My ragged flock

Emerald and Toffee have been heavily moulting for weeks now but most of the other girls look ragged and ready for moulting with odd feathers starting to come out.

Emerald has quills on her neck

Emerald is scruffy and still losing feathers but you can see the white quills on her neck.

Toffee’s tail is growing

Toffee’s tail is growing back quite quickly and she isn’t so scruffy but also has quills on her neck.

Amber’s comb is healing

Amber’s tail feathers are very ragged.

Honey’s comb is large and she doesn’t actually look too bad apart from the bare patches on her head

Sparkle looks really good

Sparkle looks really good apart from her bare bottom but I have found long wing feathers in the run so she is starting to drop feathers.

Topaz looks good

Topaz looks the best of all but I have found an odd feather of hers and she is still not laying.

Peaches and Barley are always together

Peaches is getting quite brave

If I am still Peaches will come right up to me but it has to be on her terms. If I move towards her she will run away. Sometimes when I am cleaning up and she is on the table my husband says it looks as if she is going to tweak my hair.

I am finding feathers from the chicks too as they go through a partial moult while getting their grown up feathers in.

Amber plays dead in a dust bath

In the afternoon all the girls have a dust bath but seeing Amber like this I can understand how new chicken keepers think they have a dying chook. Amber plays a pretty good dead chicken and my husband said she looks just like road kill.

I am looking forward to my flock looking beautiful again after the moult and to having more eggs too.

And on a completely different subject, we have never grown these before, but they are looking great.

Radicchio lettuce

I don’t know what they will taste like but they are looking good.