Hi Marlene (I am Marlene also)
> This is their first year with the birds and they have already gathered eggs and learned that when the weather gets colder the chickens stop laying. But I am asking why the chickens feathers fall out, I think my granddaughter said they lost feathers just around their heads when they stop laying.
the cold itself does not stop the chickens from laying, usually it is because of the limited daytime hours, when there is less than 10 hours of light, their internal clock signals to stop laying. This can be counter-acted by providing additional lighting. While most people choose to simply have a light go on early in the morning before the sun comes up, this did not work for me, and I find it a lot more practical to leave the lights on into the night, I have a timer and as the sun goes down the lights in their coop comes on, this allows them to eat and drink a bit later and most of them do retreat to their nighttime roosts even with the lights on, some will roam around and continue to eat/drink. I then go out later in the evening and turn the lights off myself to make sure everybody is where they need to be.
If your granddaughter's chickens were born this year it is a bit unusual for them to go into a molt, ie losing feathers. When chickens go through molt they generally stop laying because they need for the nutrients to go into growing feathers and there is no extra nutrients left for laying eggs. If the chickens are only losing feathers on their heads, it could be that they don't have enough space or a busy rooster and are losing feathers through pecking. They will also make sure that their hens do not have mites as this is very common and will also lead to decreased production.
hope this helps,
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