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.