Hens are a year and a half and still haven’t molted?!

[Traffie Chickens]

Hi everybody! So we have 7 hens all are about a year and a half old, and they still have never molted! The breeds we have are, Pearl white leghorns, and Red stars. Is this normal?

 

[DobieLover]

Hi everybody! So we have 7 hens all are about a year and a half old, and they still have never molted! The breeds we have are, Pearl white leghorns, and Red stars. Is this normal?

They probably haven't started yet.
I've also had birds that would skip a year and not molt until the following season.

 

[Traffie Chickens]

They probably haven't started yet.
I've also had birds that would skip a year and not molt until the following season.

I read online that every chicken molts around there second summer? Is that true?

 

[DobieLover]

I read online that every chicken molts around there second summer? Is that true?

They molt in late summer, early fall. And as I wrote, I've had hens that have skipped a year of molting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I read online that every chicken molts around there second summer? Is that true?

Some people control the lighting which throws chickens off of their "normal" cycle. And sometimes other things can happen.

The way chickens evolved is that they lay eggs and hatch chicks during the good weather months, then lose their feathers (molt) when the days get shorter in the fall. The trigger for the molt is the days getting shorter. Since the days start getting shorter at the summer solstice (June 20) this is typically late summer/early fall. They quit laying and use the nutrition that was going to make eggs to make feathers instead.

Some (not all but some) chickens skip the molt their first late summer/fall and wait until the following fall to molt.

Some chickens molt their first fall. Some their second. It is perfectly normal for yours to not have molted yet. They probably will fairly soon.

 

[Traffie Chickens]

Some people control the lighting which throws chickens off of their "normal" cycle. And sometimes other things can happen.

The way chickens evolved is that they lay eggs and hatch chicks during the good weather months, then lose their feathers (molt) when the days get shorter in the fall. The trigger for the molt is the days getting shorter. Since the days start getting shorter at the summer solstice (June 20) this is typically late summer/early fall. They quit laying and use the nutrition that was going to make eggs to make feathers instead.

Some (not all but some) chickens skip the molt their first late summer/fall and wait until the following fall to molt.

Some chickens molt their first fall. Some their second. It is perfectly normal for yours to not have molted yet. They probably will fairly soon.

Thank you for the information!

 

[Nym]

My Pekin bantam frizzle had her first moult this winter and she's 4yrs old.