A little update from the farm-now with pics

So many people have requested updates & I've been slacking.
I'm going to post pics later but everyone's favorite chicken Sunny is molting again!!! She's bald from the back of her head all the way down her neck. All of the other girls are molting too except Marguerite. They all look pretty bad, but at least its not as cold as it was when Sunny decided to molt in January.
They don't lay eggs while they molt because feathers are made from protein & they don't have enough energy to grow new feathers and lay eggs. I actually had to BUY eggs last week
Hopefully some of them will start laying again before the days get really short. The amount of daylight has a big effect on the number of eggs they lay. In commercial egg production plants they keep the chickens in warehouses with bright lights 24 hours a day to keep their production up. It puts a huge stress on them and that is one of the reasons they have a such a short life span. They intentionally 'burn them out' making them lay a lifetime worth of eggs in a short amount of time, as soon as their production decreases they destroy them for use in other animal feeds or chicken by-products. When a female chick is hatched she has the cells for over 3000 eggs in her tiny body at that time. A healthy, free range, pet chicken can live as long as 15 years( its rare) and continue to lay eggs once in a while until she's an old lady.
This has been the first 'hard' molt for most of them and it probably indicates that they will be laying fewer eggs because they're getting older. They will be 3 years old in March.
On cold windy days like today they spend most of their time snuggled up together under our deck or under bushes to stay out of the wind. They do not like to stay in their coop during the day. They only go inside when they want to lay an egg or when it gets dark.
The coop is insulated & has double pane windows like a real house. When it gets extremely cold we use a small heater to warm it up a little bit for them at night. Its important not to make it too warm because they will not be able to acclimate to the cold daytime winter temps. We also change their diet in the winter, they eat more corn because a high corn diet raises their body temp, they also eat kale and cabbage that I grow for them to replace the grass and other plants they eat the rest of the year.
I'm going to try to get some pics of their funny faces when it warms up a bit today.

As promised a couple of pics

Genevieve is looking terrible, she's so small without her beautiful feathers

Sunny with her naked neck

Message edited 10/22/2008 10:05:33 PM.

Re: A little update from the farm

I love reading about your chickens..

Re: A little update from the farm

Posted by Blu-ize

I love reading about your chickens..

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

Me too I love reading it...it's like Little House on the Prairie or Anne of Green Gables You know they could have their own show like Meerkat Manor!!!

I didn't know that about the light in the hen houses That is just awful .

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

Posted by KellyFG

Posted by CaseyGirl

You know they could have their own show like Meerkat Manor!!!

I would LOVE that!!!!

You could...you should pitch it!!!!!

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

the girls are pretty entertaining but Meerkat Manor has all of the juicy love triangle stuff. I'd have to get a rooster I think!!!

If most people had the opportunity to observe chickens, they'd be amazed by their social structure.

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

I still think they're beautiful girls, molting and all.

Thanks for your threads, Kelly, I really do enjoy them!

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

So a little follow up, Its official Marguerite is now molting too! She's got a big bald spot on her neck today.
The good news is I think Olivia is done, she has the least feathers normally, I think she's grown them all back & today she squated for me! When they squat they think its time to mate & they'll only mate if they are feeling like laying eggs-unlike us they don't like to get laid for fun, just to make babies And since they think I'm their rooster/mother/leader they squat so I can 'mate' them. Which really just is a really nice back rub.
I'm known around the chicken coop as McLovin

So hopefully Olivia the super chicken will start laying again soon.
There are all sorts of whacky things happening in the coop since they've been molting. You guys might remember me saying that the other girls bully Olivia a lot & she usually sleeps on the floor by herself, since she started molting she's been sleeping in one of the nests. Genevieve has been sleeping on top of one of the nests because i guess they were bullying her too. They get really cranky when they're molting because besides being cold its uncomfortable for them when the new pin feathers grow in.
seven girls all cooped up & PMSing

Re: A little update from the farm-now with pics

Posted by KellyFG

So a little follow up, Its official Marguerite is now molting too! She's got a big bald spot on her neck today.
The good news is I think Olivia is done, she has the least feathers normally, I think she's grown them all back & today she squated for me! When they squat they think its time to mate & they'll only mate if they are feeling like laying eggs-unlike us they don't like to get laid for fun, just to make babies And since they think I'm their rooster/mother/leader they squat so I can 'mate' them. Which really just is a really nice back rub.
I'm known around the chicken coop as McLovin

So hopefully Olivia the super chicken will start laying again soon.
There are all sorts of whacky things happening in the coop since they've been molting. You guys might remember me saying that the other girls bully Olivia a lot & she usually sleeps on the floor by herself, since she started molting she's been sleeping in one of the nests. Genevieve has been sleeping on top of one of the nests because i guess they were bullying her too. They get really cranky when they're molting because besides being cold its uncomfortable for them when the new pin feathers grow in.
seven girls all cooped up & PMSing