I am so disappointed!

This morning when I went into the girls everything was good and they all looked beautiful. I visited them several times again up until lunch time. After lunch both my husband and I went in to them and the first thing my husband said was to look at Dotty’s neck. I was so disappointed to see that it had been plucked again. I really thought we had got beyond this. It’s been two months now since Dotty started laying again after getting all her feathers back in after her moult and had up until now remained pristine.

Yesterday in the late afternoon we had a storm with torrential rain and fierce winds. Today it has rained relentlessly all day. I wonder if this has sparked this behaviour again. Bluebell and Dotty have also not laid any eggs for the last few days when they had both been laying every other day if not every day. I wonder if there is some connection.

I am so upset to see this as they have all looked so beautiful since getting all their feathers back after their moult. Bluebell never did get her neck feathers back and I was never sure if they never came back or got plucked out again straight away. It doesn’t show much on Bluebell though and I thought if all the other girls kept their feathers then I was happy with that.

Now I worry that this may continue to Dotty’s head again and to the little girl’s necks and heads. I really hope not but it’s going to be a case of wait and see. It would be such a shame as it’s been so lovely seeing them looking so beautiful.

I set about trying to take a photo of Dotty’s neck but it wasn’t easy to catch her with her neck stretched up and in fact took until bedtime to get the shot.

Bluebell’s missing neck feathers

Bluebell is easier to photograph and you can see her missing neck feathers which have been like that for almost a year now.

Look at Honey’s muddy feet

Amber also has those muddy feet

I now find the little girl’s the easiest to photograph because they love to be close to me and if possible on eye level. This makes them so easy to get good shots so if there are more of them that is the reason why.

Honey poses for me again

All the girls gather around the coop during the downpour

Amber in the coop

Amber doesn’t like the sound of the heavy rain and retreats to the coop. I love the way Dotty and Pepper inspect from the doorway.

Pepper’s close up

Pepper is still getting the last of her feathers through after her moult and has the little spiky feathers around her comb just like when her comb first grew. This gives her a quizzical look.

I got some good close ups of Dotty but not showing her neck

Dotty has missing neck feathers

At bedtime dotty likes to stand on the coop roof and stretch, at last giving me a chance to show her neck. There is a v shaped bare patch under her beak. I really hope it doesn’t get any worse than this but we will have to just wait and see. I know from past experience that there is nothing I can do to stop this, I have tried everything before. I just have to hope for the best.