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Fascinating! Thanks for the replies. This girl is a great layer when she isn't molting. And the spurs are now about 1/4" long. Chickens never cease to amaze me.

I have a Welsummer hen who will be 3 years old in the spring. She has always had pronounced "buds" on her legs where spurs would grow if she was male. Well, in August, we added some 8 week old birds to our flock, and two of them ended up being "roos." We kept one and sent the other on its way...

I am afraid you are right. Those legs are looking longer and leaner by the minute.

Here is another one showing the top and neck.

I know these aren't ideal photos, but I hope they will help with identification. The top picture shows George in all his black, green and gold glory. "Darla" is behind him. The bottom picture is "Darla."

Yes, I am working on it. They are deep in the woods right now. Stay tuned.

I purchased two olive eggers from a local breeder in early August. They were about 8 weeks old. They are now about 16 weeks. This morning, I was awakened by crowing...hilarious and pitiful crowing. It turns out that Georgia is George. Now I am curious about the other OE. George has spectacular...

Thanks everyone! I wasn't observing any obvious signs of a male, but I have only ever had pullets. I am always suspicious until the first egg. I have two other "girls" who are Olive Eggers from the same breeder, and they are the same age. In observing the four of them interactinig, there is no...

I have two blue copper Marans I purchased from a local breeder on August 10. At that point, they were 6-8 weeks old, meaning now they would be 10-12 or so. They are both about the same size, but one of them has developed more copper colored feathers on the neck than the other. I don't know if...

They have plenty of water and calcium, but we did have an overnight thunderstorm a couple of nights ago, and that is when she laid the first one. Maybe the hard rain and hail on the metal roof of the hen house stressed her?

I have a Cherry Egger that is a little over a year old. Her eggs have always been smaller than the rest of the flock, but usually in the medium to large range. For the last three days, she has laid a tiny egg, about the size of a robin's egg. Nothing has changed in their diet, except that they...

I had a feeling that might be the answer. The only Welsummer who is laying has been very good: all of her eggs have been perfectly formed, hard shells and in the nest box from the first one. I know that eggs vary from one chicken to the next. I have seen one of our older girls who molted in...

I have eleven chickens total: 7 hens, two of whom are currently molting, two who have already molted, and three who are laying sporadically due to the season. Then I have 4 Welsummers who are 30 weeks. Only one of them is laying and she has been laying regularly about 4 eggs a week for the last...

Thank you all for the comments. How long does the typical molt last? The Cuckoo Maran who was the first to molt hasn't laid since late August. Will it be spring before she lays again?

We added 4 new girls to our flock this spring, all Welsummers. We did this anticipating the molt, but only one of the four new girls has started to lay, and I am nervous about not having eggs! I can't buy store bought eggs! We are averaging about 2 eggs a day.

I have 7 hens that are 18 months old, and they are different breeds: one Golden Comet, 3 Easter Eggers, 1 Cuckoo Maran and 2 Cherry Eggers. The Cuckoo Maran went through a mini molt last January, when she only lost some of her neck feathers. In late August, she lost a ton of feathers. The poor...

I have three EE's and they were the last in my flock of 10 to lay. They all started between 29-32 weeks. But their eggs are the best: almost 60% dark orange yolk, so we save those for sunny side ups!

I know exactly what you mean about them having "an air about them." We have 11 total in our flock, 7 hens that are about 1.5 years, and 4 new girls who are 27 weeks tomorrow. Only one of the new girls is laying, and once she started, she was allowed to hang out with the big girls, like they knew...

We have three EE's and none of them started laying until about 30 weeks. Out of our flock of 10 original girls, the EE's were the last to begin laying. But I will say this, their yolks are some of the finest of our flock.

I didn't mean to post again, and now I can't figure out how to delete it.