My hens typically go through a soft molt every spring, which means lots of little feathers floating through the breeze, Forrest Gump style. The first time it happened, back when I was new to the chicken game, I thought something was wrong, like my whole flock had gotten sick. Luckily, I’ve gotten a little wiser {though, admittedly, only a little}.
Molting is, simply put, when chickens renew their feathers. They usually stop laying eggs, and concentrate all of their efforts on losing and then regrowing their new feathers. Most of the time, they do it in the fall to make sure they are equipped with full down jackets for winter weather, BUT, they also do it when they are done with a laying cycle {their bodies way of saying let’s take a break from all of this egg-laying business} or depending on when they hatched, they may always molt in just the spring. Some birds will molt in the fall and then, have a soft molt again in the spring.
Chickens should act completely normal when molting, except for the no egg laying part. If they stop eating, drinking, etc. something else is probably wrong.
During molting, they will need extra nutrients, so upping their protein intake will really reduce their stress. Molting is actually extremely stressful for chickens. Kind of like a man going bald, I imagine it is not very pleasing to the chicken to lose their feathers. It’s best not to handle them during molting. They are extremely sensitive and would honestly prefer to be left alone.
Don’t worry if you see large bald spots on your hens during molting–it’s actually a good sign. It shows that they are good producers–good layers molt and recover very quickly. Poor layers take their time, molting very slowly and resuming egg laying after MONTHS. Most molting should take only about 12 weeks.
Even though it’s kind of a bummer to lose egg production, there is a plus side: a fully molted chicken is actually hardier and has an easier time resisting disease and sickness.
When do YOUR chickens molt?
~Mavis
paidinchickens says
Thanks, very helpful!
Arlene says
My 2 molt in the Fall, and one of them never laid another egg after her first molt 🙁
Vicki says
I don’t have chickens, but I had a lovebird that molted in the fall and spring. He was a very sorry sight for those few weeks, too! He spent most of the time hiding in his little fleece pouch. My son said he was embarrassed, but I think he was probably just cold.
Susan says
My girls have not molted yet. They will be 1 year old at the end of this month.
My sons chickens molted in October. He said one of them became “mean” afterwards. Like a really mean rooster that bites and claws at him.
julie says
Whew. I noticed about half of our girls are getting a little thin and I didn’t know that they could molt twice. It doesn’t seem like the egg production has slowed down so I was at a loss.Thanks.
Denise says
Two of my five chickens have molted, still waiting on the other three. They are about two years old. When my PBR molted, it was extremely sudden. Her feathers were pretty much all gone overnight. The weird thing was, she started stumbling around like she was drunk. She could run in a straight line, but walked so crookedly I thought she was sick. When I googled her condition, I couldn’t get any straight answers, but I noticed a pattern in the other questions people asked. “My chicken is going through a really hard molt and is stumbling around…” After a week or two, she was back to normal with new feathers.
My Ameraucana molted more gently, with no big problems besides looking scraggly.
I think my three RIRs are coming up soon- their feathers are looking more dull lately.
Practical Parsimony says
I am still waiting after five years for a molt. Mine have never gotten bald patches. There is a feather or two hanging on to the other feathers. There are a few feathers around sometimes. I have read that this is a “continuous molt.” Only the month with the least light causes them to cease laying. Even then, I get about one egg a week.
Judy says
Aack!! Is this picture of your chickens Mavis?? Those poor things are like totally in the buff! I have raised chixs for 30+ years..never have seen them molt to that extreme…these look like they’ve been plucked alive! Lol
Mavis Butterfield says
No, thank goodness!
stacy says
Wow! Those chickens are scary looking. Mine molt November/December but never that extreme looking.