Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[CarolynF]

A slow gradual feather loss is pretty normal, as long as the pullets are not becoming bald. New feathers will grow in to replace the ones that fall out.
Usually pullets will go through one or two "mini" molts before they start "true" molting. I've heard at 6 months and 12 months.
True molting is in the fall (since most chicks are hatched in the spring) it is often at about 18 months.

Now that being said... I've had chickens about 12 years now, and have had only 1 chicken truly molt in the fall. And never had a pullet "mini" molt. Just a year round gradual feather loss; with an occasional bald spot.
I've speculated that the mild climate here is the reason, but others have reported the same thing in more extreme climates.

lighting can sometimes effect molting as well.

Russ

Hi Russ.... Thanks for writing this. It was something I'd heard but forgotten the timing on. With two new chicks I wanted to have an idea of what to expect.

I read something else that might be interesting to include here. Sorry I can't remember the source (swiss cheese memory). The article I read said that those hens that go thru a really heavy, fast, molt (and look like they went thru a plucker) are generally the most productive layers. They get in there, get it done, and get on with life. As compared with the ones that shed a few feathers at a time over an extended period... just piddle around at it. I don't have the experience to agree or disagree but thought it was interesting.

 

[itsren]

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Are you referring to a thatching blade? We have that - but it also tears the grass up. I don't want to tear the grass up because the girls love to eat it so much.

 

[Imp]

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Makes sense since a lot of chickens stop laying when they molt.

 

[itsren]

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Maybe I'll just tackle it with a rake. There's a large corner of my yard where the grass grew about 6" long over the winter. The girls tend to not eat over there. I mowed for the first time in months a couple of days ago and noticed there's a LOT of moss beneath where the grass was. Maybe I'll see if I can tackle it with a rake.

And yes, you are right, I'm going to have to rake out the dead moss in the front yard, even though it was killed by a chemical. I don't know - I have a feeling DH may be intending to thatch and reseed the front yard again. He usually does that every couple of years.

 

[Farns]

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They are Silver Laced Wyandottes

 

[LaughingFeather]

Comfrey has many uses. It is called "the comforter" due to its soothing properties. The root takes the itch and sting out of bug bites (including spider bites) and other skin irritations as well as tissue swelling (including sprains). You can apply a piece wet or you can dry it and grind it in a powder, then add water to make a paste. The dried leaves make good mulch or you can make a liquid fertilixer by fermenting them in water for about 2 weeks. Comfrey fertilizer is especially good for tomatos and peppers. Some people ingest the leaves for digestive issues but I have not tried consuming it myself. If you grow Comfrey in a garden you want to be sure to contain it because it grows like a week and new plants form from small root pieces. The plants get large but you can cut the leaves and they grow right back. It is almost impossible to kill it and the roots spread far and wide.

You should not take Comfrey internally. It will hurt your liver. Use it all other ways but do not eat it. The FDA has banned it for internal use.

 

[Imp]

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Maybe I'll just tackle it with a rake. There's a large corner of my yard where the grass grew about 6" long over the winter. The girls tend to not eat over there. I mowed for the first time in months a couple of days ago and noticed there's a LOT of moss beneath where the grass was. Maybe I'll see if I can tackle it with a rake.

And yes, you are right, I'm going to have to rake out the dead moss in the front yard, even though it was killed by a chemical. I don't know - I have a feeling DH may be intending to thatch and reseed the front yard again. He usually does that every couple of years.

The safest moss buster is chicken scratch. I just throw a handful in the mossiest part of my backyard and let the chickens scratch out the moss.

 

[VelvettFog]

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Carolyn - You're spot on about fast molters being better egg-layers. We can even take that one step further and select hens who not only molt fast like you described, but who also molt late in the year - later the better. These are things that can be selectively bred for.

 

[itsren]

I think this is what I tried: http://www.lillymiller.com/labels/WorryFree/LM132-02_mossAlgae.pdf

eta: you still have to mechanically remove the moss after killing it, and then do something with the bare soil otherwise the moss will just come back or will fill in with weeds.

Thank you. I'll look into it.

I know it will take work. I love to work outdoors, anyway, so that's fine. I discovered when I left my PVC chicken tractor on the lawn for a while, that it makes a GREAT cage to keep the chickens from getting to that part of the grass. The grass grew really tall and thick where the tractor was. So, now my PVC tractor is going to be used to incrementally repair and reseed small sections of the back yard. Even so - I still don't want a dangerous chemical where my girls play. Since I have a small yard, it shouldn't take too terribly long to get the entire yard looking good again.

Rent a de-thatching machine. It will pull out a lot of the moss. But it will come back quickly. I wouldn't use a de-thatching blade on your lawn mower. I had to replace my mower a few years ago after trying that. Lol! Should come with a warning that mowers are not designed for digging.

The best defense to moss is a healthy lawn. I believe that some moss killers are fairly safe- just iron. Spray the liquid on the moss and it turns black within a few seconds. Then pull it out. Hard work.

I (like you) don't use much of anything like that on my back lawn because of the chickens, cats and dog.

I have become one with the moss. ummmmmmmm

Russ

Now I'm going to have to go see what the moss killer was that he used in the front yard. I wonder if it was just iron. The moss in the front yard is black now.

 

[itsren]

The safest moss buster is chicken scratch. I just throw a handful in the mossiest part of my backyard and let the chickens scratch out the moss.

OH my GOSH! That is an AWESOME idea! I'm going out there to do that right now! Thanks!