Peculiar Molting question

[cjpines]

Hi all, my hen is having her first molt pretty bad, but seems her feathers on her neck are coming in.

The question is her behavior during this period. She periodically walks backwards and shakes her head, then goes about her day doing this quite often. She's eating and drinking well.

Has anyone had this problem with molting? Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi all, my hen is having her first molt pretty bad, but seems her feathers on her neck are coming in.

The question is her behavior during this period. She periodically walks backwards and shakes her head, then goes about her day doing this quite often. She's eating and drinking well.

Has anyone had this problem with molting? Any suggestions? Thank you.

Do you have a video of that?
Walking backwards, especially in chicks, is a neurological symptoms from a few things like Vitamin E deficiency, head injury and disease like Marek's.

Molting is stressful on birds, they don't feel well and can act a bit off. I would increase her protein and offer her poultry vitamins that have Vitamin E.

You may also want to check her over for lice/mites while your at it, look in her ears for any signs of bugs or infection and make sure her crop is empty in the mornings before eating/drinking.

 

[cjpines]

Thank you, no video. I'll check on the things you mentioned.

 

[aart]

Growing new feathers can be irritating..she's probably just trying to get away from those tings growing on her neck.

 

[cjpines]

I was thinking the same thing, let's hope so.