These tough Poly Founts are used for young chicks and/or quail. The 2 gallon fount comes with a small chick/quail base. The 1 gallon comes with a regular base used for baby chicks or similar size birds (but not good for baby quail). The 1 and 2 gallon base are interchangeable between the two founts.
Chickens will molt at about 18 months of age. Molting is where they loose all or some of their feathers and stop producing eggs. This is a natural shedding of feathers. Molting may take 2-4 months.