Moulting Time

[Brian Adam]

Our three little Hamburgs are moulting. Feathers all over the place. It's their first time I assume as we got them as young chicks last Oct. They've gone off the lay in the last 2 weeks, or at least two of them are, as we get only 5 eggs a week now. So maybe one of them is doing ok! 

I've been feeding them meat scraps as a protein supplement, which they love. But we hope they'll get over this period and start laying again soon. How long does the moult take? They do look a bit scruffy at the moment.

[Dinah Dunavan]

I'm pretty certain that a normal happy hen will moult and then stop laying for up to a couple of months. It is a natural rest period for them and should be encouraged. If you have hens of different ages and stages then they should moult and begin production at different times so if you're lucky you'll only have a short time without eggs. My chook bible 'Backyard Poultry' by Glenys O'Byrne says

"During each summer, hens and roosters lose their feathers, growing a thick new coat to provide warmth for the approaching winter. The timing of this moult is dependent on the weather and the age of the bird.
Young pullets that commenced laying late the previous year - say after June - will not come into moult until late autumn (about April). A young pullet that came into lay earl the previous year - say January - will lay for about 14 months and probably start moulting about February/March...
If the birds sense a cold winter is arriving early, they will commence moulting sooner. ...
The birds that moult early are the ones to cull, as they will not be your best egg layers ...
Most birds will lay some eggs through the moulting period, but you can anticipate having few eggs from each hen for about 8-10 weeks, longer for the fat lazy ones."

Of course our hens (apart from last years' chick) are fat lazy ones, 5+ years old, but they still lay and I am resisting my husband's plans for their demise. The young one has stopped laying - or she has a new, very well hidden, nest. I'm hoping she starts laying again in a month or so so we have a little bit of cross over time.

[bec may]

a couple of our chickens went off the lay when we went away on holiday. (it coincided with one chicken being very clucky and us getting some fertilised eggs in for her...) we got back from holiday to found the fertilised eggs gone (still a mystery) and our chief layer on strike. almost 2 months later it appears she has started moulting. v frustrating as we've had to buy eggs!! we've checked them for pests, we feed them well, we love them and other than muttering 'chicken soup' to them to see if it will re-motivate egg production we don't know what to do either! any ideas?

[Megan Cook]

One of my layer hens did a moult. I panicked! Her behaviour initially seemed to be that of an egg-bound hen. I think it was only a matter of a couple of weeks or so before she was laying again. At the moment the egg count is definitely not the reliable 4 eggs a day from 4 hens, but I'm pretty sure she's one of the ones that is laying now. I think the non-layer might be another hen that was subsequently attacked by a dog.

[Cally Brown]

Once they start moulting, my brown leghorns don't start laying again until after the shortest day in June :(