Molting Chickens? What's that, why should you care, and What you need to know as a Farm Fresh Egg Consumer.

Fall means cooler weather, beautiful leaves, campfires, and, for chicken owners, it can often mean the beginning of the "molting season"

What is molting?  Simply put, it is the process of those beautiful laying hens shedding off old feathers, and growing in new.   This is a very natural part of the chickens lifecycle, but it can be a messy, lengthy, and "disruptive to egg laying" event.  Each chicken has about 8,500 feathers.   Some birds will looose them all, making them look very much like the cartoon chickens who finds herself embarrasingly naked.  Most of the time however, they loose feathers in patches, making them look extremely ragged and unkept.

Why should I care? After all, I'm just the friend that buys the eggs, I don't have anything to do with the chickens!    While you might not have anything to do with the chickens, molting season means you may have to take a break from those farm fresh eggs for a while and buy.. *GASP*  store bought eggs!   While chickens are molting, they use up huge amounts of the protiens in thier body to make new feathers. Because of this, they often don't have the nessesary exta proteins and vitamins to continue laying eggs during the molting process. So for a few months, generally in the fall or winter, but it can be anytime, they stop laying altogether, meaning no yummy eggs for your friend or farmer to pass your way for up to 6 months (though thankfully usually only a month or 2) !



Can anything be done to speed up the molting process?  I LOVE my Farm Fresh eggs, and can't believe I might have to buy some from the...  *gulp*... store! 
Most chicken owners are aware of the molting process and do their best to aid their chickens thoughout the processs.   By changing thier food rations to be higher in protein, adding in extra sunflower seeds, mealworms, and other high protien foods in moderation, (too much can cause liver failure) the molting process can indeed be helped. However, each chicken is an individual, and handles molting in a different way.



So what do I do while these chickens are molting?   First, be patient with the farmer.   They are missing their eggs as much as you are, and will start selling them again as soon as they can.   Secondly, take a deep breath, and prepare to make no new egg dishes in the forseable future because you just might not be able to force yourself to buy those dull, uncolorful eggs from the store... ;)

P.S  to all of our personal customers, no need to worry yet. Uur chciekens shouldn't go through a full molt until later, maybe even next fall (usually they are around 18months), and by then i should have younger ones to take over the laying so that you can continue to enjoy your fresh eggs.   However, chickens are a bit unpredictable, so I promise to give you a heads up if I feel you might need to prepare yourself for a few weeks of store eggs!

Thanks for checking in! Until next time, blessings to you!

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