The Chickens are on Strike!

It's that time of year again.....no, not Halloween, chicken molting time. 🐓 We've only been raising chickens for a few years now. (about 3 or so) There's definitely a learning curve. One of the things you learn is that chickens molt or lose their feathers once a year. It usually occurs just before winter. They are putting in new feathers getting ready for much colder days. As a result, older feathers fall out everywhere! The poor things run around half naked for several weeks until the new ones fully grow out. 😲

During molting time, egg production goes way down. Actually, there are two reasons for the slow down in egg production. The shorter days mean less sun light, and then along with molting, their bodies go into conservation mode. Some chicken farmers try to trick or deceive their chickens by using lamps to add more light so that egg production doesn't drop so dramatically. I'm not an advocate of this. I believe that if that's how their bodies respond, we probably shouldn't go against nature. This time of rest probably allows their bodies to recover so that when egg production increases, the eggs are of good quality.

I'll be sure keep you updated on how they're doing and when the "chicken strike" will end. Hopefully those feathers grow in quickly. We've got some cold nights ahead! 🥶🐔