One of my girls is going bald!

[10 pollos]

I have 8 chickens that are about 2 years old, they are all great but last week I noticed tons of feathers all over the place,
she is losing her feathers on her but and her neck. She looks terrible! Its only one chicken so I dont think its due to lack of vitamins or protien.
what do I do?

 

[Imp]

She is probably just molting, getting to that time of the year. Can you post a picture? If it is, it is nothing to worry about, completely normal. She will regrow new feathers. You might want to increase the protein, as it takes a lot out of the bird to regrow feathers.

Check for parasites lice or mites, but it does sound like molt.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

Imp

 

[midget_farms]

This is the time of year they molt.

I have a coulple molting now myself.

 

[10 pollos]

Do they go completely bald?

 

[Imp]

Quote:
No, but sometimes they can look pretty bad for a while.
I've never had any have real bald patches, just lose their tail or most of their neck feathers.
There have been some pretty sad looking chicken pix posted though. Lots of bald patches.

Nice thing is the new feathers look incredibly good.

Imp

 

[chickenbottom]

ive got one molting now but they are all just about to go into the molt her name is penelope and all she has is sticks all over her lol she looks so pitiful.

 

[stevin]

all 5 of my pullets lost all their tail feathers right around the same time, that was 4 weeks ago.
since they haven't started laying yet and they are around 24 weeks old should i still expect them to lay their 1st eggs this year?
i know that molting will cause hens to stop laying for awhile, but what if it happens to pullets that haven't laid yet?
also, the new tail feathers that are growing in look awesome!!! and now 2 of my 24week old roosters have bald necks......

 

[Yazzo]

If she has a few feathers that, as you say, look really good, then she's molting. They can look pretty scruffy when they molt, but she'll have a shiny new coat of feathers in no time.

 

[texasgal]

This should make you feel better

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=394556&p=1