Maureen has perked up a little over the past day. As per my last post, she’s not been a particularly happy chicken, and we weren’t exactly sure why. In fact, we’re still not sure, but we think her moult has something to do with it.
I thought I would post a little bit about chicken moults. mainly because my knowledge of chicken moults has been collected over a couple of years, from snippets on various websites and from different books. And my experience sometimes differs from what is considered ‘normal’.
Our ex-batts had already moulted when we got them, and we pretty bald in places to start with. We think this is because they had a forced moult (where the farmer withholds food to induce a moult, which eventually keeps egg production high after the moult has finished); I suspect they do this before slaughter, or in our birds’ case, their release to freedom.
Spelling!
The first thing about chicken moults is the fact that in the UK, we spell it moult. In the US, it’s molt. Small, but significant fact I think!
When Does a Chicken Moult?
As far as chickens are concerned, from the age of about two, a moult is usually an annual happening. I’ve read that moults are most common during autumn, and in my experience, it usually happens between October and November, just before it gets really cold. They never seem to moult at the same time, it always seems staggered. Our chicken Maureen arrived from the battery house pretty well feathered, she was the only one that was in a ‘good’ state, and didn’t moult for the first 18 months that we had her. As a chicken or hen ages, they’re more likely to moult and sometimes the moults become more severe. However, a couple of my chickens have moulted at random times during the year, for no apparent reason.
Chicken Moult and Egg Production
When a hen is approaching a moult, it’s very common for her laying to slow down, and stop for a while. There’s no set time that they stop laying, but I’d say that our chickens stopped laying for around 2 or 3 weeks during the moult. This year, Maureen, who is around 3 and usually lays around 4-5 eggs a week, slowed her laying for a good month before she approached her moult, and stopped altogether around 2 weeks before she started showing signs of shedding feathers.I think I’m right in saying that a hen (your common ‘brown hen’) who is in lay has whitish coloured skin on their legs, whereas a hen not in lay with have more of a yellow hue to the skin on their legs. This is at least true for my lot.
You might find that after the moult, egg production starts and stops again. There might be a few dodgy eggs, but as long as it’s not an ongoing problem, it shouldn’t be anything to worry about.
What Does a Moult Look Like?
The first real indications of a moult, are of course the shedding of feathers. It might start with a few, followed by a heap of feathers being shed left, right and centre, or may appear to happen out of the blue, and all at once (providing, of course, that it’s not the result of feather pulling or a fox attack - always check a hen over if loss of feathers is truly unexpected). It’s only in the past few days that mounds of feathers have started to appear under Maureen’s perch, and where she hangs around during the day. Her head feathers look normal, but underneath she’s started losing a lot of feathers. Yoko, on the other hand, usually starts moulting from her head first, at least, it’s more apparent there. Then she sheds from her body and undercarriage, and occasionally will lose a wing feather. Last year she completely lost all of her tail feathers, and took on a ‘bobbed’ appearance for a week or so - that was quite a strange sight!
The new feathers usually come through quite quickly, if not straight after the feather is shed. The first sign is a darkening of the skin just under the surface, before a ‘needle’-like tube breaks through. In this tube, the feathers are growing, and eventually start to protrude out of the end like small paintbrush tips. Eventually, the feather emerges, beautifully fluffy and glossy.
Chicken Health During the Moult
Hens can seem quite under the weather during their moult. Even before the feathers start to fall out, they can appear a little hunched or grumpy. If their laying has reduced they may eat less too. However, even you think your hen is approaching a moult, you should still keep an eye on them; make sure to check that nothing else is causing the ‘off’ behaviour. I always check their crop,undercarriage, feet, eyes and bottom to check everything is normal and they’re not in fact ill.
Extra Supplements During Moult
During the moult, all the protein that hens eat goes towards producing new feathers, hence why egg production drops or stops altogether. To help them along during this time, you can add some poultry spice or poultry drink to their water. They might also appreciate a small measure in their food - try making a layers mash porridge and mixing in the appropriate amount of poultry drink supplement in the water. We use Battles Poultry Drink, but some people prefer Poultry Spice. We also stick a clove of garlic in their drinking water, as it’s said to help boost their immune system to stave off colds and things that they can become susceptible to during the moult. A few dried mealworms, cheese or cooked egg also wouldn’t go amiss - but not too much. All the nutrition they need is in their layers mash and mixed corn.
Keeping Out the Weather
The last point is important - a chicken during their moult will not have their normal ‘weatherproof’ aid…feathers! Usually when a hen is in moult, the weather is rubbish. So it’s important that they have somewhere that’s sheltered from the wind and rain, where they can keep themselves warm and dry whilst they’re a bit bald.
Anyway, that’s all I can think of for now off the top of my head. Any questions, don’t hesistate to leave a comment. Similarly, if you’ve any extra tips or info about moults, I’d love to hear. Chicken keeping has been a continual learning curve and I’m always looking to improve my knowledge.
November 16th, 2008 at 11:28 am
An excellent round up of info Lucy. We didn’t appreciate just how down a hen could feel when moulting until this September when Phoebe really had a tough time!
