when chickens moult...

...what happens to their feathers? I know it sounds a stupid question, but bear with me please.

I've not had chickens before and I have read that when they moult, they sit about feeling sorry for themselves and dont lay much. fair enough. I think a couple of my hens are going through a moult, they certainly look like it.

BUT what happens to all the feathers when they fall out? I've not found any!! Well, maybe one or two, but certainly not the amount they seem to be losing.

Can anyone enlighten me, please? :cnfs:

 

If it's a heavy moult, in the morning the hen house will look like a fox attack, there will be that many feathers everywhere. Some chickens drop very quickly and look half bald, others do it more genteely instead of the full frontal nudity! If they're the latter, then there won't be that many feathers lying around, but there will be some. There's a link between heavy moulters and egg laying production, but I can't remember the correlation though.

Like you said, they feel sorry for themselves and it's advisable not to pick them up too often - the quills growing through can be tender when touched. Give them extra food and vitamins. The moult is actually a very stressful time for chickens.

Normally they do it in late autumn, so perhaps it's only a partial moult? Shock, coming out of broodiness or just a change of weather can cause this.

They also eat the odd feather - this is normal, something to do with protein.

 

well, they did ALL go sorry for themselves when the weather went cooler. i think the partial moult thing is probably whats happening to some of them. i rarely pick them up, so thats not an issue.

one of them came to us a couple of weeks ago and was very stressed at her old home. she even plucked other chickens and her own bottom! but she's settled in ok (our bantams wont take any nonsense) and the feathers are growing back.

do the vitamins go in the water?

 

Yes, vitamins in the water, depending on what you have. We use Poultry Spice which goes in their food, but that's more a pick me up.

You should be picking them up, if only to check for problems - mites, lice, any skin issues, at least twice a week. Ours are happy to be petted now and it makes looking after them a lot easier.

 

oh ok, thanks