Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[jackian]

I know these questions have been asked so many times so please bare with me.

Poppy is moulting for the first time and of course there are feathers everywhere.

1.. Is more protein a help meal worms ,tuna etc.,

2.. How long does it last

3..Does she end up with very few poor thing

4..Do I have to worry about the other two Clover and Rosie eating the feathers would they get a taste for them

5.. Why do chickens and birds moult at this time of the year when they will most need them with winter coming on

[Lavenders_Blue]

I know these questions have been asked so many times so please bare with me.

Poppy is moulting for the first time and of course there are feathers everywhere.

1.. Is more protein a help meal worms ,tuna etc.,

2.. How long does it last

3..Does she end up with very few poor thing

4..Do I have to worry about the other two Clover and Rosie eating the feathers would they get a taste for them

5.. Why do chickens and birds moult at this time of the year when they will most need them with winter coming on

 

Hi jackian,

 

1. Yes more protein can help with moulting, although I must admit I have never really bothered to give extra protein. A good tonic such as Life Guard would be a good idea though, if you don't already offer it to your girls.

 

2. In my experience, the moult can last quite a few weeks, and then it will be another few weeks before the hens come back into lay again. In total they could be off lay for up to 3 months with maybe 4-6 weeks of that being moulting time.

 

3. Most hens lose only a few feathers at a time and regrow them before losing more. Some silly birds will dump loads of feathers in one go and look very bald indeed! This is less common though. Either way, they tend to look fairly pathetic and chilly whilst they are moulting!

 

4. No this shouldn't be a problem

 

5. I have no idea! The last couple of years I have had bare girls wandering about in the snow - brrrr!

[sjp]

I know these questions have been asked so many times so please bare with me.

Poppy is moulting for the first time and of course there are feathers everywhere.

1.. Is more protein a help meal worms ,tuna etc.,

2.. How long does it last

3..Does she end up with very few poor thing

4..Do I have to worry about the other two Clover and Rosie eating the feathers would they get a taste for them

5.. Why do chickens and birds moult at this time of the year when they will most need them with winter coming on

 

1: as Lavenders_Blue reply

2: as a rule of thumb the better the layer the shorter they take to moult 2 of my wannabe broodies took about 2 weeks from start to finnish of the 3 older girls all 2nd time moulters 2 are about half way through moulting the other is barely started to regrow any feathers all 3 have been moulting just over 10 days

3: that depends again on the bird and the moult most of the ones that I've got moulting are 2nd and 3rd time moulters the 2nd timers have lost all the tail,neck and bum feathers and are regrowing them from the neck back. my 3rd times have lost the tail and under feathers but are only regrowing the under feathers the droping the top feathers

4:as Lavenders_Blue

5: best guess is that moulting partly is triggered by the shortening day length and a drop in temp I know my lot started about 10-14 days ago just after we had a frost on the Sunday night/Monday morning.

the reason that chickens moult at this time of year i.e. autum winter time is because in thier wild days the breeding season has finnished and they need to get back in shape and condition for the start of the next breeding season which is triggered by the days starting to lengthen towards new year i.e. about 10 days after the shortest day from the midlands south the further north you go the longer it takes most no poultry birds will have moulted earlier in the late summer early Autum before migrating also this time of year has a glut of high energy food in the form of fruit and seeds

[jackian]

What great replies

You both answered all my questions and more.

Although I have had my girls for nearly 18 months now this is the first moult..and I thought I had learnt a lot in that time ..

You never stop learning ..I know nothing