Will someone explain when chickens molt and what the molt looks like. My hens began losing feathers on the tail area and the front of the neck months ago. I thought they had mites because I have a large wild bird population that flies in and out of the chicken yard. I dusted them twice and thoroughly sprayed the hen house. It made no difference. This continued for months. Egg production did not slack until a couple of months ago. However, now that really cold weather has arrived, the feathers are returning and egg production has risen considerably.

-- Cheryl Cox (cox33055@aol.com), December 30, 1999

Answers

Cheryl,

I am not really experienced - had my chickens for about a year and a half. I don't use artificial light and am in northern Calif. and notice that most of the birds will moult starting in the fall and lasts for a month or two - during which egg production drops dramatically. What you described is moulting - really scroungy looking, rooster looses tail feathers, etc. As I understand it this is a time of "renewal" for them, probably resting repro organs, storing calcium in bones (?), and they will start laying like gangbusters again in the spring. Winter is naturally a really lean time for eggs. So, relax and before long you will be amazed at how many eggs you have again!

Sincerely,

Kristi

-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), January 02, 2000.

My mother's chickens started losing feathers and not knowing if it was caused by molting, she thought it might have been caused by a lack of protein. One suggestion was to throw some handfuls of cat food out like scratch grain. This she did and the chickens recovered quickly.

-- Mary Lea Tucker (indigosax@juno.com), March 12, 2000.