Losing feathers and re-growing them is called molting and occurs every year when the days get shorter. During molt, chickens typically stop laying eggs and use this time to build up their nutrient reserves. Even though they are not laying, it is critical that your chickens have a high quality diet during this time.
At 15-18 months of age, and every year thereafter, chickens will replace their feathers . Feathers will fall out to make room for new feather growth. During this time, hens will stop laying eggs.
Do chickens lay eggs when molting?
Some hens will still lay a few eggs while others will completely stop until after the molting has finished. Once the hen has finished molting it will start to lay eggs again although not normally as many as it would in the spring before the molting started.
You don’t have to go crazy with some cutting-edge feed that’s guaranteed to make your chickens produce eggs the size of a garden gnome.
I have 1 chicken with a bare back and 1 chicken with bare spots on its chest and stomache area and have a reduced egg production. Chickenmommy, farmer kittytexaschickmama, wynedot55s6bee, ibpboo, chickenmommy, ibpboo, or mangled are a couple additional items to examine.
While I was writing we ran into the question “Do chickens eat less while in molt?”.
Some believe that in addition to a decrease in activity, your molting chicken may eat and poop less as their metabolism generally slows down. With that, their combs and wattles will also shrink and become less brightly colored – a sign that also coincides with egg laying patterns.
How to make high protein treats for molting chickens?
Pack the protein Just like humans, birds need a different diet depending on their current activity or life stage. Keep stress low While on vacation, people generally want plenty of comfort and room to relax. It isn’t so different inside the coop during molt. Transition back to layer feed.