I feel so sorry for Dotty as she is having the worst moult of all my girls. Dotty is looking more ragged and tatty by the minute and when I pick her up to put her in the coop at night she is as prickly as a hedgehog because of her new feathers coming through. I handle her as gently as I can and wonder why she doesn’t go in herself so that she doesn’t need to be picked up.
A very ragged Dotty looking very sorry for herself
Dotty’s loose chest feathers
Up until now the moult didn’t seem to be having much effect on the girls but now poor Dotty is not quite her usual self. She is grumpy with the bantys and is pecking at them if they get near her in much the same way as Bluebell does, whereas usually Dotty is very tolerant with them.
When I went to the store cabinet for their late afternoon corn she didn’t jump to the coop roof like she usually does. She is usually first to the coop roof then the cabinet and often has her beak inside the cabinet door as I get the corn out. She still rushed to the corn but couldn’t seem to be bothered with the usual jumping. I am not worried about her as she is eating well and her comb is red it’s just that she doesn’t have her usual bounce.
I am giving extra protein to help the girls through the moult and I am sure she will feel much better when her feathers are through.
The bantys are now going into the coop at bedtime. The big girls still go to coop roof but it’s as if they are ready for me to put them in. If Bluebell is on the storage cabinet she will jump to the coop roof so that I can lift her down. Dotty sidles across close to me to be lifted down and Pepper sometimes goes in on her own and sometimes looks like she is going in then changes her mind and jumps to the coop roof for me to lift her down. It’s as if the big girl’s want me to lift them from the coop roof and I wonder if this has now become a habit or if they will start to go in on their own as the weather gets colder.
As the little girls have started going in on their own I am still hopeful but only time will tell.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Poor Dotty! She does look sad .
I must admit our old girl Clover is going through it and looks really old all of a sudden and usually looks a beautiful girl.
She is also going to bed earlier than the others which is unusual.
I always find it quite strange that they go through it when winter is coming on but Ian reckons it is because the new feathers are better quality for the winter.
She does look sad, poor girl. They say they moult now as in the natural world they would have their babies during the summer and now replace their feathers going into winter. I do feel sorry for Dotty though as she seems to be going through a more sudden moult than the rest of the girls. As such a vibrant member of the flock it’s difficult to see her not at her best!