Ahh the molt. All chickens do this. It is normal and healthy. This is the time period that chickens shed a the old damaged feathers to prepare for winter. The molt occurs when the days are shorter and signals the end of egg laying season. (Hens do need 14 to 16 hours of sunshine to produce the hormones for egg laying – remember THAT next time you have an egg Sunnyside up!)
This process can be slow, over a few months. This looks like extra discarded feathers around the coop run. It is called a soft molt. I can barely tell who is the one molting when this happens.
The hard molt is a different story. When this happens, it looks like a feather explosion. The hen sheds a lot of feathers at the same time which, while painless, can make birds almost bald!
The hard molt gives chicken parents the heart attack. The amount of feathers around the coop run looks like there was a massacre! In my coop, I tend to find this feather bomb as I get ready to put the flock to bed. I round the pool and find thousands of feathers rippling in the hardware cloth fencing and no chickens to be seen. My heart starts pounding as I start a small prayer that maybe 1 or 2 escaped from whatever predators found a way inside the run. I call out “Chickens! Littles! Babies!” I can hear soft sleepy clucking inside the coop. Hmm. Flashlight on n whoa, all 9 birds are inside and settling to sleep. A closer look at one of the Peppers and notice she is partially Bald! Ugh! Its a hard molt. The next day I get a really good look at her and see she has shed all of her butt and back feathers and is half naked! The night time temperature has been a balmy 25°! Pepper better have a few cuddle buddies for the next month or so.
My girls seem to do a hard molt when it is freezing out! I just want to wrap them in sweaters and blankets as I feel cold for them! Bad idea on both counts. Chickens have survived hundreds of years doing this exact thing without human intervention and survived just fine. As for the sweater, not a good idea. As the feathers regrow, they are sharp like pins and grow through the skin. I don’t know about any other flock but my molting girls get rather moody and reluctant to be pet or held during this period. This behavior makes me think it is a painful period and the tightness of a sweater would not be helpful at all.
My flock will continue to scare the crap out of me everytime one explodes. My well meaning friends and neighbors offer chicken sweaters that I politely refuse. Lots of treats and extra protein are what’s needed now.
Until next time!
Caroline
Crooked Fence Farm 