Molting

Yesterday I broke down and bought my first dozen store eggs in nearly 6 months. And let me tell you they don't taste nearly as good! A shame and a sign of the drastic change in season here in Eugene, however, inevitable when raising healthy happy chickens. Even chickens need time off! One of the reasons my ladies aren't laying at this point is because they are molting.

Notice the big fluffy giant brahma to the right and the scrawny, someone bald and tail feather-less leghorn to the left. 

With the sudden drop in temps, one by one each of the ladies told me they were done laying for a while. More and more feathers accumulated each morning in the hen house for me to clean up. First the leghorns quit, then the wyandottes went on holiday, and finally our super laying brahmas simply stopped. I am hoping to have the ladies start up again when we find ourselves with at least 12 hours of daylight again. Happy almost solstice!