# How long for feathers to come back?



## pinkforestcalling (Aug 13, 2015)

My roosters have overbred my hens and ripped all their feathers out. I am getting rid of my roosters.

How long will it take for the feathers to grow back on my hens?

I'm so tired of looking at their bare backs...it looks awful.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

It varies from one bird to another. You should start seeing new quills very rapidly.

If you had too many males then I'm not surprised the girls suffered for it. It isn't necessary to remove all of the males to make matters far better for the girls. Keeping one or two if you have at least ten hens should not be too many.

Of course that's assuming the males are mature and not under a year old.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

Feathers will regrow during molt. Generally it's recommended one roo per 10 hens. The older the rooster, the better.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I have one roo for 24 hens. He's in hen heaven! !


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

dawg, one of the reasons Silkie breeders did not pluck feathers to give a bird good line of site was due to the quills filling back in. Trimming meant the bird could see until molt when new feathers came back in.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

robin416 said:


> dawg, one of the reasons Silkie breeders did not pluck feathers to give a bird good line of site was due to the quills filling back in. Trimming meant the bird could see until molt when new feathers came back in.


Gotcha. I've never owned Silkies, only standard size breeds.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Yeah, well you had/have real chickens. I had/have foo foo birds.


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## pinkforestcalling (Aug 13, 2015)

Here's a little background info so maybe someone could offer some insight. I had 4 roosters and about 10 hens, so I adopted two roosters out. Then I adopted 10 older hens who mostly had stopped laying eggs thinking is would even out the rooster to hen ratio....so I had two roosters with about 22 hens. My roosters never started mating with the older hens for some reason. So none of them lost their feathers. However the original hens that I noticed their feathers missing started back in Feb. and it is now September and they are STILL missing their feathers. So my question is HOW LONG till their feathers come back??? No one really answered that question. I'm sure it varies....but everyone just said not that long. I got rid of my roosters yesterday. Now I can let my toddler in the yard with me without worrying.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

pinkforestcalling said:


> Here's a little background info so maybe someone could offer some insight. I had 4 roosters and about 10 hens, so I adopted two roosters out. Then I adopted 10 older hens who mostly had stopped laying eggs thinking is would even out the rooster to hen ratio....so I had two roosters with about 22 hens. My roosters never started mating with the older hens for some reason. So none of them lost their feathers. However the original hens that I noticed their feathers missing started back in Feb. and it is now September and they are STILL missing their feathers. So my question is HOW LONG till their feathers come back??? No one really answered that question. I'm sure it varies....but everyone just said not that long. I got rid of my roosters yesterday. Now I can let my toddler in the yard with me without worrying.


The 10 older hens that you had adopted and had mostly stopped laying; roosters can sense which hens are fertile or not fertile for reproduction and wont try to mate them. You're lucky that the roosters didnt try to eliminate the old non productive hens.
Your 10 younger hens were probably over mated by the sound of it. Check your hens and see if pin feathers are showing. If so, feathers will eventually grow. Feather regrowth times vary throughout the year. Here's a link for you from MPC, easy read:
http://www.mypetchicken.com/backyar...some-feather-loss-I-have-taken-care-H203.aspx


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## pinkforestcalling (Aug 13, 2015)

Thank you so much!


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