The slow-down season, that is.   The ladies are starting to take turns molting, and egg production has slowed somewhat.

The first year I had them, the molting came as a surprise to me – I’m not sure what I expected, but that wasn’t it.  This year, I’m a little more prepared.  And amused.

Houdini (Barred Rock) went first and has no tail feathers left.  Not-Henery is almost done – but she’s got that one last hanger-on:

The next step will be cleaning out the coop for the winter, getting the heat lamp set up and hunting down a way to keep their water from freezing. I’d read about using bird bath heaters for smaller waterers, I may try that. It’s much cheaper than the heaters made for actual stock tanks, and I really don’t need anything too powerful.

I also will be trying to weatherize the coop a bit more. The door that is now attached leaves an 8-inch gap at the top, which was fine during the summer but will leave them with a large draft once the weather starts turning. I really am considering doing the unthinkable the next time tax-returns roll around: buying an actual coop. Maybe not my dream coop, but something that is a little more right-angly and less drafty.

Although…I could just knit them all sweaters…

I’m ashamed to admit that I gave in and went with the kid to KFC last week.  I’ve been sort of avoiding them, because of all I’ve heard about their crappy oversight of their suppliers, who apparently treat their chickens poorly.  I’m not a vegetarian, but I just don’t think it’s necessary to be cruel to the animals before you eat them.  Whether or not we consider them intelligent isn’t the issue; they can still feel pain, and they can still be distressed by living in crappy conditions.

Anyway.  I was punished – the food wasn’t even that good.

In fact, I can honestly say that I can do a bucket of chicken much better than the Kolonel could ever dream of.