Yuck! Molting Uglies!

[chick4chix]

Anyone else's flock molting? Mine are already losing their feathers at a remarkable rate and their beautiful fluffy butts are now disgustingly bald, straggly, with unmentionables hanging on to the broken feathers off their rearends. Their glossy neck feathers are dull with bald patches, they are laying less and less so I guess *sigh* they are going into the "uglies".
That's what my 4 yr old grandson called them last year when they molted

he couldn't even look at them.
They stopped laying last year from Sept to Dec and hunkered down in the coop most of the day picking and scratching at their pitiful selves, seemingly embarrassed at the whole process. Poor things- they go from beauty queens to ugly ducklings in a very short time.

 

[Gypsi]

something tells me I have ugly hens coming up! Only a few feathers have been lost so far, do they really lose them all? (and no eggs today either)

 

[chick4chix]

No, each hen loses differently- one of mine kept herself covered although thinly, and one was almost entirely bald with only a feather or two hanging off and lots of pin feathers- she looked like a pink, sticky pin cushion poor girl.

 

[Bleenie]

I had to catch my beautiful BLRW roo yesterday and when I grabbed him he slipped through my hands and i was left with a handful of tailfeathers!! I put a rubberband around them and put them in a jar, he is also Splashed so they were way too pretty to throw away, lol. He is just going into molt and even though hes a pain to catch he will fall asleep while i check for loose feathers in his hackles/saddle. My sister makes jewelry so I figured she might be able to use them.... I also don't butcher so it's the only way i am able to get good, clean feathers from him, lol.

 

[sonew123]

Mine are and its driving me crazy! I should be getting 2 doz + eggs a day and today I got 6! from 30+ hens

 

[gritsar]

My older adult birds are molting and some of my younger ones are too. They look ugly now, but will be beautiful when their shiny new feathers come in.

 

[chick4chix]

Bleenie- I wash and dry our feathers and my grandkids make all sorts of crafts from them. I don't have any roosters or I'd be making some of those beautiful hair extensions you see. I agree they are too beautiful to waste

Sonew- wow- that's a whole lot of chicken for only 6 eggs

Gritsar- I look forward to those shiny new birds again too.

 

[Bleenie]

How do you wash them? They're dropping pretty ones in the yard but they're dirty by the time i find them so i never pick them up

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[chick4chix]

I run them under warm water in the sink and rub dish soap over them in the direction they grow- then rinse thoroughly and wipe them with a paper towel again, in the same direction and let them dry out of the sun. When they are dry, they fluff back out and are shiny and pretty again.
If I have more than a few- I'll collect a whole bucket full outside- just keep adding to it- then wash a whole bunch at the same time - putting them in a bowl of soapy water- swishing around then taking them out a few at a time to do the above procedure.