when do they molt?

[crazylilchick]

When are young chickens supposed to molt. I have 12 assorted chickens who are 15 weeks old and there are feathers all over the place. A few are missing tail feathers but they look normal otherwise. They are on a 16% feed ,if they are molting do they need more protein?

 

[speckledhen]

They won't go through a true hard molt till they are over a year old, more like 18 months. What you're seeing is them getting adult feathers in stages. Later on, when they truly molt, you could up their protein levels and it's best to use animal proteins, which most feeds lack these days, it seems. Some throw them a handful of catfood from time to time for a protein boost during the molt, but you dont need that now.

 

[crazylilchick]

Thank you Cynthia thats exactaly what I needed to know. I was especially worried about the protein. Thanks for the info.