ANNUAL MOLT IN R. L REDS 17 



Table 8. — Annual Molt in Females, Production Stock Only, 1938-1944. 

 Time required and date of completion. 



Complete Wing Molt Incomplete Wing Molt 



Feather Region Number Average Date of Number Average Date of 



of Days Comple- of Days Cornple- 



Birds Required tion Birds Required tion 



Neck (Cervical) 135 



Breast (Pectoral) 98 



Thigh (Femoral 135 



Lower Leg (Tibial) 134 



Back (Dorsal) 135 



Wing Primaries.... 135 122.3 Dec. 6 142 



A comparison of tables 7 and 8 indicates differences in molting behavior be* 

 tween males and females. Females molt more slowly in the neck region and 

 more rapidly on breast, thigh, and lower leg. Both sexes shed their back feathers 

 in about the same length of time. Females in the complete molt group were 

 about three weeks later than males in shedding all wing primaries, but less than 

 half of the females had completed wing molt by the end of December. 



For the most part, males generally completed the shedding of feathers earlier 

 than females. This observation does not hold for thigh and lower leg regions. 

 Males had completely molted their wing primaries by the end of October, while 

 females did not complete their molt until December or later. 



BODY WEIGHT DURING THE MOLTING PERIOD 



Production-bred females were again divided into two groups: those with 

 complete wing molt by the end of December and those with incomplete wing 

 molt. The graph for body weight of the two groups is presented in chart 2. 



The females in the earlier molting group declined on the average about .19 

 pound during October to a mean weight of 6.03 pounds. They began to recover 

 weight in November and by the end of the month were considerably heavier 

 than before the molt. After November 15 they increased rapidly in weight and 

 reached a final weight of more than 7 pounds by January 10. 



Females in the late molting group averaged slightly less in weight (about .20 

 pound) than the earlier group. There was an average falling off in weight of 

 about .14 pound in this group during October and the first half of November. 

 After November 15 there was a consistent and rapid increase amounting to 

 about .82 pound by January 10. 



In a general way these data indicate a slight falling off in body weight of 

 females at the time of most active molt. 



MOLTING BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO EGG PRODUCTION 



Molting in Different Feather Regions. — Production-bred females have again 

 been divided into two groups with respect to completion of wing molt. 



Table 9 shows no significant difference between the two groups of females in 

 number of days of laying and number of eggs laid while molting in the various 

 feather regions. The earlier molting group averaged to lay for about 72 days 

 while molting wing primaries, with a mean of about 30 eggs. Since the molting 

 of wing primaries is one of the last phases of annual molt, it is apparent that 

 production-bred birds have the ability to lay when the molt is well advanced. 



