As has happened before, our silly hens have left their tail feathers and lovely crowns strewn about their yard. Who knows why they give up their down just as the short days threaten cold and darkness. Is it evidence of their tropical origins? Is it to prepare for even warmer plumage for the coming months? Or is it a protest against the darkening days that keep them pent up? Well, this weekend, they enjoyed bright days and followed the light where it was brightest, venturing far from the henhouse and tree coverage to luxuriate in LUZ.
We still have not been able to butcher Mr. Gentle. He is too tame to kill. Anyone want a sweet California White Rabbit? His siblings dug themselves free from their area, though they mostly elect to stay near the warren of their babyhood. Their father freely enters to visit them, but Uncle Scruffy, the submissive rabbit, has not. We don't know their sexes. Rabbit daughters may mate with their fathers but not their brothers. We watch and hope all our rabbits are males.
mine molted just before the last hard freeze (an ill timed omen perhaps?)
ReplyDeletePoor Maryann only had one tail feather and Ginger just looked ragged.
The feathers are growing back now and I am getting one, sometimes two eggs a day.