dance in the dark Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Hey everyone, really I am just hoping to find out a little more about how the moult all goes down. I have heard all kinds of conflicting stories but really I know that the best answers always come from omleteers. I have heard that they will moult every autumn, that they will moult every autumn after they are a year old, and I have heard that they will moult at almost random times, based on what point in the year they were hatched. So I have my four original girls, the hybrids (Enid, Ethel, Edna and Edith), who I have had since April, so I assume they were hatched around November/December last year. I have my mature araucana (Lavinia) who I rescued from a life of sexual servitude a couple of months ago, she was hatched in around March/April 2010 and has been growing feathers anyway to recover from treading. And I have my four babies, three cream legbars (Hetty, Hilda and Hannah) , born in May and my Araucana baby Letitia, who was born in April. I am so sorry to have given so much detail, which I am sure is a little boring, but I was just thinking, if the hatching month is relevant, what kind of moulting can I expect from my girls? And should I be worried if they don't? Any advice or comments appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandychick Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I don't know much about the time of hatching and the time of moulting All I have noticed from mine is that they don't do a big moult in the first year (sometimes a mini-moult) and then anytime from Autumn to the depths of winter every year after that. The amount of feathers they loose seems to very from year to year too. It all seems a bit mad to me......I'm sure if I was a chicken I would much prefer to loose my feathers in the summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntielizzie Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 If it helps, I got Betty and Bessie in late March. Bessie started moulting two weeks ago tomorrow. Im not sure if this is a first year mini moult yet or whether its going to be a full moult, but she stopped laying shortly before the feathers started falling. So far, Betty is still laying like a good un and no sign of moulting yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueandwhite Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I got April my girls 2010. Ebay moulted around October last year, most of her feathers really but Phoebe didn't. Ebay stopped laying and started again when her feathers came back even though it was freezing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Jez has lost feathers from just behind her comb - so looks like a skinhead - is this normal as my others never lost from there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
