Sick one year old hen, pale comb and feather loss, help!!

[chickienewbie88]

I have a flock of 5 hens, Golden Laced Wyandottes, and theyre just approaching one year old. Before the weather here turned bitter cold (like 6 degrees with wind chill in the negatives) about a week or so ago, my "alpha" hen- Bumble Bea- started getting a pale comb. Its not purple or blue as Ive read about.. It started turning peachy, like it was before she was mature, and now its getting grey spots? Kind of shriveled, as in not as big as the other girls' combs. Everyone else's combs in the flock look just fine. After the weather turned bitter cold, she also- like overnight- dropped 90% of the feathers on the back of her neck and head. She isnt bald though, has approx. one inch long pin feathers everywhere she has loss and i can already see baby feathers unfolding at the base of her neck. Not sure whether these two things are related but im getting concerned.. Shes starting to look like a mangy turkey and a couple of weeks ago she was my biggest, fullest feathered hen. She still eats, drinks, and acts completely normal.. Maybe a little more head shaking/feather adjusting.
Im completely at a loss and very concerned. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Alexandra33]

Sounds exactly like my girls, who are going through mini-molts as we speak.

Their combs shriveled up significantly and they lost most of the feathers around the neck, head, face, tail, and vents, though very few on the body.

Petra before her molt....


......and during her molt.

Alex before her molt,


.....and during her molt. Poor thing, she looks so ugly!

Notice the significant reduction in comb size.

-Alex

 

[chickienewbie88]

Okay, so what im seeing is typical of a mini-molt then? Thank goodness, i was SO worried!!! Ive never had chickens before and lost one a few months back to a cat (who has since been dispatched for messing with my girls) and was terrified i was going to lose another. Since its so cold here now, do you have any suggestions on how to ease the strain of the molt on their resources and help them get feathered faster? Anything would really help!
I very much appreciate the response!!!

 

[16 paws]

Okay, so what im seeing is typical of a mini-molt then? Thank goodness, i was SO worried!!! Ive never had chickens before and lost one a few months back to a cat (who has since been dispatched for messing with my girls) and was terrified i was going to lose another. Since its so cold here now, do you have any suggestions on how to ease the strain of the molt on their resources and help them get feathered faster? Anything would really help!
I very much appreciate the response!!!

I would give extra protein and boss

 

[Lady of McCamley]

x2 on molting...and BOSS...and I've had good results with Nutrena's feather fixer feed. It does seem to help them get through molts better being a bit higher in protein and nutrients for feather re-growth.

LofMc

 

[Alexandra33]

x2 on @Lady of McCamley and @16 paws. To be honest, I haven't really done anything other than let them naturally grow in those feathers.

-Alex

 

[SusanD]

That sounds like what two of my almost 1 year old chickens just got finished with (their feathers are mostly grown back in now and they are looking a lot better). Hope that (a mini molt) is what's going on with yours, and not something else