I haven't tested that either. Either way, we do need to set a limit for this contest because we do permit multiple pictures to show how bad the chicken is molting, but don't want so many that even the website can't handle it.

I reported it and assigned it to @casportpony Perhaps it's 5? I was thinking it was 4. She'll know.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I reported it and assigned it to @casportpony Perhaps it's 5? I was thinking it was 4. She'll know.

I think it's correct from looking at previous years. Haven't entered myself in a few and when I did it said unlimited.
Idk just seems a bit crazy to me and ya I think 4 or 5 would be better. I know when I had poorer internet connection any posts with a ton of pics pretty much made it impossible for me to get through that thread.

 

[Debbie292d]

**Not an entry**

Carol (Burnette) started molting a year ago.






She's about 90% back to normal now. They've been on Kalmbach's Flockmaker 20% protein for a couple of years, so she's had that all along. Frizzles take forever!

 

[Debbie292d]

I think it's correct from looking at previous years. Haven't entered myself in a few and when I did it said unlimited.
Idk just seems a bit crazy to me and ya I think 4 or 5 would be better. I know when I had poorer internet connection any posts with a ton of pics pretty much made it impossible for me to get through that thread.

I just looked back now too, so whoa, 50 was there last year too. I'm not sure why anyone would need to post 50 pictures of the same bird though. For fun, I posted mine, and three was plenty to show how pretty and how ugly lol.