Speckles has been moulting forever! She has also had a really poor year as far as egg laying goes.
Last year she laid 27 eggs which isn’t a great total. This year she has only laid 12 eggs. In March she laid 3 and in April she also laid 3. She laid 4 in May. She then took a month’s break in June and started to moult quite heavily.
Then in July she stopped moulting and her comb became red again. She then laid a further 2 eggs. I wondered if this was sparked by the heat wave we were experiencing at that time.
By comparison Ebony laid 24 eggs in August and Flame laid 25. These girls are amazing egg layers and are still going strong.
In August Speckles started moulting heavily again and has continued to moult ever since. She has very little tail left. Her head feathers are quite white and she has her usual feathers sticking out on her head. This is her trade mark and she has had these feathers sticking out since she was point of lay when we got her three years ago. They always return like this after her moult.
Speckles with very little tail
I do seem to have had some quirky girls. I have had really good egg layers and really poor egg layers over the years. It shows how different hens can be. For me though the eggs are not as important as having happy and healthy girls.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
My two Wyandotte bantams, who I assume are sisters, are totally different in terms of eggs. Penny is a pretty good layer and will lay every other day from March until Early August and then again for a month from late August. Whereas Amy laid 3 eggs in 2016, two last year and none this year! They’re 5 and a half.
It is odd how even siblings can be so different. Wow Amy makes Speckles look amazing! I had a similar experience with my wyandotte bantams. Sparkle who was silver laced laid really well but Topaz who was gold laced only laid a couple of eggs a year or none just like Amy.
Speckles look funny, but cute with her little tail.
I know! She ends up like this every year. First just one or two tail feathers and then no tail at all. At least she will be all feathered up before winter.
They do look really sorry for themselves when moulting; some of mine just seems to stand and stare – I suppose it really takes it out of them, moreso as they get older.
It does seem to take it’s toll on Speckles. She looks so sad.