September 24th

It's fall!

Finally!

The thing is, it's hard to tell the change of seasons

in this neck of the woods.

There's no typical falling of autumn leaves

like the pictures show for northern climes.

There is a "tell" for us, though.

The bald cypress leaves go from dark green

to a beautiful rust color before falling.

The color is beautiful, but the mess

they make certainly isn't.

But, 

I'll take the mess knowing that

we still have our cypress trees.

Thankfully a lot of the native flora

weathered Ida.

I guess their genetics made them more

sturdy than others.

Fall in City Park.

Beautiful...

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The repairs are ongoing...

And...

  the helicopters are still patrolling

Also,

the veggie garden is overgrown

but nothing is growing,

so it isn't a problem.

The plants in the front are finally perking up.

We moved what we could before 

the storm to protect them,

but in the aftermath, with

no water for a while, they

didn't do so well.

We removed all the dead leaves

and the broken pieces so 

they would have a healthy re-start.

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The girls scouting out the compost bin.

It is always a source of earthworms

or tasty kitchen scraps.

They are molting.

Their feathers are everywhere.

We always say that it looks 

like they had a pillow fight!

Their molting also means no eggs.

They all molt at the same cycle.

It usually appears in late summer,

or early fall.

Chicken 101

Molting is a natural process that all

fowl undergo.

It replaces the old worn out feathers with

the new ones, but it also gives hens

a time to stock up on nutrients that

egg laying removes from their systems.

Did you know that most domestic chickens

have around 8000 feathers?

And,

not all those feathers molt.

The process of losing the feathers to 

replacing them can take from 8 to 16 weeks!

That's why some commercial egg companies 

artificially control the molt with

hormones.

Feathers usually start to fall out in

the neck and breast area first,

followed by the back, thighs and butt.

A common trigger to start the molt

is decreasing daylight, but it can also be 

brought on by stress, lack of water,

or extreme heat.

It could be said that our hens did

experience stress (hurricane) and

extreme heat, but we

did all we could to minimize

any of those, and they began

the molt before the storm.

We make sure their feed

and water needs are well met,

as well as giving them a more fortified

laying mash type of feed.

We also refrain from handling the girls

during their molt,

because the pin feathers or

blood feathers,

can break off and cause them pain

or at the least could cause an abnormal re-growth.

So, their feathers are coming 

back in nicely.

Nugget and Lucy

Hazel, hiding in the cool shade.

Ethel, flinging dirt into the water feeder.

And,

this guy...

The much maligned

stray cat

following me as I make the rounds.

I asked him where he was during the storm,

 but his only reply was

"Meow"

*************************

To my sister,

Always in my prayers

and 

always my other half.

Love you!

💚

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