I walked out to my chicken coop the other day and was met with this sight – Hei Hei the chicken from Moana! My first thought was What the

I walked out to my chicken coop the other day and was met with this sight – Hei Hei the chicken from Moana! My first thought was What the heck happened to you, little lady? and I started inspecting her for an injury. But she was walking and pecking around just fine, clucking just fine (pretty vocal actually), and eating and drinking.

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The weather here is starting to slowly cool down so the conclusion I’ve come to is that she’s molting. I know this happens about once a year, but this feels a little odd to me. Why is it only happening to one chicken? Anybody else ever had this happen?

I know the usual reasons for losing feathers are stress, improper diet, lice and other parasites, annual molting, broodiness, and being pecked on by other chickens. My other thought is that she was my Broody Betty back in August who wouldn’t get out of the nesting box for like three weeks until I finally blocked the boxes. That was my first experience with a brooding hen and I should have acted sooner but I kept thinking “She’s gotta give up on this any day now.” What makes sense to me now is that from all the time she spent laying on those eggs (like 23 hours a day-serious dedication!), she most certainly experienced reduced nutrition and thus her feathers have taken the hit. I’m hopeful she bounces back quickly so am giving extra treats for a bit to boost the fat and protein intake for her and the rest of the flock.