Winner Winner Chicken... oh, that's just wrong

I know, that title is wrong.  But this whole post is wrong.  I'm a big fan of Backyard Chickens.  And they had a contest this fall of who's hen had the ugliest molt this year.  And Coco had one UGLY molt.   It was like she exploded from the inside out.  It took 5 days for her to jettison out nearly every feather on her body.

Fortunately, I'm in California where the weather is mild and she did this in October before our weather turns really chilly.  But still, she looked miserable.  And I'd catch her shivering in the mornings.  I felt awful for her.  I so desperately wanted to scoop her up and wrap her in a blanket.  But chickens have molted like this for thousands of years.  And really, the best thing you can do for her is to just leave her be.  And offer up some high protein treats to help her grow out new feathers.

So out of over a hundred entries, Coco took the top prize.  My reward is that I've been made a Golden Feather member of BYC.  YEA.

And here's a current photo of my sweet Coco Bean taken this week.  She's hiding in the bushes because I had just picked her up which she does not like.  But I do like to pick up my hens once a month or so and give them a good once over to make sure they are healthy.

I don't dare tell anyone that I shared that awful photo of her molting.  She'd be horrified.