For the past three months, I haven’t gotten very many eggs from my
hens. This is due in part to the time of year (shorter days equal less
eggs). In addition, my chickens are going through their
molt. Molting is basically when a chicken loses a percentage of their
feathers and regrows replacements. They don’t get naked, they just start
looking all scraggly and spend their time eating with abandon. They
eat more because regrowing feathers takes a lot of energy and nutrients.
Egg production has to take a backseat.
The first to go through it with the
Ameraucanas. The coop was festooned with white and grey feathers and my
blue egg girls looked like they needed a spa day. Now, their feathers have
all grown in and they are back to being the belles of the “back forty”.
My Rhode Island Reds, too, slowed way down in their egg production
but I was still getting one or two brown eggs each day. I didn't see many red and brown feathers, though. That’s starting to change. A few
brown feathers are showing up in the henhouse and over in the goat
enclosure where the Reds enjoy scratching for bugs. And I’m getting
fewer and fewer brown eggs. Now, I,m getting two blue eggs for every brown. Two weeks ago if I got any eggs at all they
were always brown.
This means my pretty girls are coming back online.These photos show just how pretty their plumage has grown back.
Ed Rovera
