A Whole New Can of Worms

As the days get shorter, the chickens sleep longer.  They are sleeping when I leave in the morning and some nights when I am teaching and get home after dinner time, they are already sleeping when I get home.  They follow the sun.  And the shorter days affect their laying cycle.  Instead of 5 eggs a day, we are now getting 2 eggs a day.  The chickens are definitely feeling the change in seasons.

I was getting worried about the sudden drop in temperature.  I wasn’t exactly thinking that it would be 32 degrees mid-October, so needless to say I hadn’t taken the time to research what would need to be done to prep the chickens for winter.  So I was laying in bed, worrying about how cold it was going to get at night, I read what other backyard chicken farmers had to say.  I came to find out that the chickens are actually safer in the cold temperatures than in the extreme heat during summer.  As long as the chickens aren’t huddled all together, then they are fine.  And when the temperatures do go below 0 degrees we will most likely run a heat lamp or light bulb out to the coop to provide extra heat.  But they recommend only doing that when it is REALLY cold and below zero, so that the chickens don’t get used to the warmth.  Whew! That was good to hear. 

A couple of tricks I did read about… I have been giving them cracked corn at night before it gets dark, which gives them some extra calories to help keep them warm through the night.  But so far, they have been just as active as normal.  If anything, they want to run around even more now. 

 Also, other bloggers said to make sure they have plenty of hay in the coop area that stay dry.  So I added some extra pine shavings and hay to the little closed off area for them.  Also, they have each other for heat!  When they roost at night – they are all up on each other and their body heat keeps them warm.  Makes perfect sense.  The one thing I did have to worry about is their feet.  Once the ground gets frozen, others said to watch out for frost bite on their feet.  So as winter truly arrives in Cincinnati and the ground freezes, I will have to make sure extra straw/hay is in the coop. 

So I was feeling much better about the cold temperatures and my little flock living outside.  And then I go out to clean the coop yesterday and noticed that Grey was starting to lose feathers all along her neck.  I was so nervous that this had something to do with an infection from Savannah attacking her several months ago.  I was sure it had to do with the cold weather and I was scared to look up the symptoms online. 

I tried to take some pictures – but she was not having it with me trying to hold her still. It was like she was self conscious and didn't want me looking at her without her feathers :(  I could see down to her skin almost and noticed that some of the feathers that were left were a little blue/purple color at end attached to her.  So weird.  She still had an appetite and was running around the yard with all the others – so I was hopeful it wasn’t anything serious.

I am pretty sure that Grey is the first to start molting.  It is either that or mites.  Ew.  I'm pretty sure it’s not mites. Because they take regular dust baths in the dirt/mulch in our yard, which is supposed to help keep them clean and mite-free. 

Apparently chickens can have pretty hard molts and can get almost completely featherless – look at this picture I found!

Note: This is NOT one of my chickens and I really hope they don't molt this hard... so creepy looking and they would be so cold!

Some facts I Learned about molting:
(taken from Backyard Chickens - Managing Your Chickens Molt )

Full grown hens molt once or twice a year. Molting is caused by exhaustion and or sickness, when their laying cycle is completed, (that means they are done laying eggs for a while) and reduced lighting.

Molting also gives a chicken’s reproductive system time to rest. This process can be very stressful for chickens so it is important they stay happy and healthy. Usually after molting their hardier and more resistant to disease

During the molting process, chickens will start to lose their head and primary wing feathers first then the feather loss works its way down the body. Chickens may have a hard molt or a soft molt. A hard molt is when the feathers drop out very quickly but don't come back for a while. A soft molt is when the feathers drop out and new ones come in soon after. The new feathers that come in are called pin feathers.  I am curious to see if Grey continues to lose more feathers and if any start to grow back or if she just goes bald… yikes!

Did you know? Feathers are 80-85% protein and eggs are around 13% protein. So the chicken has to make a choice to put protein toward molting or laying, there is not enough for both. Because of this, during molting, laying stops in hens.  So I guess I will need to up the protein in their diet to make sure they are getting enough.  Especially if they start to get bare spots, I don’t want them pecking at each other. 

There is always something to learn with these chickens.  I was just so glad to find out that Grey losing her feathers was normal. 

I also am slightly concerned about scaly leg mites.  As I was researching the molting information, I came across some pictures of what scaly leg mites can do to a chicken.  The mites burrow under the scales on their legs and only really bad cases can cripple the bird.  But the recommended treatment is Vaseline, as it will smother the mites.  So today I put Vaseline on their feet.  Yes, I held each chicken one at a time and put Vaseline on her feet.  I’m telling you – if these birds die, it will not because of poor care.  They are my pets and I don’t want them to have mites on their feet. 

 

 

Anyways between the change in temperature, the first signs of molting and potential leg mites – it was quite an interesting week with the chickens.  I continue to learn about raising chickens and I do love my little chicky babies. 
Have a great Monday!