Honey and Amber are now moulting with drifts of feathers flurrying from them with every movement. There are feathers in the coop in the mornings and I am constantly picking up feathers from the run.
The good news is that Honey now has pin feathers on her neck and head and Amber is just beginning to show some although not nearly as many as Honey.
Honey has pin feathers on her neck and head
Amber is just beginning to get a few pin feathers
It will be so good to see these two fully feathered again. I just wish Sparkle would get some feathers on her bottom. I don’t want her to go through the winter with a bare bottom but she is only losing the odd feather at the moment. I am so looking forward to seeing a fully feathered flock.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Oh, I so dread the molt. Chickens look so very sad. The last two years, Coco has done the ugly molt. This year, I’m finding a feather here and a feather there. So either she hasn’t really started yet or she’s going to do it nice and slow this year. Course, it hasn’t turned cold here yet so my gut tells me she hasn’t really started yet.
On the bright side, they are SOOOOOO beautiful and soft when they finish. I never cease to be amazed at how soft a freshly feathered chicken is.
I am lucky that none of mine have yet gone completely bare. They lose loads of feathers but the new ones seem to come in quickly. I am looking forward to seeing Honey and Amber with feathers again and would love to see Sparkle with a fluffy bottom again. Sparkle also seems to be shedding an odd feather here and there so like you I am not sure if she is doing it very slowly or if it has yet to get going properly. It will be extra special for me to see them fully feathered after the feather plucking problem went on for so long. I hope that is now all behind us.
Just think of the ugly duckling that turned into a beautiful swan .
Oh I do! I don’t care how they look now because I know they will look beautiful again but this time they will stay that way. This moult is a very special time for me because of the past problems with my flock. This moult is the time that the sacrifice (re-homing) must pay off and my flock will be as beautiful as they should be. I am so looking forward to that.
One of my Australorps had a bare bottom, just like Sparkle, when we got them 18 months ago; after the moult, she looked absolutely beautiful, fully feathered again. They’ll all look gorgeous!
That is encouraging. Sparkle seems to be moulting just a few feathers at a time so maybe it’s just going to take longer. Can’t wait to see those fluffy bloomers again.