Post by Kickingbird on Jan 18, 2004 0:15:46 GMT -5
Caring for chickens during the molt.
By Kickingbird
The end of summer/ beginning of fall is a hard time for our chickens. They have been through a hot summer of breeding, laying eggs, hatching and rearing chicks and now they must replace their coat of many colors with a brand new set of feathers. If you are new to raising chickens you have probably noticed you chickens losing feathers at an alarming rate. Don’t fret, this is their normal yearly feather replacement, some may even become almost totally bald, looking like a chicken that just got picked and ready to put in the oven. don’t worry about them though, most chickens are not shy and don’t embarrass easily.
In general most chickens will come through the molt with no problems in 6 to 8 weeks and will be looking like you just replaced you flock with a nice new set of chickens. However there are several things for you, their keeper, to consider that will help them come through the molt without a hitch.
First and foremost, chickens in the molt don’t feel well! They are full of blood feathers that are very sensitive. If you notice that your favorite chickens don’t want to be handled in the molt don’t worry they will return to their normal disposition after they have their new set of feathers. Handle them as little as possible, if you must catch them to medicate or change pens do it at night and catch them gently. Don’t let your chickens pick on each other. If you have some chickens that just don’t like each other and won’t stop harassing one another then separate them at least until their feathers start to dry down. Before this point (when the feathers are still in the blood quill stage) a broken feather can mean loss of blood and possibly a damaged feather follicle. If a blood feather gets damaged, the best way to handle it is to get a pair of pliers and pull the base of the blood feather out. This will stop the bleeding and start the growth of a new feather. Be careful not to damage other blood feathers as you do this. You will notice that if you hold a birds leg that is in the molt it will feel hot to the touch, this is due to fever. The shank of a healthy chicken that is not molting will be cool to the touch.
Second is nutrition, it has been shown that the lack of certain volatile fatty acids in chicken diets can be a cause of poor feathering characteristics. Feed companies spend thousands of dollars every year on research to find out exactly what animals need during certain periods of their lives. This is of great advantage to the small farmer as we don’t have to directly pay for that research and for a mere $10.00 we can go buy the end product of that research in a pellet form that gives out birds total nutrition in EVERY bite. If nothing else I recommend using game bird breeder pellets during the molt then changing back to your regular feed if you mix your own. If game bird breeder ration is not available in your area I would recommend a 16 to 18% layer or broiler mash, broiler being my last choice. Feeding cracked corn or scratch grain just because it is the off season will not cut it, you will pay with your birds health in the following year.
Last but not least DON’T FORGET THE WATER! This should go without saying but in the off season when a person don’t spend a lot of time with their birds sometimes the waterers go dry before the end of the day. Don’t let this happen to your chickens. The most important nutrient to every living thing is water. During the molt your birds immune system is stressed, they don’t feel good, and their bodies have a lot of work to do replacing feathers. They must have water to stay healthy and come though the molt properly.
By Kickingbird
The end of summer/ beginning of fall is a hard time for our chickens. They have been through a hot summer of breeding, laying eggs, hatching and rearing chicks and now they must replace their coat of many colors with a brand new set of feathers. If you are new to raising chickens you have probably noticed you chickens losing feathers at an alarming rate. Don’t fret, this is their normal yearly feather replacement, some may even become almost totally bald, looking like a chicken that just got picked and ready to put in the oven. don’t worry about them though, most chickens are not shy and don’t embarrass easily.
In general most chickens will come through the molt with no problems in 6 to 8 weeks and will be looking like you just replaced you flock with a nice new set of chickens. However there are several things for you, their keeper, to consider that will help them come through the molt without a hitch.
First and foremost, chickens in the molt don’t feel well! They are full of blood feathers that are very sensitive. If you notice that your favorite chickens don’t want to be handled in the molt don’t worry they will return to their normal disposition after they have their new set of feathers. Handle them as little as possible, if you must catch them to medicate or change pens do it at night and catch them gently. Don’t let your chickens pick on each other. If you have some chickens that just don’t like each other and won’t stop harassing one another then separate them at least until their feathers start to dry down. Before this point (when the feathers are still in the blood quill stage) a broken feather can mean loss of blood and possibly a damaged feather follicle. If a blood feather gets damaged, the best way to handle it is to get a pair of pliers and pull the base of the blood feather out. This will stop the bleeding and start the growth of a new feather. Be careful not to damage other blood feathers as you do this. You will notice that if you hold a birds leg that is in the molt it will feel hot to the touch, this is due to fever. The shank of a healthy chicken that is not molting will be cool to the touch.
Second is nutrition, it has been shown that the lack of certain volatile fatty acids in chicken diets can be a cause of poor feathering characteristics. Feed companies spend thousands of dollars every year on research to find out exactly what animals need during certain periods of their lives. This is of great advantage to the small farmer as we don’t have to directly pay for that research and for a mere $10.00 we can go buy the end product of that research in a pellet form that gives out birds total nutrition in EVERY bite. If nothing else I recommend using game bird breeder pellets during the molt then changing back to your regular feed if you mix your own. If game bird breeder ration is not available in your area I would recommend a 16 to 18% layer or broiler mash, broiler being my last choice. Feeding cracked corn or scratch grain just because it is the off season will not cut it, you will pay with your birds health in the following year.
Last but not least DON’T FORGET THE WATER! This should go without saying but in the off season when a person don’t spend a lot of time with their birds sometimes the waterers go dry before the end of the day. Don’t let this happen to your chickens. The most important nutrient to every living thing is water. During the molt your birds immune system is stressed, they don’t feel good, and their bodies have a lot of work to do replacing feathers. They must have water to stay healthy and come though the molt properly.
