Molting and loss of appetite

[Mrskrieg77357]

Is loss of appetite common when chickens molt? My three hens (2.5 years old) are all in different degrees of molt. Over the past two weeks their appetites have reduced. They aren't even tempted by their favorite foods--mealworms and scrambled eggs. I also noticed their poo has become watery. Other than these two symptoms, they seem fine. Very active, no discharge from nose or eyes. Empty crops in the morning.

I don't like to casually dismiss my girls' off behaviors, so I'm curious if others have had a similar experience with their hens at molting time?

Thanks

I’m going through this two but only with my original 5 ameraucaunas. I got them in June 2020 and a lot of them are a bit rough looking i maybe get 1-2 eggs a day out of the five. I’m thinking about adding oyster shell to their diet but other than that I’m not sure what else to do. They free range all day and put themselves up at night I feed them scratch once a week and my husband gives them a little cracked corn every morning. Their feeders get filled up with egg laying pellets and I see someone else said their bag is lasting them an extra 2 weeks so is ours.

 

[chickenmomandmygirls]

Same here in Central Maine. Most of my girls molted late Spring. I treated all my girls the same. For watery feces: few drops of juice from minced garlic in their water, changing it to fresh each day.

For watery feces, I made a mash. As they all want "in" !!! (keeping in mind treats should measure of 1-2 TBSP per hen) I made a BRAT mash treat for 3 days (banana, rice, sugar-free applesauce and crumbled toast) and placed it on a long 2X4. The watery feces slowed a lot and they all ate.

Guess what? 3 more are in late molt!! So I'm boiling the rice while I write. Good luck. No worries...they will be back to eat as normal.