Silkie molting

[Verbon30]

How long does it take for silkie to molt and start laying eggs again. can you help spread it up?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Best way to reduce time spent molting is good nutrition... before, during, and after.

Feathers are made from 90% protein and it's amino acids. I prefer Purina flock raiser 20% protein with oyster shell offered on the side for active layers. It's important not to reduce nutrients with low quality snacks such as corn or scratch.

Since switching away from "layer" feed (often 16% protein) my birds seem to have less hard molts and recover more quickly.

But it is partly genetic.

My Silkies would do mini molts after sitting on a clutch, and usually returned to lay on a regular schedule once booting the babes.

It would be odd for a bird to be molting in Florida right now. But they don't seem to get the manual of what they should or shouldn't do!

Are you sure it's molt and not parasites or bullying? Are you able to post pics? FWIW, broken or plucked feathers may not grow back in until a bird does molt.

Oh ya... I bred Silkies for several years and they can have higher nutrient requirements (per my hatching results). Offering a supplement such as Poultry Cell would be great. Or Poultry Nutri Drench... during times of increased stress such as molt, noting no supplement should be given more than 10 days in a row.

Molt is heavily effected by nutrition and lighting. Many factories will reduce one or both to force all their birds to molt at the same time.

Best wishes!

 

[Verbon30]

Best way to reduce time spent molting is good nutrition... before, during, and after.

Feathers are made from 90% protein and it's amino acids. I prefer Purina flock raiser 20% protein with oyster shell offered on the side for active layers. It's important not to reduce nutrients with low quality snacks such as corn or scratch.

Since switching away from "layer" feed (often 16% protein) my birds seem to have less hard molts and recover more quickly.

But it is partly genetic.

My Silkies would do mini molts after sitting on a clutch, and usually returned to lay on a regular schedule once booting the babes.

It would be odd for a bird to be molting in Florida right now. But they don't seem to get the manual of what they should or shouldn't do!

Are you sure it's molt and not parasites or bullying? Are you able to post pics? FWIW, broken or plucked feathers may not grow back in until a bird does molt.

Oh ya... I bred Silkies for several years and they can have higher nutrient requirements (per my hatching results). Offering a supplement such as Poultry Cell would be great. Or Poultry Nutri Drench... during times of increased stress such as molt, noting no supplement should be given more than 10 days in a row.

Molt is heavily effected by nutrition and lighting. Many factories will reduce one or both to force all their birds to molt at the same time.

Best wishes!

Mine are not molding right now but I know that most breeds will start in a month or 2. I'm raising silkie chicks extra money. I was wanting to know how long that it would be that I would not getting eggs to hatch.

 

[NNYchick]

My silkies have never gone into full molt just a little at a time. I know they are molting because i have a lot of loose feathers in the coop and yard and pin feathers. I feed feather fixer all the time and mash with chick starter or all flock. I recently bought a feed supplement called missing link it’s for dogs but I’m using a small sprinkle on top of their morning mash once or twice a a week.

As far as laying mine start laying about 7-8 months old then go broody about every other month break or raise chicks then lay for 2 weeks then go broody again. I count myself lucky if I get 10 eggs a every other month from one of the hen.