Mrs Korma is bald

[AdorableAlice]

Is is normal for a chicken to moult rapidly at this time of year ?

Mrs Korma is virtually bald, I will have to knit her a cardigan.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

yes, well its a little late (the mild autumn may have delayed it) but she'll soon feather up. Give her some extra protein to help (e.g. meal worms), peas are good for moulting birds too, as are sunflower seeds.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Thank you, poor girl (she is a Suffolk Speckled) is quite a sight at the moment, she was fine on Thursday. I will get her some treats.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

some of them moult very dramatically poor things-she might not want to perch at night while the feathers come through, it must be uncomfortable for them for a bit.

 

[AdorableAlice]

She will have to cuddle up to Mrs Madras to keep warm. Do you think the others will suddenly moult as well ? None of them have through the year. Mrs Madras, Omelette and Scramble are just common brown hens.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

depends on when they were hatched, commercial hens such as yours are hatched year round so the timings may be slightly different if they are still only 18 months old or younger. They continually moult up until about 6 months old and then yearly in the late summer/autumn. Some moult by stealth and replace a very few feathers at a time, others drop everything and run around knickerless for a couple of weeks-most are something in between. I breed pure breeds so they ate hatched early in the year and POL October. They moult from August through to late October. I have had aruacana moult in November which is foolish 1200ft up in Scotland and I'd prefer them to do it earlier! I have some late (early september) hatched Minorca that are now 2yo and moulting at the normal time of year.