Backyard Chicken Chronicles: Molting

Very exciting in our backyard farm – the chickens are molting. All at the same time. Joy.

The good parts about molting:

1. The girls don’t make as much noise (although that could be because the weather has changed)

2. Humm, that might be it

When they molt, they don’t lay eggs, so we are back to store bought (or Farmer’s Market) eggs for the time being. That is actually ok, since I crank up my baking this time of year and really fresh eggs from the girls are not ideal. But it also means that the girls are not really pulling their weight around the house, which probably means the next time they decide to lay eggs, they will be worth about $2.50 each.

BTW, did you read this article about the finances of urban homesteading? Interesting reading, I loved the section about what is worth doing yourself and what is worth purchasing.

There are also feathers everywhere, and one of the girls has taken to sleeping in a nesting box, I guess because she thinks I put the fresh shavings there to make her feel all cuddly and warm. Molting can vary in duration, so I am not sure if this will last through the end of the year, or longer. I also need to crank up the protein in their diet, not exactly sure what to do about that. Maybe extra cooked chicken (sick joke, I know). I have a whole bag of fresh peanuts, but those aren’t good either. Mealworms have been suggested, guess I need to figure out how to bring those into their diet. Fortunately, there are loads of resources available for backyard chicken keepers!