Is your dog's unusual barking a secret code for something mysterious?

[AlisonH]

I have just returned from a couple of days away where I left my 2 chooks with my mother-in-law for the first time. I took the whole run and Eglu for them and I have no doubt that they were well looked after. However, Lottie, my Amber star has a lot of feathers missing from her tummy - there were chunks on the ground. She also missed laying for a day though has laid today. They were put just on the grass instead of the usual wood chips run and didn't get the usual FR that they have most days for an hour or so.

 

I'm wondering if the feather loss is due to sudden moulting of which I'd seen none of before we went or could it have been a boredom thing and she's pulled them out? Or stress?

 

Would appreciate any ideas. Thanks

[Hetty and Hilda]

i was in the same perdicament as you this time last year i didnt have a clue! but i have since found out that chickens moult this time of year and during this time will stop laying completly at some point can last a few weeks as well so dont worry to much you normaly find that they moult at diffrent stages so you may still get eggs from your others.

this time last year my sussex star looked ready for the pot! as she had no feathers nearly.

hope this helps

stacy

[Olly]

If there are suddenly lots of feathers in the run, AND she has missed/stopped laying, then it's almost certainly a moult.

[jennydavies]

Three of our girls had a full-on moult and looked quite oven-ready, bless every morning I opened the henhouse door and it looked as if they had a pillow fight during the night ! they stopped laying and I mixed some poultry spice in with their tinned sweetcorn every other day to give them a little boost. Now they are all fully feathered and they look beautiful Our girls are now two years old and this was their first proper full moult, they have now started laying again (we have very mild winters down here, so they only seem to have a short break)

[AlisonH]

It's certainly large chunks of feathers so it must be coincidence that it started in the couple of days she was away.

 

Thanks for help.