The Tale of a Chicken

We've told you before about our foster chicken, Stumpy.  When she came to us she was missing all the feathers on her sides and bottom from her pen mates pecking her nearly to death.

Turns out hybrid chickens tend who lose feathers tend to molt all their feathers before growing any back.  She is now nearly featherless.  She looks like a broiler chicken running around in our back yard.  We've been concerned about the cold weather coming and how she'd manage.

So we bought her a coat.  It's really for a tiny dog, but looked like it would work. 

 It fits her, but she trips over it when she tries to walk. I know, we already have naked dogs, who wear coats, now a chicken, yadda yadda yadda.  She could freeze to death!  For the record she's much more pleasant to hold when wearing her sweater, it's a bummer it won't work out for her.  We're hoping she learns to stay in the coop for the winter, she is so cold already that she stopped laying eggs.  She's an older bantam and has laid eggs since we got her.  The good news is, two of our Ameraucanas started laying finally!  Wing-Wing, Z's favorite, was the first to start laying.  Chickens are usually about 5 months old when they start laying eggs, these two were two weeks shy of becoming 5 months old.  We don't expect to get many eggs over Winter, but lots come Spring.  

The fun part is that the new eggs are GREEN!  

  I'm sorry if all of this is WAY too much chicken information.  We just had to share!  We do love our chickens.  If you happen to see Ben in person, be sure to ask him what a chicken sneeze sounds like, he does a great impression!!!

 Stumpy keeping an eye on things.