4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[New Girl]

I have suspected something was going on with my chooks as egg production has seriously slowed. I have just been out to my girls (first time in daylight for 2 days) and there are black feathers everywhere, I presume she is moulting but what a stupid time of year to lose all your feathers ?!

 

Can someone explain, will she look like an oven ready chook or will they fall out in bits (like you hair)? Also should I be giving her/them anything extra.

 

Thank you in advance .

[chelsea]

sounds like a moult and yes it is a very odd time of the year to be doing it!

 

My Ella has just had a full moult and my other 3 are semi moulting, with no eggs from any of them.

 

Rinsed tuna on an odd occasion will be much appreciated by your girls for extra protein, live meal worms, dried meal worms or chick crumb also helps with a moult.

[pistachio]

I'm fairly new to this. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will appear on this thread soon. I found this in the Omlet guide:

 

Feather Loss

When a chicken is about a year old she will start to lose her feathers but don't panic, this is meant to happen. She is moulting. This is a completely harmless process of plumage rejuvenation.

 

Most fashion-conscious chickens will try to coincide this with the annual autumn Paris Fashion Week so that they know what next seasons must-have colour is going to be.

 

They will then spend between 4 and 6 weeks completing their new look. As with most women, even if you can't see any difference, you must compliment your chicken on how wonderful her new feather-style is. If you don't, she may well sulk and refuse to lay you any eggs.

 

Make sure the birds are well fed during this period as it takes a lot of energy to grow new feathers.

 

Because of all the energy taking up with moulting, your chickens will stop laying until their new feathers have grown. It is also important to remember not to clip your chickens wings when they are moulting.

 

Funny old things aren't they?!

[beach chick]

i've got 2 moulting at the moment. Chardonnay went for the 'exotic flump' mode, dropping as many feathers as she can at the slightest movement. she looks DREADFUL at the moment! Paris specialised in getting several layers of tantalising new feathers through, cunning me into believing that she was of the 'controlled moult' variety. except today she has added exotic flump to her repertoire, and now looks possibly even worse than Char!!!

 

these 2 are coming up to about 2 years old early next year, and up until now have never done anything but a 'mini moult' - dropped a few feathers round their faces, but carried on laying. this time around is a compeltely different story!!

 

why in November has to be anybody's guess, and I do feel sorry for them. they are given tuna and cat food for extra protein, but all the others pile in and eat it too.

[New Girl]

Thank you for your replies. I am so suprised they are doing this as soon as it gets cold! I'll make up some porridge in the morning and give them some cat food.

 

Thanks again.

[Chickvic]

My Ruby is moulting, not quite the 'exotic flump' but looking really tatty I'm assuming she'll be one in January (I had them April and she was the youngest). She has laid 3 times at the start of the month and nothing since. How long does it take for them to fully feather again?

[Janty]

I have several moulting at the moment.

My splash cochin is just getting her bustle back after a bad moult and my brahma miniature looks like a 'normal' chicken. She has lost her feathers on her feet and legs and her beautiful bustle feathers have also been spread all over the garden.

[beach chick]

the other thing about moulting is that you realise how little they really are under all those feathers!! mine look about a third the size they did before.

[atsw]

Our Fifi is about four weeks into the second moult of her life. As everyone has said, what a silly time of year to shed all your feathers. As with the first time around, Fifi adopted the 'exotic flump' approach and looked dreadful to start with, but is now recovering. She always seemed to be quite a big bird (certainly the biggest of the three we used to have), but now, compared with our two new (very fluffy) Orpington's that we got last weekend, she looks tiny.

 

 

There's more pictures in my signature link.

 

Andrew

[Daphne]

is this a cunning ploy to show off those gorgeous girls again?

[atsw]

is this a cunning ploy to show off those gorgeous girls again?

You know me too well .

[Daphne]

just wait till this time next year - hope you have a use for a tonne of feathers! Hide the mirrors so they don't see that underneath all that fluff they're just the same size as every other chicken

[atsw]

It is slightly bizarre when I pick them up. As you put your hands around them the feathers all squeeze in dramatically, and it's at that point you do realise that, underneath, they are really quite a small framed bird. I'll be sure to post pics of the new girls in full moult when it happens (which should be around April or May next year, they were born 22nd April 2008).

 

This was the mess we had in August last year when all three of our brown hens went into moult at the same time :-

 

 

Andrew

[beach chick]

oh bless her!! do you reckon the other 2 have picked her as 'plain friend to hang out with at the disco'??!!!

[RubyReckless]

my Warren (nearly 2 years old) is going for a dramatic moult - feathers everwhere, she's more than half bald and covered in the dark, porcupine-like quills of feathers not properly come through. She looks truly appalling - she freaks visitors out ! I'm clinging to the thought that she'll be lovely when all those new feathers come through.