![\"Ragged](\"http:\/\/www.carolschickens.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/ragged_dotty.jpg\")
<\/a>Ragged Dotty<\/p><\/div>\n
I think I am noticing more feathers falling form Dotty because she is losing feathers from under her wings but Pepper’s tail is more ragged than Dotty’s.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Pepper’s ragged tail<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Bluebell still looks quite pristine<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Bluebell’s tail feathers don’t look bad<\/p><\/div>\n
It would be lovely to see the girls with new feathers but I just hope they don’t pull them out again.<\/p>\n
The other difference is the fall off of eggs. I know it’s a double thing of moulting and shorter days but the egg fall has also been different between the girls.<\/p>\n
Pepper is laying one egg a week and Dotty is laying about four eggs a week (Dotty always has laid more than Pepper). Bluebell is still laying between five and six eggs a week. Bluebell in summer would take one day off in about two months. That dropped to one day off a month and now to one day off a week. She is still a prolific egg layer. Again it’s because she is a hybrid but probably also because she isn’t moulting.<\/p>\n
The bantys never were so good at the egg laying. Honey has gone from laying every other day to not laying for a week now and Amber has gone from laying about two eggs a week to not having laid for three weeks now. I wonder if they have stopped for winter. They are only in their first year so are not moulting.<\/p>\n
The big girls laid all last winter which was their first year. It’s interesting to see these differences between them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve found it a little difficult up until now to tell if the girls were moulting because of the feathers plucked out and some feathers regrowing. Over the last few days I have seen the difference when they really are … Continue reading