Why are my chickens molting?

[Catfish267]

The temperatures are down in the single digits and a few of my chickens just lost their feathers. I'm pretty worried. What should I do?

 

[teach1rusl]

I've only dealt with one winter molter, and I ended up bringing her into our garage to keep her warmer (because she was half naked). If your coop is spacious, you can keep them inside the coop with lots of straw bedding (better insulator than shavings) and the pop door closed. If you can do it safely, you can hang a heat lamp w/a smaller wattage heat bulb (maybe 100W) - pet stores sell the smaller bulbs in the reptile sections.
I'm not sure why some molt "out of season"... I always thought it would make more sense for them to molt during the hottest part of the summer, but mine typically molt late Fall (I think it has something to do with the daylight hours)...

 

[TwoCrows]

Chickens molt when their bodies tell them too. I have one that just started molting last week. It is the dead of winter, freezing cold out. She is nearly bald. LOL When their hormones tell them to drop feathers, off they come.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Chickens molt when their bodies tell them too. I have one that just started molting last week. It is the dead of winter, freezing cold out. She is nearly bald. LOL When their hormones tell them to drop feathers, off they come.

Yep, and they are more comfortable in with the other chickens. They use their body heat to keep warm and snuggle up to.