For the past four days I have been finding Emeralds feathers in the coop in the morning when I poop pick and in the run during the day. When she perches up at bedtime feathers flutter down from her and when she makes any quick movement in the run they flutter from her.
It seems very early in the year to be moulting. I looked back at last year and both Toffee and Emerald started to moult half way through July. The rest of the flock started to moult in August, September and October.
I wonder if the game girls moult earlier than the other girls. I also wonder if it may be that last year Emerald may have been broody at the farm where I got her from so she had had a break from egg laying, then while with me she laid only one egg, then started her moult. This year she hasn’t gone broody and has been a really good egg layer. She started laying in March and has consistently laid six days out of seven and her eggs are also the biggest of the flock.
Emerald laid an egg four days ago but before that hadn’t laid for seven days and before that was laying almost every day. I wonder if she just needs a break. Her comb and face are red and she seems in really good health.
The other thing about Emerald moulting is that she never seems to look any different. I find lots of feathers but she never has any bare patches. She is still looking almost as good as ever.
Emerald is moulting
Emerald’s tiny comb and face are still a good red colour
Her feathers are beautiful
I pick up at least this many feathers every time I go in the run. Her feathers have such a lovely sheen. Emerald is the picture of health so I am not going to worry about her moulting early.
Toffee started laying in April which was a month behind Emerald. She lays five days out of seven and her eggs are smaller. I think this may mean that she will start to moult later.
This is the earliest moult one of my girls has had yet. As long as she looks happy and healthy with a good appetite I am not worried, they are all quite different.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Oh, save those feathers. They would look lovely tucked in a wool hat.
Hadn’t thought of that. Her feathers are beautiful. Those weren’t the best just the ones I picked up at the moment that I went in to take photos of her.
That’s so weird, because my Speckles lost many feathers too. She’s also been in the box more often, so we left her eggs and our other hen’s egg in there in case she goes broody.
Meanwhile, Peach’s wings are horrible. We have a rooster who rips them out when he does his…ahem…”dance”. She’s gotta hate it, but she just shakes off and runs away afterward. Rooster doesn’t even touch Speckles though, probably because she scares him. (Little Dictator, err Chicktator
Just in case anyone knows, do the wing feathers grow back? She hasn’t ripped flight feathers, it’s more on the inner part of her wings. (and we’ll probably get rid of the roo, but I’m still attached to him 🙁 )
I love Emerald’s feathers. I have a feather collection going with everyone’s feathers in a jar too! 😉
Emerald is the only one having a proper moult but I have found some feathers from some of the other girls. I think they all lose some here and there.
Poor peaches, I don’t know if the wing feathers will come back. She may have to wait until she moults to get them back in. I am glad I don’t have a rooster, I would find that hard to watch even though it’s nature’s way.
Oh poor Emerald. Still get it over with now as you don’t want them all mounting together.
Jillien … Yes I’m sure they do all grow back , last year Clover lost nearly all her feathers and looked like a battery hen. They all grew back and she looks stunning .
Emerald doesn’t seem to be suffering from it though, she looks good, red comb and plenty of appetite. I think you are right, it may be better to not to have them all moult at once. It does seem a bit early in the year though.
I have had them start to moult in June, but not quite as early as this! Main thing is that she seems to be fine and unlikely to turn broody, as you’d anticipated. My white silkie does a mini-moult every time she comes out of a period of broodiness. She’s currently sitting on a clutch of eggs; I managed to find a home for the cockerel last weekend, so thought I’d see if we could hatch any chicks.
That’s reassuring as it does seem very early. She is in the peak of condition though which is good to see after my scare with her last year with her gaping. At that time her face was white whereas now it is red and she is full of vigour. She has had a few spats with Barley though so I think she is showing that she is maintaining her pecking order above Barley. She actually pinned Barley down and grabbed the back of her neck. It’s awful to see, a girl that I think of as such a sweetie, (and a favourite if I’m honest) behaving like this. Barley bounced back though and no harm done. It’s better than pecking combs until they bleed which I have had in the past.
Keep me posted with your white silkie’s progress. They do like to keep us on our toes.