Moulting.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

That's not the word for it is it.

You can tell I've not had hens before.

Three days ago, Pied was looking scared and droopy, and I thought that a cat must have got at her. But the feathers keep on coming out, and now Nero is also moulting.

they are banties... but... isn't it too early for moulting?

The shavers aren't moulting....

What do I need to know about moulting please? The practical stuff, not the theory....

[Seaweed]

Some of mine are moulting now. It is better they do it earlier or you end up with bald hens in freezing cold weather. They can get quite ugly. I have seen the odd hen that looks like an abuse case with no feathers. Mine thankfully usually just look scruffy. Bump up the availability of shell grit for them & don't expect them to lay many eggs. Not sure about the shavers as I have never had any. I think they are bred for a longer laying season as getting all moulted & regrown feathers before winter hits is not an issue in their designated function ( poor things :( )

[Wonder-Full]

Oh yeah I was wondering when mine might start to moult. I think mine started around March last year, only have one girl from that lot left though, so who knows this year what will happen - no sign of it yet though.

Mine just looked a bit mothy, but still had plenty of underfeathers, it was really just their long outer ones that fell out (they did look funny without a big busy tail end though).

They put all their energy into making new feathers, so definitely make sure they have a good protein rich diet.

[3monkeys]

I dont know anything about chicken moult but I used to work with penguins so know a bit obout penguin moult. Wonder how similar they are?

[Seaweed]

I've only seen the yellow eyed penguins when they are moulting & I guess I've also seen all the feathers blowing around outside the nesting boxes of the little blue ones too. The yellow eyed ones come into shore as they are no longer waterproof I think & sort of hang around looking worried. It may be just that the only one I saw moulting close up had 3 sealions snoozing on the rocks near it which would make me worried if I were a penguin. My guess is they probably don't eat much while they are moulting. With chooks, they pretty much carry on doing all their chook activities except they don't lay eggs as they are putting their energy back into feathers. Some then continue to stop laying until the day length starts to increase again.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Nero is looking absolutely pathetic today. Plucked, and no wonder she hides away as much as possible. She might not have a mirror, but I'm sure she knows exactly what the problem is...