I have a 1 year old hen that just started molting couple of weeks ago. She is eating and drinking, although she is definitely more standoffish then she usually is. Typically she loves attention. So question is, WHEN DO chickens go though it? is there specific time of year or can be any time? I live Midwest so no significant change in day light yet, although our temps have been in 90s now.
She's probably standoffish because she is very uncomfortable. This is not at all unusual. They molt about once a year, and it can be any time. A little extra protein should help, because they use it making new feathers. Hopefully in a month or two, she will be back to her old attention loving self. Here's an article, if you want to read more https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chickens-loosing-feathers-managing-your-flocks-molt
They don't like to be touched when they are molting. It can't be comfortable to be a pincushion. As Flockwatcher said, they can molt at any time, but typically it is in the fall when the daylight hours are getting shorter.
Good luck! I know nothing about molt either But I have awhile before my flock goes through it. I'm in Kansas so I'm also "enjoying" this heatwave, blah, my poor chickens haven't had to deal with heat very much this summer. The poor things are digging some impressive holes to get to the cool sandy dirty. Walking through the chicken run is like a minefield
If you are new to the molting process, you can check out this thread as well: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/580915/for-the-new-folks-that-havent-experienced-a-molt-yet/0_50
