Saturday, November 5, 2011

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.


9 comments:

Southern Lady said...

Poor Ginger. I didn't know that they don't lay when they molt. I will have to ask my dad if this happens to his chickens! Hope she is back to normal soon! Carla

Randy Emmitt said...

Hope they grow back those feathers before it gets pretty cold there. Guess a break from laying eggs is well needed anyway.

Goneferalinidaho said...

Those chickens need sweaters!

GRACE PETERSON said...

I know I'm not as perky when I'm not looking my best. :) But then I don't have to grow my clothes either so I suppose feather-making can be serious work. One of my coworkers has chickens and she's always relating their silly antics. Such sweet creatures. Great photos!

Rosemary said...

It certainly is startling when the birds start to lose their feathers
, so not pretty .. Hopefully the laying will start soon nothing like fresh eggs..... from your own babies.

Barbarapc said...

Poor dear. And so hard to explain to her that it's just for a short while. I can understand how odd it must feel to buy eggs again for the next little while - my veggies have kept our plates full for the summer, and now that they're almost done, it just doesn't seem right having to buy them. May the girls have their feathers and egg production back very, very soon.

Pat said...

Disheveled yes but happy.
Sure do have some pretty colors in their feathers.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Hope they will be warm in winter! Such pretty birds! I miss them.

François Xavier said...

Quand nous avions des poules à la maison, en Normandie, nous avions beaucoup d'oeufs que si il y avait un coq dans le poulailler, il paraît d'après les secrets des grands mères, que la présence d'un coq facilitait la ponte des poules... C'est, semble t-il, très motivant pour elles !!
Bisous
FX