One of my black sex links has plucked herself from her crop area all the way down to her legs. The strip is about 3 inches wide with only a few feathers on it. I thought she had simply plucked a small spot so that she could warm her eggs, she is broody and sitting on non-fertile eggs, but a few weeks after checking out her then small spot it is now much bigger and with only a few straggly feathers. My question is will she regrow the feathers in time for winter? We live in Montana it will get very cold during our winter and I am worried that with no protection she will get frost bite.
On another topic, lately I have been getting about half the number of eggs I usually get. This has been going on for about 2 months, I thought they were simply molting but does it usually carry on for this long? My hens have only been laying for a year, now instead of getting 9-11 eggs a day I will get 6-4 eggs, please tell me this is not the new normal! My flock is mixed breeds but all the same age.
On another topic, lately I have been getting about half the number of eggs I usually get. This has been going on for about 2 months, I thought they were simply molting but does it usually carry on for this long? My hens have only been laying for a year, now instead of getting 9-11 eggs a day I will get 6-4 eggs, please tell me this is not the new normal! My flock is mixed breeds but all the same age.
