Topic of the Week: Molting Makeover How’s Your Flock Coping This Year?

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

Topic of the Week: Molting Makeover — How’s Your Flock Coping This Year?

Molting season is here! How does your flock handle molting and regrowing feathers? Share your experiences, tips, and photos to help make this season easier for everyone!
Here are some questions to get us started:

1. What is your plan for managing this molting season?
2. Do you boost protein, offer special treats, or adjust coop lighting or bedding during the molt?
3. Have you noticed that some hens molt more heavily than others (for example, more feathers falling, slower regrowth, or a complete pause in laying)?
4. When did you first notice signs of molting, such as bare patches, pin-feathers, or feathers all over the coop?
5. What changes, if any, are you making in diet, feed, or supplements while your flock molts?
6. Do you isolate or give extra space to molting birds, or keep your flock together as usual?
7. How long does molting usually last for your flock, and what differences have you noticed from year to year?
8. Are you adjusting your expectations for egg production during the molt, and how do you handle that?
9. What has worked well for you in past molts, and what would you do differently this time?

 

[JesusChick]

my flock hasn't molted at all lol! it is just now below 70˚ at night

 

[CherishedFowlGuardian]

It’s low 40s here but my chickens have not molted yet but I hope they do.

 

[Icemaiden]

I've got 5 pullets who I've had for just over a year. They look at me blankly when I suggest that they grow their new winter coats now, rather than waiting until winter kicks in! They have no idea what's going to happen to them soon...

Better layers tend to go through their moult faster. One day they look normal; the next day they look "unzipped ", as though one sneeze would leave them naked. The next day, the run looks like an explosion in a duvet factory .

Our last cream legbar pure breed, on the other hand, would drop 2 or 3 feathers a day. That way she had an excuse to be off lay for 4 months!!