Still molting?

[Happy Chooks]

Well, it is a Christmas miracle!  After 4 long months she finally laid today!!! I can't believe it.  I will savor that egg for sure!  Thanks for all the comments

Yay!

 

[debid]

Sounds like a slow molter. Fast molters loose big patches of feathers and can get pretty plucked looking, slow molters loose a few at a time and can take months. Most are in between. Glad to hear she isn't taking the winter off, too!

 

[Cheyenne2929]

I think I'm experiencing the same...  I have 2 hens that are around 2 1/2 years old.   Starting a molt at the end of summer....  Stopped laying.... and are still not laying... What puzzles me is that they won't leave the coop anymore...  I just don't know what to do.

Same here as well. They did not do this last year, but their moult before winter last year was very light. and they laid through the winter, maybe decreased but still getting eggs daily from our 4 girls. My hubby is quite worried about our girls not laying. I am tired of those icky white storeboght eggs!!! (ours are brown egg layers, and that is what we are used to seeing) lol

 

[debid]

Same here as well. They did not do this last year, but their moult before winter last year was very light. and they laid through the winter, maybe decreased but still getting eggs daily from our 4 girls. My hubby is quite worried about our girls not laying. I am tired of those icky white storeboght eggs!!! (ours are brown egg layers, and that is what we are used to seeing) lol

Yes, well that is the difference between a pullet and a hen. If you give them supplemental light, they'll come back into lay sooner. Last year, I installed the light around Thanksgiving when I realized they may wait until spring. It took a couple weeks but there were eggs a-plenty by Christmas. This year, I added light as soon as the days were shorter than 14 hours and I keep adjusting it to keep them between 13 and 14. All but one has already restarted, they lay regularly, and the last to get going was also the last to start molting. Big, big difference!

 

[nipper75]

I'm starting to get worried b/c I have 9 standard size hens, 4 of which are 2 1/2 years old and the rest are about 6 months old, not laying.... I'm gonna to chalk it up to the light situation.... I guess

 

[mbcmama]

I'm having the same situation sorta. I have three that started laying last may regularly with three eggs a day. In august we got three 12 week old babies. The big girls stopped laying all together and two went thru a lite molt and didn't lose too many feathers, but one just now in the past week has lost a ton. One of the big girls started laying about a month ago with only one egg about every four days and the other two are STILL not laying. The babies have not started yet either. It's been since August and we haven't had enough eggs even for one omelet! With five chickens (1 the neighbors dog got thru our fence...) you would think we would have enough eggs for our family, but right now they are just more mouths to feed! Grrrrr. Now it's getting down in the 40's and the days are short. Are we really gonna be without eggs until spring????

 

[LisaLouHoo]

I have a question and decided this was a good place to ask. I have a couple Silver-Laced Wyandottes and a couple Buff Orpingtons that were born March 2012, so they are about 20 months old and went through their first molt. Or still going through it. Before they molted they each laid a light brown/beige colored egg. One of them has started laying again and the egg is dark brown. Not chocolate, but a much darker color than BEFORE the molt. It has to be one of these breeds. Is this possible?? I have some other chickens that are laying and it's not possible for them either. Has anyone heard that the egg color can change after a molt?

 

[debid]

I have a question and decided this was a good place to ask. I have a couple Silver-Laced Wyandottes and a couple Buff Orpingtons that were born March 2012, so they are about 20 months old and went through their first molt. Or still going through it. Before they molted they each laid a light brown/beige colored egg. One of them has started laying again and the egg is dark brown. Not chocolate, but a much darker color than BEFORE the molt. It has to be one of these breeds. Is this possible?? I have some other chickens that are laying and it's not possible for them either. Has anyone heard that the egg color can change after a molt?

Brown eggs are often darker after a molt but it's temporary. The color will lighten through the laying cycle.