Topic of the Week - Managing Your Chickens' Molt

[FrostRanger]

Welp, my girls decided to make me eat my words. Even though they're only 8 months old, they are molting. Their coop looks like the aftermath of a pillow fight and Ginkgo already has some nice new tail feathers. Explains the lack of eggs, I just chalked up them not laying very much to us heading into winter, molting would explain a lot

 

[BDutch]

fall, your coop is full of feathers, and your birds are half-naked.

No. All my chickens go through a slow moult. They are not half naked and pass the baddest days quickly.

I believe that breeds / hybrids who lay an egg almost every day go through a much heavier moult than the breeds who lay 4-5 eggs a week or less.

Is there anyone out there who can confirm this?

I never had production breeds, only bantams that reduce/stop laying during moult and winter.

I give mainly organic chick feed + mixed grains + a few mealworms + free range time (2 hours a day) when its getting cold.

 

[Folly's place]

I think that selecting for a fast molt is better for egg production, might be a factor in some breeds and family lines. Fast will be messier, slow molting birds look much better, loosing only a few feathers at once.
Mary

 

[Bawkbok]

Our 8 month old pullet, a production breed, has not molted yet, not one feather lost.......still waiting for the first egg too.
The 6 month old buff orpington seems to molt, feathers all over, then stops for a week or two, then feathers all over again, then stops, repeat process for a couple of months now. I guess this is what is called a slow molt? She always looks the same however, no bald patches anywhere.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! I have a hen that molts in December and it gets cold here and then I end up having to bring her in because she's shivering. Any advice?

 

[bobsmith2002]

Has anybody fed 30% protein gamebird feed to chickens in molting? If yes, did it speed up the process?

 

[Ponypoor]

No. All my chickens go through a slow moult. They are not half naked and pass the baddest days quickly.

I believe that breeds / hybrids who lay an egg almost every day go through a much heavier moult than the breeds who lay 4-5 eggs a week or less.

Is there anyone out there who can confirm this?

I never had production breeds, only bantams that reduce/stop laying during moult and winter.

I give mainly organic chick feed + mixed grains + a few mealworms + free range time (2 hours a day) when its getting cold.

I have had my silkies go bald. Also my barnyard mutts (sorry Misty but I have to laugh at your bare butt).

My Azure Blue (Leghorn x Auracana) seem to be going through a slow moult, none of them went bald.

This year no one has gone bald, just a slow moult for the past couple months.

All in all so far it’s been a slow moult sort of year.

 

[Thymewarrior]

View attachment 2822195

In late summer/early fall, your coop is full of feathers, and your birds are half-naked. First, if you don't know what is happening, you might panic and wonder if they have a parasite or something attacking them but that is not the case, they are just molting and it's an entirely natural process.

This week I would like to hear your thoughts and practices on managing your chickens' molt. Specifically:

- How do you tell if they are molting or infested with parasites?
- Feed supplementation - do you change their diet in any way?
- What do you do to prepare for emergencies during molting?

For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

My Wyandottes, that took a full, bloody year to start laying, decided to molt in December! It's now mid-January and they are finally fully feathered again. I give them the same feed but also grubs and black seed oil sunflower seeds for protein and fat. I refuse to provide a heat source for the dummies and I think that may have encouraged them to speed up the molt. Like a dog that stops shedding in the winter.