Chicken Molting Explained: What It Is and How to Help

Author: Esther Donohue

If you are new to chickens you may be alarmed in the late summer/early autumn when you walk into your chicken coop and see it dotted with tons of feathers, your once fluffy chickens look sad, spotty, and featherless in spots.

The first time we experienced a hard molt, I think my daughter was traumatized, her favorite Beautiful Easter Egger (Lily’s 4H hen!) was almost completely naked, and the hen looked as if she just survived a predator attack. She looked tough.

If your flock is free from external parasites and has no signs of distress or sickness before feather loss, they are experiencing their first molt.

A process of replenishing old feathers and preparing for the cold winter months ahead.

Molting is a natural occurrence in chicken breeds, if you’re new to chickens and want to learn what chicken molting is and how to help your chickens, I have many years of experience in helping my hens survive this stressful time.

I’m going to help you understand what molting is, why all chickens experience this, how to feed them during molting for quick recovery, and how to reduce stress on your chicken flock during this time. 

If you’re an old timer like me, you will have survived many molting seasons.

That doesn’t mean you cannot improve your molting plan on how to deal with feather loss within your flock, being prepared for molting season will help lessen the stress on your backyard or homestead flock and help your hens recover faster and resume egg laying quicker.

First, make sure your chickens are molting

If you are not sure your backyard chickens are molting ask yourself a few questions before deciding if they are in their annual molt.

• 1. What season is it? Molting takes place in the late summer or early fall.
• 2. Are your chickens showing signs of external parasites? Learn to identify mites and lice, or fleas.
• 3. Do you have too many roosters and they are getting overall zealous with your hens?  Mating will remove feathers off your hens back.
• 4. If the season is wrong, are your hens experiencing unnecessary stress  (predator or environment)?  When chickens are stressed they will experience feather loss and behavioral changes.
• 5. Do you have adequate space for all the chickens? Overcrowding can lead to stress and feather loss.
• 6. Do you have a notorious feather eater? We had a feather eater in our flock and she would pluck other chickens and eat their feathers, this is due to diet (need to up the protein intake) or learned behavior and can be hard to break.
• 7. Broody Hens. If your hen just hatched eggs she may experience a molt right after when she resumes eating.
• 8. Pecking Order– a more aggressive hen or chicken may peck on other chickens to the point they are stressed and lose feathers.

If your hens are losing feathers early or mid-summer look at the above causes and find a solution to reduce their stress. Because more than likely they are not molting.

What is molting and why it occurs

Molting is completely normal to experience when owning chickens. It occurs naturally, it’s a way for your chickens to replenish old feathers with new fresh new feathers.

Think of it as “Out with the Old and in with the New”. This process occurs with nature as does egg laying, when daylight hours shorten and the weather starts to make a slight changes so does the chickens’ natural rhythm. 

Over the course of a year your hen’s feathers may become broken, dirty, and dull, no longer providing warmth or protection from moisture due to age.

Feather regrowth is a way of replenishing the only natural protection on a chicken’s body, their feathers. 

So molting is a completely natural process, so don’t panic, when you see naked chickens.

Each chicken will molt in a particular pattern, feather loss will start at the head, and neck area and move downwards, ending with the wings and tail feathers being replaced.

Molting usually occurs in the late summer and early/mid fall but it can occur anytime due to stress such as lack of fresh water, feed quality, and light conditions.

There are 3 stages of molting in a chickens life.

• First Juvenile Molt ( 6-8 days of age)
• Second Juvenile Molt (7-12 weeks of age)
• Annual Molt (occurs in adult birds and every year)

And two types of Molting

1. Soft Molt
2. Hard Molt

First Juvenile Molt

This baby molt as I call it happens when a newly hatched chick ages and starts to lose their downy soft feathers and get their more mature feathers.

This occurs when they are between 6 to 8 days of age and is finished when they are around 4 weeks of age. 

You can notice the change as your baby chick matures, as their fluffy softness is replaced by feathers with harder shafts. 

Second Juvenile Molt

Occurs between the ages of 7-12 weeks old. This is when you will be able to distinguish if your chicks are roosters or hens.

 I like to call this molt the “Ugle Stage” When the second molt happens your baby chick will look odd, their small feathers will be replaced with much larger feathers, and these feathers will be with them all year until their first annual molt in the following year.

Annual Molt

Happens when your chickens hit maturity which is around 16-18 months of age.

Depending on when your chicks were hatched or the age of purchase they may not molt the first fall you have them, but in the following year. The annual molt will happen every season after maturity. 

Types of Molting

A soft molt happens gradually and you may not even notice it, a chicken will slowly lose her feathers and they are replaced as they are lost.

