Change of plans

[Auntiejessi3]

The ladies are settling in just fine, Maribel is molting like crazy but she seems to be managing it just fine. I'm more concerned about the neighbor behind me and her willy-nilly way of taking care of her chickens, i.e. letting them roam the neighborhood which includes the part of my property that isn't fenced. They are scraggly looking birds, and her roo's(she has 7 at present) are taking interest in my ladies. I talked to her so we'll see where that goes

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Maribel is coming out of her molt and laid her first egg since October 12th, but her crop seems to be kind of hanging, it was empty this morning, but when I got home from work it just looked odd to me... am I just tripping or what

 

[aart]

Maribel is coming out of her molt and laid her first egg since October 12th, but her crop seems to be kind of hanging, it was empty this morning, but when I got home from work it just looked odd to me... am I just tripping or what

She's been packing in the groceries today!

 

[Auntiejessi3]

She's been packing in the groceries today!

She has been eating quite a bit more during her molt, lol, idk why her crop just looked so big to me today. So nothing to worry about?

 

[aart]

She has been eating quite a bit more during her molt, lol, idk why her crop just looked so big to me today. So nothing to worry about?

Not as long as it empties overnight.
Have had a couple that never fully empty, even after treating for impacted/sour crop...
....not much to do about it.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Not as long as it empties overnight.
Have had a couple that never fully empty, even after treating for impacted/sour crop...
....not much to do about it.

Thank you! She's really active and their run has doubled in size since we moved 528sqft for 5 ladies, and then yard time, lol

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Betty just started her molt this last weekend, and I'm guessing it's a hard molt because she is losing feathers WAY faster than Maribel did. Now here is the strange part, since she started molting my welsummer, Piper has been pulling the feathers out from her own belly, no signs of mites and nothing has changed. What could be causing this? I know, not the best pics, lol
Edited to say...she pulled all those feathers out last night, she's only 9 months old so it's not molting

 

[rosemarythyme]

Piper has been pulling the feathers out from her own belly, no signs of mites and nothing has changed. What could be causing this? I know, not the best pics, lol
Edited to say...she pulled all those feathers out last night, she's only 9 months old so it's not molting

She might be thinking of going broody at some point soon...

 

[Auntiejessi3]

She might be thinking of going broody at some point soon...

I've been dying for a broody, lol, but I don't think she'd be the one I'd let hatch...I guess we'll see if she stops all this feather picking or progresses

 

[Auntiejessi3]

She might be thinking of going broody at some point soon...

Well mystery solved, strange as it may be with her only being 10 months old, she was molting. Her feathers are coming back in as beautiful as ever