Understanding the Autumn Molt

Understanding the Autumn Molt in Backyard Chickens

With the coming of autumn, leaves aren’t the only things falling

You may have noticed some of your flock members dropping feathers Every year, the sight of suddenly nearly naked chickens causes panic for new chicken owners

Birds, almost overnight, start looking like a strong wind came and left them stripped!

Although it seems alarming, chickens could naturally lose their feathers in autumn during their MOLT

A molt is the shedding of old feathers, to make way for new ones In the same way humans shed skin cells daily and reptiles and crustaceans shed their old skins,

VIDEO: Why Do Chickens Molt?

How to Help Your Chickens Through a Molt

Have you noticed that your chickens start to lose some of their feathers late in the summer every year? A couple times a year, chickens go through a process called molting where they lose feathers and their egg production drops off Molting usually happens in adult birds twice a year (in the fall and spring) as the amount of daylight changes

Chickens go through several molts as they grow Their first molt happens when they lose their baby down and grow in feathers when they’re only about a week old Then they molt again around eight to twelve weeks, and