My poor little alpha Salmon Faverolle, Butterfly! She is having a realllllly tough first adult molt. Everyone went through a short, less intense molt last year when they turned 14 months old, but this year is ugly! I just watched my Speckled Sussex, Dottie, lose eight tail feathers in about twenty minutes. Butterfly is normally chatty, very involved, loves to scratch through the leaves and eat the grass seeds, and is usually the first one out the door. Yesterday, she was fine - a little stressed because we had four guys here building a barn. Everyone stayed in the coop most of the day, ate and drank normally, preened and dustbathed inside, but acted quite normally. Today, Butterfly is quiet, didn’t eat much, drank a normal amount, but her wattles and comb are a purplish red and she’s only chatty in short bursts. I think it’s the molt, I hope it’s the molt... She’s lost her remaining tail feathers and a lot of downy feathers since yesterday. No bald spots yet, but sheesh...
Those of you who have been through this before - should I be worried? This was what met me this morning. That’s just from Dottie and Butterfly overnight!
Those of you who have been through this before - should I be worried? This was what met me this morning. That’s just from Dottie and Butterfly overnight!