Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: martinsmith1953 on July 25, 2011, 16:23

Title: lost feathers
Post by: martinsmith1953 on July 25, 2011, 16:23

HI,Some of my chickens are loosing feathers around the tail and on the breast,Is this ok or have I got a problem  help please  Martin

Title: Re: lost feathers
Post by: Helenaj on July 25, 2011, 16:30

Have you checked them over for lice or other beasties? If they are clear of anything crawly then they are probably starting to moult - it is the time of year for it. Some lose loads of feathers and look oven-ready, others just a few. This is approximately a six week process and you will notice a drop in egg production as the hens will put all their available energy into feather production rather than eggs, but it will pick back up again once the moult is over.

If you do a search on this site for "moult" or "moulting" there's lots of useful info.