At what age do geese start to molt?

[Going Bhonkers]

My almost 4 month old geese seem to be shedding a lot of feathers when they preen. I dont know if its a normal amount (kind of like when dogs shed) or if they're undergoing their first molt. But it seems kind of early to me since they practically just got their feathers.

So what's the earliest that geese (on average) can begin to molt?

If its not molt and their shedding is normal, how will I be able to tell when they are molting? Will they have bald spots?

 

[larkflying]

Geese molt in the spring / early summer, after their goslings are hatched and mostly grown. (at least, here in my climate they do) My goslings last year molted right after they got all their juvenile feathers as well -- so I would figure that yours are just doing the normal goosey thing. My adult geese are losing feathers all over the place -- seems like they start with wing feathers, or maybe they end with the wings and I just didn't realize they were molting their other feathers in such quantities. You notice the wing feathers the most because they are so large. My goslings are younger then your goslings, so they will probably molt before the end of the summer, as they are still getting their baby feathers in. Although they are almost all feathered out, they are still smaller than their parents, so it make sense that they'd have to molt when they got full sized . . .

They don't usually have bald spots, but they have bumpy or rippled areas where the feathers don't lay smooth anymore, and some of my birds are growing darker feathers, so they have a spotted look.

They sure have a LOT of feathers! We enjoy watching the barn swallows play with them -- I think all the bird nests close to our farm are made with goose down and feathers . . . lucky baby birds!

 

[Going Bhonkers]

okay, thanks so much for answering!