What does a moult look like?

[Scrambled Egg]

hehehehehe nothing like seeing a bunch of naked chickens one morning. hehehe

ROTFLMBO!!! No kidding!!! I have one that has been ragged looking for months, poor thing, looks like shes' wearing an old chenille bathrobe that is pilled all up and has holes in it!! She has been in molt for about 3 months at least, a Rhode Island Red and the feathers growing back are still small so they are sort of pale orange colored next to the places she has those dark auburn red feathers...she looks a fright for sure!! And lately my pen is full of Barred Rock feathers...I had hoped they would molt in warm weather but seems their timing is off a bit so they may need parkas this winter if they are in a hard molt now! Crazy chickens!!​

 

[onecent]

oh my goodness!! i went out to the run, the other morning, and what a sight i saw!

my 2 cornish mix hens looked like some one dunked them in a scaulder & pulled all their feathers out!! they looked like 2 T-rex's out there running around

i sure hope they get back to "normal "real soon!!!

 

[rooster-red]

What does moult look like?


Imagine stuffing a chicken in a blender with rubber blades and then turning it on and running through all the settings...

 

[Cetawin]

shall repeat...for those wanting to see what a molt looks like...

ahem

I believe it was Speckledhen that said there is an unwritten law that says we cannot photograph our girls when they are molting.

 

[warren]

This is what my hen looked like for a few weeks before she started moulting properly.

Next she lost a few primary wing feathers which grew back, then she started losing her neck feathers a few at a time.
Then her head became covered with little spikes which slowly opened up into feathers.
The neck feathers started to get replaced next. She is now losing body feathers, but not enough to look very different.
I will take pictures soon, but last time I tried the batteries gave out so I did not manage to get any.

 

[Mark]

We have 16 free ranging hens. We are starting to notice a lot of feathers in the hen house and a few big tail feathers out in the yard. The daily egg collection has dropped from 10 a day (that we would find) to 3 or 4.

We haven't noticed any difference in the girls, though. They look fine.

I was thinking we had 'moulting' going on, but perhaps something else is taking place.

 

[miron28]

does anyone else have any pic's

 

[ginbart]

May I ask, how long does it last/

 

[chickiebaby]

dunno - I think taking pics of girls molting is kinda like those gangsters taking pics of poor Britney Spears having a nervous breakdown in a gas station bathroom. Kinda unfair.

 

[rooster-red]

I've seen it go as fast as 2 weeks or as long as 3 months, can be anywhere in between.