Heavy Moult - advise please

[BabyBantam]

Horrified to find a cascsade of feathers falling as I opened the door to my ark this morning. Nancy (pekin) seems to have lost a pillowcase of feathers in one night & now looks half her size & extreemly unhappy. Mildred has been losing feathers slowly over the last few weeks, so seems happier and coping well.

Any advise on whether I should be feeding anything different or whether there may be another reason for the drastic feather loss? I've just done my regular treatment for mite/lice. I've just swapped to Garvo food (one with the veg & tiny prawn things in).

Also, Mills tends to pick 'bum' feathers off Nancy every now & again (I try to use anti peck, but without much success). Do I need to seperate the girls in case of further feather pecking as the new feathers come through - I've only got the 2 chooks.

Thanks.

 

[bantiekeeper]

Hi, Sounds to me like their annual moult. Mine are in various stages of undress! But they will be very proud when they get their new wardrobe!
I usually up the protein a bit with a few dried mealworms. Just keep an eye on them it can take a few weeks for some of them to complete the process. :roll:

 

[Marigold]

It's also quite normal for them to want to eat the fluffy bits of each other's underwear, as these nice tender little feathers are made of valuable protein which they can then recycle for their own new hairdos. I love the way they always turn the feather the right way round, pointed end first, so it goes down comfortably! So long as Mills isnt actually doing any damage to Nancy, ie no blood is being drawn, just keep an eye on things and only separate if Nancy needs protection. Normal food should be fine, but if you want to give some high-protein treats, try a few hulled sunflower seeds, which are about 23% protein, or even salt-free scrambled egg (blended with the shell and all) for a special Sunday lunch. But don't overdo it, the Garvo is fine for them.
It's often said that a sign of a good layer is a swift moult, so if Nancy is really getting on with the job, she should grow her feathers back fast and get back in the nestbox soon!

 

[BabyBantam]

Thanks - Not sure you'd class any pekin as a good layer, but out of the 2, she's the best. She's lost more feathers since this morning and now looks like a pin cushion LoL
Strangely, neither bird seems to like the Garvo? They've been picking out the shrimp things, but not much else. I changed food as the Dobson & Horrell layers pellets seemed to big for them to eat and they wern't eating them either. They seem to be living off fresh air at the moment (unless I'm missing something).

 

[Marigold]

You could try giving it to them in the evening as a warm damp mash, served on a plate not in a feeder, just stir in some warm water and leave until it goes crumbly. Mine go mad for this, when they're lucky enough to get it in winter on cold afternoons!

 

[BabyBantam]

Will do They already eat out of a plastic dish rather than a feeder as don't seem to like that either - fussy madams!