This is probably the ideal way for your chickens to molt, but as a chicken owner you know very rarely do things happen the way you would like. A soft molt is less stressful on the chickens.

Hard molt is more stressful on the chickens and happens when feathers are shed fast and quickly.

The chicken will become stressed due to the increase in protein they need to regrow those lost feathers.

Signs of Molting

Losing feathers is not the only sign your chickens are experiencing their annual molt. Here are some other signs to look for.

• Loss of appetite
• Waddles and combs may become pale and sharing in size
• Less active
• Pin feathers growing in
• Decrease or stop in egg production

How long does the annual molt last

Your molting chicken will lose and regrow feathers over a period of 6-8 weeks on the short side, with the molting process lasting up to 12 weeks.

This depends a lot on your breed, and the nutrients your chickens receive before and during fall molt. Your climate will also play a role when your chickens molts.

How to help your chickens during molting and get them back to egg production

There are a few ways we prepare for the molting season on our homestead. 

We have these on hand and ready to start feeding mid-summer and into winter.

• Black oil sunflower seeds (supply oils and methionine (a amino acid proven to help regrow feathers)
• Chicken feed  a higher percentage of protein, such as growers feed which has higher protein than layer feed.
• Extra protein scrambled eggs, meat scraps, or even cat food!
• Protein-rich treats  meal worms, bugs, or flock blocks

As your chicken molts their body undergoes great stress. Since feathers are made up of 85% protein, a chicken will use up all their resources to produce new feathers.

Which will lead to a decrease in egg production (also caused by shorter days, so add artificial light to your coop). 

 This is why molting chickens need a diet with enough protein. But be careful not to overfeed protein or make a sudden change in feed this can cause stress on your chicken’s GI tract. 

When introducing a new feed do so gradually and mix with their regular feed, so you don’t shock their systems. 

As the molting period continues, you will want to feed a mixture of the above feeds to increase your chicken’s essential nutrients, which will hopefully ease their stress when regrowing their new feathers.

It’s a good idea to start feeding these feeds before molting occurs, if possible. 

• Keep a quiet and calm environment, the less stress your hens experience the more likely they are to recover quicker.
• Reduce stress and remove mean chickens if they start to peck at naked chickens
• If you see any wounds, care for them immediately
• Do not handle molting chickens, pin feathers (the new feathers growing in) are often sensitive.

Now if egg production has completely stopped during molting, it may not be from the molting process, in all our years we have never experienced a day with no eggs. We may get less but we always get eggs.

This is when you need to look at other causes, such as daylight if you live in a climate similar to ours (North Dakota, zone 3/4), you will need to add supplemental/artificial light in your coop. 

There are many causes of a drop in egg production so if you think something isn’t right, trust your gut.

Understanding pin feathers, the new feathers.

Pin feathers are the new feathers you will see growning back in place of where the old feathers fell out. They are extremly sensitive and have blood flow.

So if they break you will see bloody feathers, remove the hen right away and pluck out the bleeding feather.

Use a wpund spray and keep her isolated to prevent the other hens from hurting her further.

What can you do with all those beautiful feathers left behind?

Ontop my bakers hutch in my kitchen sits a beautiful feather wreath, made from our chicken’s feathers.

It took my kids a good two years to collect enough feathers to make that large wreath and its beautiful.

There are many uses for chicken feathers: wreaths, ornaments, earrings, bookmarks, floral arrangements and you can also sell them on etsy.

We still collect them to this day and keep feathers in storage for our next project. 

Common questions answered

Do all chickens molt?

Yes, all chickens molt! Regardless of their breed or color variety, every chicken will go through the molting process once they reach maturity.

It’s a natural and necessary part of their life cycle to maintain healthy feathers and overall well-being. While the timing and severity can vary, every chicken will eventually shed their old feathers to make way for new ones.

Can chickens change color after molting?

While these changes are often minor, they can give the illusion of a new look for your chickens after each molt.

Say a speckled variety, may experience a slight change to their spots making them appear larger and neck feathers on certain breeds may appear brighter and more vibrant. 

Do certain breeds molt faster than others?

Yes, High Production Breeds: Chickens bred for egg-laying, like Leghorns or Rhode Island Reds, tend to molt faster and more dramatically and Ornamental Breeds: Fancy feathered breeds like Silkies or Polish chickens may molt less noticeably but take longer to regrow their feathers.

Why is only one of my chickens molting?

There may be a few reasons for this. When were the chickens born? As discussed above age plays a part in molting, your other chickens may not be fully mature so they will not experience an annual molt.

Many factors may cause your chicken to molt sooner, including stress, environmental changes, its breed, age, broodiness. Read more about those above. 

If you have any more questions or concerns about your molting chickens feel free to reach out to me via email or commenting.

I’m always willing to help someone.