Well let me tell you, those birds are still one of my joys! When I come outside, they come running! They gather around me and peck lightly at my toes. They coo. And they love.
They've been giving me about 26-28 eggs a week all summer, even in the heat! So you can imagine my surprise last week when I went out to check for eggs and I found..... none. Not one! Hmmm, I pondered. And my mind raced to all the reasons that could be.
Maybe there's a snake who has finally found their coop and is eating their eggs before I got there? Maybe they have all gone broody? Maybe it's just an off day.
I follow several blogs on urban and rural farming of chickens, and I've been reading lately about it being the season to "molt." I knew they lay less, if any during this time. But I hadn't seen any signs of molting besides a lack of eggs. And then two days ago I looked out on my backyard. Had it snowed last night? Surely not, since we live in Oklahoma and it's September.
Holy moly, the girls are molting.
Do ya SEE all the feathers in my yard?? Check out the one at the top of this story. Are you seeing the feathers now?? Yah. They are there. WE are there. Looks like I may have to buy some eggs from Dodson's soon. But hopefully it won't last long.
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