My Hens are Broken -_-

[azygous]

No, this is the view of the coop from the house, after digging it out and before fine tuning it. We should wonder why chickens boycott egg production in winter. I would like to boycott winter, myself.

And again, apologies to our OP for side-tracking their thread, even though it's tangentially related.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I've been feeling like a chicken loser as of late, with a darling hen that died, a rooster that was attacked by a coyote, and ALL of my eight month old Welsummers not laying eggs.

Two hens two started laying on the day of the solar eclipse. In fact our first ever egg happened during the eclipse. The other solar eclipse egg was laid by our hen who passed.

We were averaging two eggs daily for a good while, and then one, and then nothing. We have five hens and they're all in various stages of molting. It's like a coordinated effort to deprive us of food.

But now that I know this is fairly normal for chicks that hatched in March, I'm feeling better about it. It was quite alarming, though, when they first started showing signs of a molt. First one was lethargic, then another started losing feathers, and one morning another came out of the coop with all her neck feathers replaced with those feather tube things, so I thought for sure she was being bullied and plucked and they were all going to die.

We've had some rain and nighttime temperatures in the 30s, but it's been a mild winter so far, as it usually is here. I love winter, but I'm looking forward to more daylight to encourage egg laying.

So glad to know I'm not alone in this endeavor!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!

Wait, I missed this comment.

You're saying you finally have an egg?

So there is something wrong with me and I really am the lone eggless chicken ranger!!!

 

[Sunshine Flock]

And I meant chicken rancher. I can't even write right!!!!!

 

[azygous]

Your chickens are messing with you. Don't let them fake you out. You'll get an egg when you least expect it. It's how chickens roll. Sneaky little tyrants.