What does a moult look like?

[ibpboo]

Poof Face half way through her molt. Took about a month.

 

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Boy, I sure would love to see more pictures too. My girls are only 23 weeks. I thought they moulted this summer with lots if feathers everywhere, but they were never naked. Then we took our kids to the pumkin patch. They had a huge barn type building full of chickens that I thought at first were naked necks that I have only heard about. I was told by a friend (that went on a tour) that the farmer said they were mounting as well as getting pecked at too. This building had open chicken wired windows and an exhaust fan at the peak, but the stench from the building was horrendous. All these naked things came up as I was at the window for a close look. The feeders were empty, the floor of poop was a mile high, etc. My heart sank for these birds thinkng they were plucking each others feathers out. Could it be a moult? Or to many birds in one space? There weren't any visable wounds.

 

[speckledhen]

This bad molt went on for months on end. (Forgive me, Lexie, it's for educational purposes!) She kept laying so she couldn't grow feathers back. Poor pitiful Lexie. Now, she's beautiful again.

And to erase those awful pics of Lex in her "Time of Shame", here she is when she finally quit producing eggs and started producing feathers again:

 

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Thank you. I won't tell What is that little jacket thing? She doesn't look nearly as naked as the ones I saw at the pumpkin patch. They were completely missing tail feathers and had bare skin from chin to wings.

 

[speckledhen]

That's a saddle to protect her nakedness from the rooster's spurs/claws. She was naked underneath, trust me.

 

[pmitch10]

When they start moulting do the others start pecking at them?

I have one RIR that in one day lost half of her neck feathers and one or two of them were pecking her so then I separated her and put her in a big rabbit cage.....till she grows them back.

 

[Attack Chicken]

Sounds like you all could sell some home-made pillows