# Can she be molting?



## jstringerrn75 (Oct 24, 2015)

My girls are just about a year old. Today I noticed one of my Bantam Brahmas looked different. Upon inspection, she has definitely lost her leg feathers and her tail feathers look much shorter. There are a lot of features in an area one of my brahmas was dust bathing in yesterday.

I thought molting usually happens in the fall, but I have read in books, etc. that a first molt happens at 12-18 months of age.













She's the one on the left


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Have you seen any feathers on the ground? If not, it's not molt nor would it be external parasites. Most likely she would be picking and eating her own feathers or one of the others is a feather picker and eating the feathers. If that's the case, they may need extra protein in their diet such as 22-26% gamebird feed given to them for about a month, then wean them back to regular layer feed.


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## jstringerrn75 (Oct 24, 2015)

There are feathers on the ground and in the coop


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Birds can have mini molts at various times during the year, which this might be the case. Inspect her for lice/mites, especially around the vent area if you havnt already done so.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Here in Ohio,my chickens molt in the spring and fall.In the spring they loose their winter feathers and grow lighter summer feathers and the feathering isn't thick.In the fall they have a heavy molt and loose the light feathers and grow the thick,heavy winter feathers.Last year the molt was very,very heavy and it worried me,I thought that was a sign of a horrible winter coming.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I do like Dawg and see if there's feathers all over the place. Cute hen!


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