Naked Chickens

Well it's happening again, the chickens are molting.

Last year Tootsie was the first and around the same time of year.


Here's Ginger looking completely disheveled;





I was surprised to see the girls out of their coop. This picture was taken while they were messing around in the compost pile. While molting they seem to feel......down, or something. Not really their perky selves. I don't know if it's because it takes so much out of them to form new feathers or if they just feel their unattractiveness.

You can see Ginger's feathers starting to grow back. You can also see how naked her neck is.





Here's a photo of Ginger looking "normal."




Normal for her anyway. Since she's at the bottom of the pecking order she gets pecked at by the other two hens. Ginger is an Araucana. She's supposed to be giving us blue or green eggs. She gives us brown. (I guess she has a mind of her own.)
She might not be as pretty as Tootsie or Jelly Bean but she's an interesting and entertaining hen, that's for sure.

I hope they get over their molting soon. We haven't had eggs from them in weeks and have even needed to buy some! (Horrors!)


All three last year....from the left; Tootsie, Jelly Bean, and Ginger.