Looking a bit tatty!

It's that time of year again.
The hens have started their annual moult. First up this year is the Bronze Maran. She looks half plucked poor old thing!
She's perfectly healthy though and at least she'll have her lovely new plumage before the cold weather arrives.
Couldn't resist taking a photo. Not a great one I know, but she's a bit camera shy so I was lucky to get one at all.
Perhaps we could have a 'scruffiest moulting chicken' competition this month!

 

Some of my girls are on a moult Trunky...haven't posted photo yet as they're not 'scruffy' enough yet...so your winning so far :D

 

I like chickens! Wonder why they have those red colourful frilly bits around there heads?? I can't wait to get some live stock maybe a chicken or two would be a more realistic starting point for me than a dexter cow or an alpaca....

 

The red fleshy bits on a chickens head are known as the comb and wattles.
As often in the animal kingdom, it's all about looking good and attracting a mate.
A healthy chicken should have a bright red comb and wattles, this signifies to the opposite sex that you are in good condition and therefore likely to be fertile.
She may look a bit tatty to us, but to a cockerel it's 'Phwoarrrr, look at the comb on that bird!' :D

 

My hens aren't too bad at the moment, it's the cockerel that looks a complete mess.

 

Lmao!

 

feathers everywhere and they have only just started the moult the garden has the look that a fox has paid a visit.
Bad thing is feathers take ages to rot on the compost heap i usually end up digging them in some obscure corner for a year or 2

 

So you've been planting them?
I think you've just started a new gardening trend.....creating a feather bed.
:D

 

Ha ha Very good!:yess:

 

Should chickens be molting at this time of year? I have 4 hens born in sept and I have only had them a couple of weeks. The last couple of days there are a lot of feathers in the run. They all seem happy enough though.

 

Chickens normally moult in the autumn Louise, usually around October/November.
However, I wouldn't expect young hens (or pullets) to be moulting in their first year.
Your new hens, at only three months old, would not be fully grown yet and will still be developing their first feathers.
Are there any other, older hens in the run with the 4 new ones?
If so, it's more likely the feathers are the result of a few arguments over the new pecking order.
So long as they seem healthy and happy enough, there's probably no cause for alarm.

 

You could ask Miraflores how much she would charge to knit you little wooly chicken jumpers.

 

Like this?
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Kent | Jumpers keep chilly chickens warm

 

I have only got the 4, two cobbs and two isas. The cobbs are quite a bit bigger although they are about the same age. The one cobb is the boss, first in and out and at the food etc, but she tends to be indifferent to the Isas. The feathers are quite small ones. Because I am a novice, I don't know how many feathers it is normal for the birds to lose when the are molting or generally.

 

I've never noticed one of our hens moult since we changed from purebreds to hybrid hens.

Feathers can be stuck into potatoes and hung up (mock raptors) as bird scarers.