FALL MOLTING
It looked like chicken carnage in the coop. There were feathers everywhere, and my heart sunk. I quickly did head count. Everyone was present and accounted for, thank goodness! Now to figure out whose feathers were everywhere, and why. A little more investigation gave me the answer: the chickens were molting.
The first time my hens started molting I started freaking out. I thought they were sick or hurt or something.
Thankfully molting is perfectly normal and all they really need is extra protein added in their diet.
Unfortunately, while molting they stop laying.
(Sarah in the comments kindly detailed that they don’t stop laying BECAUSE they are molting but rather it’s two separate processes. Thanks Sarah!)
Why Are Your Chickens Molting?
Usually adult hens of around eighteen months old begin to molt in the fall when the number of daylight hours decreases.
But stress, or withholding feed or water can trigger a molt at other times as well, and they also molt after being broody, (which is a sort of nature imposed withholding of food, I suppose).
If you use a lamp in your coop to extend daylight hours, Oregon State Extension suggests leaving it off for six weeks during the fall or winter will help your birds completely finish a molt and start laying again at top production.
Just be careful with your timing so that you don’t leave your birds without protection if they go through a hard molt in extra chilly weather!
How long will this take?
If you raised your birds from chicks you may have noticed them molting when they lose their downy feathers in that awkward gangly stage around 4 weeks.
They have another molt around sexual maturity at about 20 weeks, although, that can vary depending on the breed.
These molts are not quite as dramatic as the annual molts, which can take anywhere from 2-6 months.
Chickens molting always progresses in the same order from the head, then down the neck, the body, wings, and lastly the tail.
Your chicken should actually never be completely bald when molting because the new feathers emerging is what pushes out the old feathers.
If your bird has bald spots, especially near the vent that’s NOT molting, it’s something else like mites.
Chickens do their best to prevent mites by dust bathing, but mites can be treated naturally. Here’s more information on that from The Frugal Chicken.
Another cause of bald spots could be the birds picking on each other. That’s a symptom of stress in our flock that needs to be dealt with immediately by increasing their space and quality of life.
I recently polled my Facebook followers on their favorite way to help their molting chickens and got some great suggestions! William uses catfish food to boost the protein in his flock. Nikki recommends boosting their fat levels ahead of time. This helps them maintain enough preening oil and replace their old feathers quickly. Debbie recommends a 20 % protein feed based on fish meal.
And it’s a great idea to take molting time to do a quick health check of all your birds. This gives you a chance to visually see potential problems you may not have otherwise caught. Just make sure to handle them very carefully, so as to not disturb the growing feathers.
Here are some chicken health related posts to help you do a quick exam and handle potential issues.
You can actually tell by looking at the flight feathers how long your bird has been molting and how much longer it will take.
If you have a bird that starts molting early, and drops only one flight feather at a time it will take longer to complete her molt.
If you have a bird that starts her molt later. then loses multiple feathers at a time she will finish faster) and get back to laying breakfast faster as well).
What Should You Do?
You can help out your chickens during their molt by providing them with high quality protein foods. Feathers are made of protein, so it takes a lot of it for them to manufacture new ones.
Some birds may even be able to continue laying if they are getting enough nutrients, although not all will do so.
Drop low protein snacks and filler foods, and up the quantity of protein.
Some good ideas are mealworms, black oil sunflower seeds, scrambled eggs, cat food, dairy products like yogurt, and tuna or other fish.
The newly growing feather are very sensitive. They emerge through a shaft that can bleed quite profusely if damaged.
Try not to handle your birds as much as possible. Make sure to be very gentle when you must pick them up.
It’s also a good idea to limit their stress as much as possible. Molting time is not a good time to introduce new flock members or move them to a new home. Let them regain their dignity first!
5 Ways To Help Your Molting Chickens
Switch to the highest protein food available at your feed store.
Add black oil sunflower seeds to their feed.
Add heat to the coop if it’s cold outside.
Keep stress down
Don’t touch them!
I recently polled my Facebook followers on their favorite way to help their molting chickens and got some great suggestions! William uses catfish food to boost the protein in his flock. Nikki recommends boosting their fat levels ahead of time. This helps them maintain enough preening oil and replace their old feathers quickly. Debbie recommends a 20 % protein feed based on fish meal.
And it’s a great idea to take molting time to do a quick health check of all your birds. This gives you a chance to visually see potential problems you may not have otherwise caught. Just make sure to handle them very carefully, so as to not disturb the growing feathers.
Here are some chicken health related posts to help you do a quick exam and handle potential issues.
