Toffee and Amber

Both yesterday morning and this morning I opened the coop to find an explosion of feathers. As they were dark I thought at first they were from Emerald who has been moulting for a while now but once I started picking them up I could see that they were from Toffee.

There were also feathers out in the run. The odd thing is that Toffee doesn’t look any different and yet there were handfuls of feathers and they were both large and small. This explains why Toffee isn’t laying at the moment, she stopped laying ten days ago.

It seems quite early in the year for the moult but the game birds had been broody through the summer hatching eggs for the farmer so I wonder if this makes a difference. Both game birds look sleek and beautiful despite me finding masses of feathers so it will be interesting to see how this progresses.

Emerald moulting

Toffee moulting

As you can see from these photos it’s difficult to imagine that I am finding handfuls of feathers. I wonder if new feathers have already come in. Their appearance doesn’t seem to have changed.

One advantage of them moulting early is that it may mean they will lay eggs when the other girls moult and stop laying but as this is my first year with these girls it remains to be seen if this is the case.

Amber meanwhile is definitely improving. As well as being completely back to herself behaviour wise her comb has got redder and her face looks slightly better. The other amazing thing is that she is starting to regrow her feathers. There are quills appearing on her head and neck.

Sparkle still has a bare bottom with no sign of any feathers coming in and Honey’s neck is also still bare with no sign of any feathers coming in. I think these girls will have to wait until they moult to get their feathers back. They are both laying eggs with Sparkle being our best egg layer and laying nearly every day.

I think Amber’s feathers may be regrowing because she isn’t laying eggs. She hasn’t laid for three weeks now since her face first swelled up. I think she is happier and healthier because she isn’t laying and it will be a bonus if she gets her feathers back too.

Amber has pin feathers appearing on her head and neck

Amber’s face is looking a bit better

Amber preening

While trying to get a shot of Amber’s face I often get this shot instead.

I have been thinking about taking her to the vet to see if her face could be lanced but as she is improving I think I will wait and see if she continues to improve. She seems happy and I don’t want to do anything that could set her back. I think she is getting better and that it’s something that will take a long time. Growing feathers seems to be a further sign of her getting better.