I’d also add that if your birds are tame, don’t be tempted to pick them up or handle when the quills are just coming through. There are lots of blood vessels and nerve ending near the surface and she will feel a lot of discomfort and even pain if these are pressed on. The feathers can also get damaged and may get white marks across them. So restarin from cuddles - your advise about food supplements and somewhere dry and out of the wind to shelter is excellent.
Thanks Lucy!
Celia
November 20th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
is it usual for the other hens to pick on the moulting hen. i have 3 which usually get on ok, one seems to be going through the moult and does seem a bit sad, i have noticed one of the others giving her the occasional peck. the others both have their feathers
December 19th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
One of my hens is in moult. Her feathers are coming back nicely and she looks much like a porcupine. What I am concerned about is that she runs backwards many times throughout the day. I wonder, is this because of the discomfort of the new feathers coming in around her head and neck and she is trying to get away from it by backing up?
January 12th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Interested in your feedback, please…
I have a black sex link pullet (she won’t be a yr old until April ‘09), who looks like she might be going into moult, but she’s too young. Her head looks like the ‘before’ photo above of Cyn. Her ear lobes have also lost their plump red color & are now shrunken & purple.
I also have ~6 other pullets (same age) with patches of completely bare skin on their backs close to their tale feathers. There is no sign of new feathers coming in.
How do I know for sure if I have an insect problem, an overzealous rooster problem, or some very early moulting?
Thanks!
August 31st, 2009 at 10:28 am
hi lucy am in portugal with 5 chickens 3 lay eggs other 2 are 2 young one is losing feathers from her neck i dont know what poultry spice is. they are all eatinglots of fresh sunflower seed as well as corn and maize also they have an orchard to roam in and a proper house to go in at any time . it was 102 f yesterday any ideas. many thanka liz.
September 23rd, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Hi , you have put my mind at rest, I have 5 ex bats had them since March so watching “gingy” feeling very sorry for herself and loosing feathers at a rate of knots has been very disturbing, I was so worried before reading the above so feel much better…I was advised to give marmite on toast they all love it but don’t spread it on too think. She has been so sad wings and tail down, her food intake has gone right down,standing on her own, but still loves a tin of sweetcorn…how long will this go on for, any ideas? Is there anything I should look out for that could mean it’s not moulting? Have looked on so may websites and none of her symptoms seem to match any illness’s , so I’m hoping it is just moulting !!!!
October 11th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Hi i have three hens that i am not sure of their age(around 1-2yrs old) the hen that is the ‘big boss’ came out of the coup with fethers missing from her tail and either side of her body. she has also stoped laying, become more shy and doleful from her normal over conferdent self and is eating less. could she be moulting? or is it something ells?
thank you. replies needed
December 7th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Hi
We have 4 hens that we rescued from a battery farm a few weeks ago. Over the last week, one of our chickens has lost a lot of feathers all down her back and looks quite dark blue underneath where her feathers should be. We’ve never owned hens before and I’m worried that this may be more than a moult? She still seems to be laying as normal?
December 7th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Hi Laura
Sometimes a chicken fresh out of a battery farm will either be in a bit of shock (which can contribute to feather loss), or it may well be that she’s just in moult. Before the hens are slaughtered they can be starved, which also induces moults.
The dark blue under the skin could be the new feathers forming, eventually they’ll push their way through the skin and look like little paintbrush tips. During this time the hens need lots of extra protein, as their bodies are putting on a lot of extra growth, so feeding them protein-rich food such as mealworms (NOT maggots!) mixed in with their normal corn and layers mash will help them through this time.
However without seeing the hen I can’t be sure that it’s not bruising from the rescue - if you’re at all concerned it’s definitely worth getting the hen checked out, in case there are any broken bones or particularly bad bruising. Also check the nest box - are there any feathers under the perch? Does your hen appear to be being picked on or have any scratches or peck marks on her?
If you need help from lots of ex-batt owners and rescue coordinators, I would suggest joining the free and excellent Ex-battery Hens Forum: http://exbatteryhens.com/index/
Good luck, hope all of your girls are enjoying their new life. Keep me posted with how they’re getting on
Lucy
January 26th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I have five hens who are less than a year old and one of them has lost ALL of her tail feathers. She doesn’t seem to be feeling badly and I haven’t noticed the others picking on her. Could this be just a moult? What else could cause this? Thanks, Tena
April 30th, 2010 at 7:55 am
HELP!!!
I have had chickens for 20 years+,
this is the second time I got a hen
that moults by shedding ALL her feathers
and NOT grow any new feathers!!!
The first hen I had to cull eventually,
after trying everything I could think about,
now this one is the second one,
and I would really like to know
WHAT is happening!
I’m keeping her in a warm place,
with water and corn,
plus regular hardboil egg, dried lucern,
bird seed, sunflower seed,
some tinned cat’s pets meat,
dewormed her with a broadspectrum and
gave her a bobmartin conditioning tablet!
She’s NOT fat, still too thin to my eye!
And there is still NO indication
that new quils and feathers want to appear!
It has been 3 weeks now!
She’s a Wyandotte cross Loman Silver (lying hybrid)
More than 2 years old, probably 3 or 4years.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!