Arizona Chickens

[SonoranChick]

OMG! The molt is SO BAD this year! I have over 70 layers and I'm lucky to get a dozen eggs per day, most of which are smaller eggs coming from my pullets. My egg customers are VERY unhappy right now, calling and texting me constantly asking me "when???".

Well to be fair mine are brand new layers. I'm sure I will be in the same boat as you guys this time next year...the "molt boat"

 

[meetthebubus]

i haven't tasted egg nog since i was 9 years old, i thought that only a little bit at a time meant 9 really small glasses, all in the space of a few minutes and once you get sick on egg nog... no thanks!!

 

[DesertChic]

Well to be fair mine are brand new layers. I'm sure I will be in the same boat as you guys this time next year...the "molt boat"

I really hope that's not the case. I've gone through several years of molt with my birds of various ages and generations. I've never experienced one as severe as this. And based upon what some of my fellow chicken lovers have been saying, they're feeling it more this year too. I truly hope that by the time your girls reach molt, whatever triggered the intensity of this one will have worked itself out and things normalize to simple reductions in laying from here on out instead of total cessation.

 

[meetthebubus]

so China the hen turned rooster, is our little watch dog and she started screaming yesterday, we ran out and saw a huge hawk flying by, they don't understand that the 360 enclosure saves them so they were by a bush hiding, and we got some good pics of the hawk as it landed on a nearby post looking to see if it could get something else. it was pretty far away by this time, but it was a big hawk with an impressive wingspans

that could of taken one if they weren't protected by the 360

 

[meetthebubus]

i felt bad for my spotty, she was laying until just recently and then she molted and all the feathers sprang up at once, she looked like a porcupine, and wasn't feeling well, but she's a trooper and started at a very healthy weight so's she's getting through it, but it has been bad, i only have one layer and she's not molting yet too much and giving every other day usually..

 

[meetthebubus]

hungry guy

 

[igorsMistress]

I'm pooped! Went to get these two beautiful girls from beyond the other side of the valley, gorgeous country out there, dropped 6 other birds off @ a friends and we've been home about an hour. Naming these girls Nyx and Nova

 

[cactusrota]

View attachment 1200233 View attachment 1200234

I'm pooped! Went to get these two beautiful girls from beyond the other side of the valley, gorgeous country out there, dropped 6 other birds off @ a friends and we've been home about an hour. Naming these girls Nyx and Nova

Since those girls are split to mottle.. if you breed them next year with a roo that's either split or full mottle you could get a whole bunch of mottled naked necks!

 

[igorsMistress]

@cactusrota my husband seems to be slightly charmed by these girls
I can see adding more pullets to my flock which I want to cross with my Australorp roo. He came from @BlueBaby and his dad is big sweet boy. I'm in love! Kazoo has a similar personality. I think I want to get some pullets with the double NN gene in the future to cross with him and see what I get. Not sure how the mottling would affect that? I have a lot to learn!

 

[SonoranChick]

so China the hen turned rooster, is our little watch dog and she started screaming yesterday, we ran out and saw a huge hawk flying by, they don't understand that the 360 enclosure saves them so they were by a bush hiding, and we got some good pics of the hawk as it landed on a nearby post looking to see if it could get something else. it was pretty far away by this time, but it was a big hawk with an impressive wingspansView attachment 1200197 that could of taken one if they weren't protected by the 360

I am always so impressed when one of the girls is brave and serves as the emergency spokesperson for the flock. We had a tiny garden snake in the coop today and I was so surprised, usually the australorp is on top of things! My most timid girls, the barnevelder and the Wyandotte, were on patrol ready to take it out! I was able to humanely remove it with a rake but I was so proud Little desert predator warriors!