Sunday, September 24, 2017

A'Molting We Will Go

Holy toledo.  You should see the chicken coop.  What a feather mess.


And this picture does not do it justice.  I've not cleaned it out yet, waiting for the feather party to slow down.  I may now be able to safely clean without getting a brand new feather-fall immediately following.  Plus, temps have been abnormally high for late September, so I've promised the girls a fresh coop later in the week when the weather moderates.

And, of course, all this molting means no eggs.  The girls have been on strike.  Hopefully, production starts soon.  I really don't want to have to buy eggs.  NOT from the store, mind you.  I won't support the factory egg business, but from a "neighbor" about 10 minutes away.

The outside pen has been a flurry too.


The last we spoke of molting, Buffy was the most barenaked girl. 


This time Ruby Dee looks the most bedraggled.

bare spots on her back

By the way, I tried some leftover cooked rice on the girls.  Rubes and Jo attacked it with glee, while Sweet Pea and Buffy declined.  And, the other day all four turned up their noses at some leaf lettuce.  The donkeys gobbled it up.

Ya just never know with this bunch.

3 comments:

  1. My daughter's hens are molting also right now, their egg production has screeched to a stop !
    Poor girls...
    ~Jo

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  2. Same here! Looks like a feather mattress got torn up in the chicken lot. We are getting one, some days two, eggs now. The hens are pitiful looking.

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  3. My girls have not started their moult yet. I expect it to be anytime now and this will be their first moult (they don't moult in their first year but they are nearly 20 months old now. Rose and Vi have just come home from their holidays. They have been at a farm while we were away and I must say were looked after very well by a lovely lady who also had chickens, donkeys, horses, geese (I was in my element). They were so glad to get home though and were running around making sweet happy noises but Vi got too excited and we think she has sprained her leg jumping around!!

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