![\"Speckles](\"http:\/\/www.carolschickens.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/speckles_is_beginning_to_look_a_little_scruffy.jpg\")
<\/a>Speckles is beginning to look a bit scruffy<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"She](\"http:\/\/www.carolschickens.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/she_is_dropping_her_tail_feathers.jpg\")
<\/a>She is dropping her tail feathers<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"she](\"http:\/\/www.carolschickens.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/she_has-some_loose_feathers_sticking_out.jpg\")
<\/a>She has some loose feathers sticking out<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Later](\"http:\/\/www.carolschickens.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/later_in_the_day_even_less_tail_feathers.jpg\")
<\/a>Later in the day she has even less tail feathers<\/p><\/div>\n
Her comb and wattles are pale and her comb is smaller than it was. This time last year she lost her tail and it looks like it won’t be long before she loses it again this year.<\/p>\n
Only Peaches and Barley are yet to moult and their egg laying has slowed down to one or two eggs each a week.<\/p>\n
The good news is that Butterscotch laid this morning. This will boost our egg total a bit as she lays most days once she starts again. Every time she goes broody she seems to moult a bit more than the time before and I am convinced that she won’t lay again but each time she does lay again. It will be interesting to see how long she goes on before stopping completely.<\/p>\n
This time if she goes broody again I will close up the nest boxes as by then I don’t expect much egg laying from the remaining two girls. This will break her of being broody in a couple of days and I hope this will mean she will keep her head and neck feathers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile I am just glad to have the prospect of a couple of weeks of regular eggs from Butterscotch and I intend to make the most of them before egg production ceases completely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am picking up a hand full of feathers from Speckles every time I go in the run. Her comb and wattles are pale and her comb is smaller than it was. This time last year she lost her tail … Continue reading