I'm sure you've heard that chickens molt in the fall, but what is molting? Why do chickens molt and what can we do to help our chickens through a molt?
The definition of molt is:
(of birds, insects, reptiles, etc.) to cast or shed the feathers, skin, or the like, that will be replaced by a new growth. dictionary.com
If that makes you think your chickens feathers are going to fall out, you're right.
Molting is a natural process of shedding and regrowing feathers. New feathers start to form pushing out old feathers. The feathers fall out in a pattern from head to tail. I usually notice the loss of neck feathers first, followed closely by the body of the chicken then the wings and lastly the tail.
Molting can be mild or severe. Some hens molt slowly, just loosing a few feathers here and there over a longer period of time. Other chickens drop lots of feathers suddenly. These are called 'soft' and 'hard' molts. The black hen in the picture went through a hard molt and is starting to recover nicely. A hard molt can look like you're chicken has been plucked, but a soft molt can be barely noticeable.
Chickens usually have their first molt at 18 months then molt yearly after that. If you bought your chicks in the spring, their first molt would be in the following fall. Hens stop laying eggs during molting as their body needs the nutrition and protein to put into new feather growth. Molting can take anywhere from 1-3 months.
Molting is a natural process of shedding and regrowing feathers. New feathers start to form pushing out old feathers. The feathers fall out in a pattern from head to tail. I usually notice the loss of neck feathers first, followed closely by the body of the chicken then the wings and lastly the tail.
Molting can be mild or severe. Some hens molt slowly, just loosing a few feathers here and there over a longer period of time. Other chickens drop lots of feathers suddenly. These are called 'soft' and 'hard' molts. The black hen in the picture went through a hard molt and is starting to recover nicely. A hard molt can look like you're chicken has been plucked, but a soft molt can be barely noticeable.
Chickens usually have their first molt at 18 months then molt yearly after that. If you bought your chicks in the spring, their first molt would be in the following fall. Hens stop laying eggs during molting as their body needs the nutrition and protein to put into new feather growth. Molting can take anywhere from 1-3 months.
Are your chickens molting? 5 ways you can helpwas originally posted by Favorite Chicken Blogs
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