Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Butterscotch male in Eclipse molt


I thought it would be fun to show you how much a boy will change during his molt..
This is Lucky in Nuptial plumage:

Here he is again in Eclipse... at this point he would be hard to tell from the females in the group. He will stay like this for about a month or so then start to get his Man colors back.


The females also go through Eclipse, although not as dramatically as the males. The hens here are also molting. They lose their eyeliner and most of their general markings.

It is important to note that during a molt they are flightless. It would be especially important to keep them safe from predators.

There are feathers feathers EVERYwhere in the chicken yard right now, everyone is molting, chickens included. It is because the Fairs and Shows are coming up of course, so some of our best show poultry will be standing out as they get their new shiny feathers in ;)