I think my chickens are moulting…
Either that or a white chicken has infiltrated the enclosure, then exploded. There are white (and black and grey and brown but they don’t show up as well!) feathers EVERYWHERE.
I am hoping that is why they’ve mostly stopped laying eggs… apparantly a couple of big reasons for decreased egg production are: lessening daylight hours (check, autumn!), lack of calcium (not true at this time, mine get plenty), broodiness (not the case here thank-anything-you-like, I KNOW what that looks like and none of mine are) and moulting. Hmmm. So, definitely 2 good reasons there. Nonetheless, it’s a bit sad to have 65 chickens and get 2 eggs a day. Not all 65 are hens, or old enough to lay, but still… probably almost 20 of them are. Get busy, ladies!
Here’s one of the hens my mother gave me… this is Goofy, a grey (or blue or lilac, I’m not sure what the ‘technical breed term’ for this colour is in this chicken, nor do I care) Polish bantam. Tiny. Cute. Easy to pick up – the pom-pom on it’s head doesn’t obscure her eyes, but does block her peripheral vision. A unique chicken.. how do you catch a unique chicken? U ‘nique’ up and grab it. Sorrry…
Posted on April 11, 2012, in Sight and tagged Catching chickens, Chickens, Chickens not laying eggs, Moulting, Polish Bantam. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Oh, God. My parakeets do the same thing! No matter HOW much I clean under the cage, there’s always a new blanket of feathers!
Oh no! Yes, birds are great, but they are SOOO messy!
I linked to your blog through your comment to my post on 3 Blind Wives. A fellow chicken fan! We have a much smaller backyard flock than you but I love them! My hubby calls them roving lawn ornaments because sometimes we just sit on the patio and watch them wander around. Yes, I really am THAT boring.
Chickens are fascinating! I can see mine from my room so like to sometimes lie on my bed and watch them like a teenager on the phone.. they do such weird things! Thanks for reading 😀