Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Both of my rooster are moulting. And I walked out my back door yesterday to a pile of barred rock feathers on the deck! My weird 2 year old Barred Rock that has never molted but has chewed half of her own feathers off is now moulting for the first time! Finally!!! She had a couple days last week that she clearly wasn't feeling well but had no symptoms that caused me to take action so I just let her lounge and drink. She ate very little for those 2 days then bounced back and is now eating everything in site. I hasn't laid an egg in a couple of weeks. I guess that triggered it for her but doesn't explain my roosters.

Yes, I was wondering if the weather might be a factor myself. I also have a hen that has been moulting for a number of weeks now, but I attributed it to her just being a weird one: she has always moulted "strangely", and at strange times. One winter she moulted all her head and neck feathers, this after she had done a full moult in the fall. Another spring she just blew out all her tail feathers.
If your roosters don't have parasite overload and they're eating and drinking fine, could it be that something stressed them? Any predators around your place lately? Sudden loud noises?

Jaye wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:42 am

Yes, I was wondering if the weather might be a factor myself. I also have a hen that has been moulting for a number of weeks now, but I attributed it to her just being a weird one: she has always moulted "strangely", and at strange times. One winter she moulted all her head and neck feathers, this after she had done a full moult in the fall. Another spring she just blew out all her tail feathers.
If your roosters don't have parasite overload and they're eating and drinking fine, could it be that something stressed them? Any predators around your place lately? Sudden loud noises?

No parasites. I'm sorta picky about that since they all like hanging around me lol. Both are eating fine. The only thing that seems to upset them is the broody hen's (and a third hen just joined the broody group yesterday )
They seem to stress when one of the other rooster's girls go broody. Like they are worried that the gene pool is about to shift lol.

My game banties always moult long before the big chickens and are usually finished by the first frost each year. But this is early even for them. I saw feathers float out of Sherman's tail when he flew up to the fence yesterday otherwise I would suspect a rooster fight.

I'm glad my weird girl is moulting. I won't need to try to hide her when people come over lol. The look of her half naked/chewed body always made me feel like a bad chicken owner!

I think you have ID'd your stressor ... a change in flock dynamics might just do it.
I know what you mean about feeling like a bad chicken owner when people see my chickens mid-moult. Especially if they ask,"What happened to THAT one?!"

Phoebe having her first adult molt at 2 years 2 months old. She has laid 5-6 eggs a week from 19 weeks old until 3 weeks ago non-stop. Poor girl deserves a break but it's hard to feel sorry for her molting in July! She will be laughing at her sisters naked in December.

She's an early contender for "Ugliest Moult'" contest!

Be careful she doesn't sunburn - not joking!

Poor girl, they look pathetic, but she may be the smart one, who needs a duvet in July ?

Lol she's trotting around in her bikini

Ha! Ha! They do look so ugly when they moult.