I'd look at someone with a camera in my face too if I didn't have all my 'clothes' on!
The girls are molting.
I don't know why it is working out this way with all the nasty weather they say we are going to have this winter. We are doing our best to fatten them up since there are only two of them and they don't like roosting together.
Inez is just starting her molt.
Lucky on the other hand, is well into hers.
She looks so bad.
These pictures make them look good.
The Wammyville families send treats for the Girls all the time. I put them on a low birdfeeder so all the little wild critters that live in the backyard (one brown bunny, a family of chipmunks and a family of 4 squirrels)
They love a good clump of scratch. So do I then they scratch up more weeds. Definitely, a win, win!
Noe for some CRAZY FUN FACTS...
For my birthday, someone that knows me very well and I wish I could remember who it was, got me a Chickens magazine. I love this magazine. When we first became chicken farmers I had a subscription.
There is a section titled, 'Ch-Ch-Changes.' The article describes the 6 ways that hens change as they get older. I was blown away by some and others I have learned from reading and experience.
1. As hens get older their legs get bigger and rougher. Some even grow spurs. Their bones get rigid, tougher skin and they become less active...that could describe me too!
2, They end to lay fewer eggs. The Girls would lay an egg apiece daily. Now we might get one every 4-5 days. The weather has a little to do with that also. They like the sun and grey days their switch pauses.
3. This one seems strange...the eggs are bigger and the shells are thinner. And the color becomes paler.
4. They begin to put on the pounds Like I said I can relate.
5. This is the crazy one! Spontaneous sex change! One of my girls seems to think she is a rooster. I have heard her try to crow twice. A hen has two ovaries. The one on the left is the one that produces the eggs. The one on the right is underdeveloped. Then those male hormones kick in. This change tells me that one of them has come to the end of their egg-laying days.
6. If there were eggs there is a tendency for them to become broody. Guess there is no chance of that!
The life expectancy of a healthy chicken can be more than 10 years (Mark's hopes this is not true) but the prime egg laying days are over by the time they turn four. So the days are short around here. The Girls are a little over 3 years old. I've tried to talk Mark into getting more but I don't see any new girls in my future.
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