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[Yorkshire Coop]

If she has not had an adult moult already I would say she looks to be starting an early one. If those feathers are the ones she has had for all that time they are maybe just giving up the ghost and she is needing new ones.

I had a hen last year that looked terrible ~

She was hatched in May 2014 so didn't have an adult moult that year and by the time we got into summer 2015 she was looking ratty. In the autum all that shabby stuff came out and she grew a new set of feathers by Christmas ~

 

[Rudies Roost]

Here's another snap...I hope she is just having an early moult, she seems fine in herself it's just a bit of a shock to see all her beautiful feathers littering the garden! They are due their next lot of Ivermectin at the weekend so if it's pesky bugs then that should deal with it. Gosh! This chicken keeping lark keeps you on your toes though my neighbours are currently trying to make me get rid of them...I've no idea what i ever did to them but they've been trying to get us evicted over them for the last few months

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Another thought just popped up, do you have a cockerel now?

Miserable neighbours

We have some new ones moving in next door to us soon, I hope they don't give me hassle over my birds :/

 

[rebrascora]

@Rudies Roost

She is a stunning bird even with her feather loss. Maybe she is having an adverse effect to the ivermectin. That said, if she is 16-18 months old, then I would be reasonably confident it was a moult and if she is otherwise acting normally I would not worry. Having an early moult may mean that she doesn't stop laying or recommences when others are just knocking off to moult, so I would be inclined to view it as a good thing.

 

[Rudies Roost]

@Yorkshirecoop I've got a young cockerel installed, just 1 of last year's hatch that survived the fox. My neighbours are seriously on the attack, I've no clue what me or my chickens ever did to them, they've been here 2 years alongside my flock and never said a bean until now! We have to put up with their barking Staffordshire Bull Terrier all day but I'd never moan. I guess some people have nothing better to do with their time. Inspection off landlord tomorrow so may have to pen them in or they may have to go...God, i hope not

@rebrascora Thanks for the advice and lovely comments on my lady, she is super, she was pricey but worth it. Such a gentle soul too. I never thought about a reaction to the Ivermectin, oops! Hopefully it is just an early moult and nothing untowards.

Thanks all for the help....Sasha xx

 

[rebrascora]

@Yorkshire Coop

Hi Kim

Thanks for the lovely comments about my photos/animals. Not sure how I got that photo of Tasha looking so spruce and white..... she must just have come out of her moult. Most of the time she is a scruffy off white mongrel with the tips of her beard/moustache stained with dirt and her comb all dry and shrivelled because she is broody..... I hardly recognised her when I found that photo, apart from that wild, quirky look in her eye and the fact she is the only white moustachioed hen that I have. In that photo of her on the roost, she actually has two rows of chicks underneath her and she is at full stretch to cover them all..... must be very tiring sleeping with your arms out like that all night!

The horses spend hours standing at the gate on the roadside waiting for passing pedestrians to stop and feed them mints/bread/carrots. They are standing at that gate in the photo watching me strip haylage off a big round bail and bag it up to carry inside the stable for them.....so it's extremely easy to get a shot of them standing together looking over a gate unless they are out at grass when nothing will get their attention!

It looks like that roaming chick may be back with it's mother, Daisy, again now. I'm not sure Portia really had much say about it, it's just cheeky and seems to have invited itself for a sleep over.... with a duvet like that, who could blame it!
Went to check my new broody nests this morning and there had been some nest swapping..... I think perhaps the cross had got off the nest for a break and another leghorn had jumped in to lay, so when she came back, she got onto Margo's nest whilst she went for a break. When I was up there checking, she was hovering nearby not really sure what to do with herself but I'm pretty sure she will have jumped back on one of them as soon as it was vacated. I will just have to remove additional eggs as they appear.
I climb the ladder every day to collect eggs, so I hardly even think of it as a ladder anymore. It goes up through a hole in the rotten floor boards above and their nests are literally at the top of the ladder, so I don't have to get off and back on most of the time. Once they hatch, I'll just go up with a bucket and drop the chicks and broody into the bucket and carry them down and put them in the sideboard, which by then, should have been vacated by Tasha and her chicks. It's going to be a bit crowded in there with 2 broodies and their chicks assuming both clutches hatch, but they'll manage for a few days at least.

 

[timon]

Hi & the thread!

Can you post pics of them? This is the easiest way as @jemini212 has said.
Here are some threads for you to check out on them ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=Leghorns#

You could also pop by the what breed gender section of the forum ~ https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/15/what-breed-or-gender-is-this

Good luck and you don't have too many boys.

 

[timon]

THi,

Here is a picture of one of the little cuties

 

[timon]

...

@Yorkshirecoop I've got a young cockerel installed, just 1 of last year's hatch that survived the fox. My neighbours are seriously on the attack, I've no clue what me or my chickens ever did to them, they've been here 2 years alongside my flock and never said a bean until now! We have to put up with their barking Staffordshire Bull Terrier all day but I'd never moan. I guess some people have nothing better to do with their time. Inspection off landlord tomorrow so may have to pen them in or they may have to go...God, i hope not





Why is it that roaming cats and barking dogs are seen to be 'OK' by those who have them, but people feel free to complain about chickens ?!?!?
Timon

 

[Gge23]

Hi everyone!
I would like to thank @Yorkshire Coop for introducing me to this thread! I wasn't sure as to how many people on here were from the UK, but now I've found you all! Yippee! ^_^
I am Georgie and I'm from Ilkley in West Yorkshire pretty new to this chicken keeping malarkey, only really started last year and hatched my first lot of chicks in May, but loving it! If anyone has any hints or tips for me that would be awesome, I am currently trying to establish a new generation of Scots Greys, which some of you, or all of you, may know are a rather rare breed...and guessing from my low hatch success rate I can see why :/ but my recent little darlings are the most fluffy chicks I have ever seen! Only 24 hours old and very noisy!

There are 5 in there I promise! Nice to meet you all