Molting: All You Need To Know

Thank you for shedding some light on this aspect of having ! It was really helpful to make me understand what changes are happening to my flock!

Great article. Good explanation of what to expect. As first time chicken owners, just now going through the pullets losing feathers, we have yet to experience a full molt, but now I know what to expect and how scraggly they can look. Appreciate the pictures.

This is a great article. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because of the recommendation of Blu-Kote. It is a highly toxic chemical and it is recommended once used egg withdrawal should be forever as the chemical never clears the chickens body and is present in all eggs from that point forward.

I am a lot calmer now. My muscovy ducks have fully shed feathers that made them look dirty but now beautifully white again. My hen ladies are not yet there.

Thank you! My Betty frizzle is heading 4yrs-old and is having her first moult. She is displaying all the signs mentioned here, especially not wanting to leave the coop. Her two sweetheart Pekin daughters are staying by her side

Outstanding information

I need all the info I can get about backyard chickening. They are family so I want to treat them well. This is an excellent source of information.
Any thoughts of what to do with those lovely feathers?
Regarding red mites. We treated the coop and the chickens with spray. I also washed the anemic and emaciated one in water with a few drops of Dawn, then water and vinegar, before a final rinse. The poultry dr prescribed antibiotics and Metacam. Hoping it's an infection and not ovarian cancer like our last one. Our other girl, Alice is very healthy and I'm hesitant to wash her since she's a little high-strung. Is washing worth it after spraying for red mites? We are still seeing a few of them. Alice is a big dust bather.

Yep all birds molt and they can sure look pretty sad when they do. I wonder if those mite protection medallions they sell would work on an outdoor coop? I've seen them for pet birds before, you hang them on the cage and it's supposed to repel them. I don't think I'd want to wait for my birds to get mites, I'd rather be more proactive. I completely forgot about the mites, since all my other birds were indoor pets, parrots, parakeets, etc.

Excellent article, thank you. My flock is 10-months old so this is my first year.

Good information I wanted to know. This is my first year with chickens.

Great article! Question - what about pullets at age 16-ish. Mine seem to be molting even if they molted about a month ago or less. They don't LOOK like they are molting but I find lots of feathers in a clump of one pullet or another. They don't have mites - do they have a couple of molts?

Love your articles on our feathered friends! This molting article is so important to read! Thank you!!

Good detail. I appreciated the pictures and the information about feeding and behavior during molting. Thank you! The links are very useful too, because I was looking about my pullets molting at 12/13 weeks of age and you gave an article link that was spot on! I wasn't sure they were molting or if it was another problem.

This article had a lot of good information for a newbie like me. I feel I will now be able to take care of them when they molt.

Really nice article, I like the pictures that shows different stages of the molt

Very informative article on molting, including common questions, causes, and types.

Good info!

Very Nice! Love the pictures. Never knew the felt pain during molting with too much handling!