As the day length decreases and the frost is turning everything brown, I begin to observe the first signs of the dreaded molt. My hair is filling the bristles in my brush and covering the bathroom floor. Odd I think to myself, I don't remember it coming out quite this bad before. Being the observant farmHer that I am I began to notice the "girls" were loosing their wavy feathers too. Hum---------I have always observed the molting process in the hens and the natural cycle of egg production. Less feathers------less eggs, plain and simple. Sometimes molting will occur in the spring if your chicks were hatched the prior spring, but generally the molt occurs in the fall of the year. Being the curious farmHer I am I looked up information about molting and found:
USUALLY STARTS ON THE HEAD-----yep
INVOLVES HORMONAL FLUCTUATIONS----yep, I am on the downhill side of 50
NEED INCREASED ENERGY REQUIREMENTS----Yep, that would explain why I ate the whole bag of peanut m&m's leaving only the blue and red ones for Glen
DECREASED DAY LENGTH IS THE NORMAL TRIGGER TO MOLTING----yep, it's fall and the sun is setting around 8:30. I'm exhausted and ready to roost for the night.
THE BEST THING FOR MOLTING IS TO ELIMINATE STRESS------guess I'll just put up my feet and eat bon bons til spring because
MOLTING
I was once asked where I come up with this nonsence.........my reply is simple. In my FEATHER brain:)
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