The colour of my girl’s combs

During the moult and the subsequent withdrawal of egg laying, the girl’s combs were very pale. The bantys were the first to start their moult and stopped laying four months ago. Dotty was next and stopped laying for two months. Once feathered up again her comb reddened and she resumed laying. Pepper was next to moult and hasn’t laid for one and a half months and her comb is very pale. Bluebell seemed to moult one feather at a time and perhaps because she is my only hybrid, she never stopped laying.

In one of my recent posts I said under Honeys photo that I had noticed her comb was red again and yesterday for the first time in ages I saw her go to the grit. I wonder if she is going to start laying again soon. Amber’s comb is still quite pale but she may be a bit younger than Honey as she started laying two weeks later than Honey last summer.

Pepper still looks a little miserable with her moult.

Pepper looking quite sad

Dotty’s comb and wattles are a nice red colour

Pepper’s face and comb are very pale compared to Dotty

Bluebell’s comb has remained red throughout the winter

A few days ago at first light I found Bluebell’s blue egg next to her last tatty tail feather in the nest box. At last her ragged tail feather had dropped out.

Honey and Amber eating some warm mash

Honey is in the foreground and her comb is more red than Ambers. Another change I have noticed is that Honey’s feathers have changed again since the moult and what I call her peacock spots have returned to her back near her tail. These are dark spots surrounded by a pale ring. They disappeared after her moult but have gradually returned. She now has more spots on her back too but not as many as Amber.

It will be good to see Pepper finish her moult and get back to her happy self again. If hers lasts as long as Dotty’s it should be just another two weeks. I hadn’t expected the moult to be as late as this but I have been reading of other peoples girls going through the same so it seems it isn’t unusual. I think we are all looking forward to the spring.