When I wrote about caring for chickens in winter weather, I mentioned the struggles of sweet Snoopy, a California White hen who has combs and wattles to match many roosters and the stiffer feathers that tend not to pack quite as much padding under the primary layers.
These physical traits are indicative of breeds more adapted for warm climates, like their jungle fowl acenstors. And, of all of our girls, Miss Snoopy was clearly the coldest during the frigid days of late January 2024. Snoopy is normally a very social gal, always vying for treats and some pecking order respect. When the cold hit, her usual gusto and appetite were deflated.
As the days froze on, we watched them all closely especially cajoling Snoopy to eat throughout the day as well at bedtime, to make sure she primed her internal heater. Thankfully Miss Snoopy made it through the cold snap just fine. Her only wounds were some tiny hints of frostbite at the tips of her gorgeous, tilting red comb that have since recovered.
It was about a week after the freeze in early February that Miss Snoopy did something really dramatic—she started blowing off feathers left and right. White under-down, primaries, and long tail feathers were covering the chicken run like the white snow had a week or so before.
Why did Snoopy have a mid-winter mega molt, when fall is the usually time for it? I can really only guess, and my guess is that her system, following the stress from the extreme cold, hopped into emergency full-on-feather-reboot mode, as soon as it seemed safe to do so. Were we ever glad the crazy cold temps stayed away while she worked her way through this total regrowth.
By early March, Snoopy was looking fine and fresh, her pretty white feathers gleaming in the muddy spring months. She was walking proud again—full confidence and energy after directing all of her reserves to feather growth, while also feeling entirely naked.
If you have not experienced a flock molt yet, or a random emergency molt, or even if you have but were a bit overwhelmed and wondering what you should know for next time, here are some insights on how to help molting chickens:
When do chickens molt?
Age: chicken girls over 18 months will have two annual molts as seasonal light changes in the spring and fall. While we’ve noticed some feather shedding in the spring, the dramatic molts tend to land in late summer–late fall. These macro molts can take 7–8 weeks, sometimes less, sometimes more.
If raising from chicks, you’ll see the almost endless rounds of juvenile molts, when they need a larger wardrobe (because they are growing at the speed of light). Saving some of the chickie “tween” feathers from their early molts can be a charming and sentimental look-back, kind of like those locks your mom saved in your baby book.
Time of year: Again, usually the most pronounced molt is in the late summer–late fall, but as Snoopy has shown us, it can happen any time.
Going without food: When a hen sits on eggs for hatching, she’ll eat little to nothing. This fast of nourishment can trigger her to go through a molt once she’s off the eggs and back to eating again. Oprah had an early molt in August this year following a two-week broody stint in which (no matter how we tried) she kept running back to the nest box and neglecting nourishment. We don’t have a rooster, so these broody efforts are in vain, though we are gentle with our girls as they go through these spells and find ways to “break the brood” without stressing them out.
Is egg production impacted by molting?
In a word: yes! Molting means your hen must redirect her protein stores into growing new feathers, as a result her egg laying will likely stop for weeks or more. When Miss Snoopy started her molt in late January, she stopped laying until she was fully re-feathered in early March. Snoopy had provided eggs all through the winter leading up to the cold, as a California White she’s expected to lay more, but the molt stopped her egg production, as it should.
A few of our older girls had a big molt in fall before the cold snap and then mostly stopped laying until February. By early March and we collected 8–9 eggs in a day (with 10 laying hens), whereas the weeks before it had been collecting about 2–3 a day.
How does molting impact a hen’s well-being?
As far as I can tell, molting is humiliating and exhausting. Your girls might be jangly, jumpy, shy, or all of the above. Can you blame them? Imagine if an unhideable amount your clothes and hair vanished and there was nothing you could but wait for them to return over a period of weeks. While our hens are molting I notice them:
- head to roost well before dusk (and all their flockmates)
- eat less, and so poop less
- get picked on by broodmate sisters who are normally their allies
- run from me like I am a red-tail hawk
- run from everything like it is a red-tail hawk
- avoid vying for treats or any food to prevent pecking order hassles
- generally seem to be “hating it,” whatever it is.
It’s a massive hit to their mojo, both emotionally and physiologically, and their waning confidence shifts them down the pecking order. It doesn’t help that this molt often happens as seasonal temperatures are dropping, so your sweet girl is half-naked and it’s getting cold. Sheesh!
What should I know about new feathers?
The newly sprouted feathers, wrapped in the cuticle, are called pin feathers. As they first emerge they are very sensitive or tender.
If you have a girl who likes a snuggle, she might rather be left alone during this time. Our Buff Orpington, Oprah, has a muscular deformity in her right leg that slows her down some. We will often carry her to the run at the end of day, as others scurry under our feet for their end-of-day snack. When Oprah is regrowing during molt, she is very sensitive. She still seems to like the lift, but she really needs a light touch or she’ll give us some real guff.
This sensitivity is important to consider when handling chicks or pullets, because they are constantly growing so they are constantly re-feathering. While you may want to handle your young girls to keep the comfortable with human interaction, remember that light touch.
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Once the feathers come back in, it’s time to preen, preen, preen. The new pin feathers must be cleaned of the covering cuticle so that each feather can reach its full fluff and warmth support.
Of course there are exceptions to every rule! Our sweet Phaedra, a Welsummer who has a malformed beak, had a very hard time with her last molt, because her beak is not shaped well to preen off the cuticle. On cold, dark night in November, it was time to bring Miss Fay-Fay in for a little spa treatment to help with the preen and release her downy under feathers to be fluffy and warm.
That was an unusual case of helping, and we were happy to do it. In terms of usual things we can do to help molting chickens, here are a few ideas:
- Consider a higher protein feed: We like the Nutrena Naturewise 18% Feather Fixer. Some sources encourage boosting to 20%.
- Supplement: black oil sunflower seeds or meal worms offer a great boost in protein.
- Allow time for free-ranging so your girls have access to all sort of good high protein treats like worms, grubs, and maybe small reptiles
- Keep it calm and feather on: Keep stress levels to a minimum (always a good practice) and avoid big changes (if you can) like integrating new birds or moving run location. Keep it simple while your girls dig deep and re-beautify themselves
- Basics, basics, basics: food, water, shelter, y’all. Ensure food levels are adequate and in a few locations to prevent competition. Keep water fresh and full. Ensure houses are not drafty for your half-naked gals. Make sure there is enough “personal space” for all of your girls so those who are tribulating through their molt can segregate, should they want to.
Some of this is common sense and some of it is hard-earned insight. There’s always more to learn, but most of all it’s acing the basics. If you have those nailed, your chickie girls can usually do the rest.