Second molt?

[ShelleyN]

My SLW appears to be having a second molt. Of my three, she suffered the most with a molt in November, and my BPR didn't molt at all. Anyone heard of this?

 

[ADozenGirlz]

How old is she? Chickens go through several molts during their first year of life. I wrote this blog post about molting that discusses when and how you can help them get through it.

 

[ShelleyN]

She'll be a year on Friday!

 

[debid]

Molting again or still molting? What happened in November that clued you in that she was molting and what is happening now? I think it's important to rule out parasites when you're dealing with feather loss that doesn't seem to make sense.

 

[ShelleyN]

We knew she was molting in November when she got a naked neck and we saw her feathers all over everywhere. She took it hard, but with TLC, feathers grew back and she started laying again. I noticed feathers in the coop last week and sticking out of her at odd angles and her acting a little grouchy again and I don't think she's laying this week. What's the best way to check for parasites? If one has them, won't all?

I just checked her over and she has pin feathers all over her chest and underwings. Her cycle is all confused I think.

 

[Kickin' Chickin']

Perhaps the girls are taking advantage of a particularly mild winter.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I have a hen that molted her entire body, grew it back in, then molted all of her hackle feathers. Sometimes they molt in stages. Mine hasn't started laying again yet though. (although she's close now, her comb is getting bright red again)

 

[debid]

Yep, I'd guess that she's still molting and just taking her sweet time. I noticed that my 9-month EEs molted over the winter also but they didn't stop laying during the process or lose enough feathers in any one location to be noticed... other than Gertie taking a week off when she dropped her entire tail at once (she got right back to it as soon as the new feathers started to open). Maybe your girl is only stopping when she's particularly taxed by regrowth?