No menu plan this week ~and~ Molt-Watch 2018

Y'all, I surrender.  Football season has defeated me, and I can no longer maintain the facade.  There will be no more menu planning until football season is over.  We have plenty of food; no one's going to starve.  It's ok.  And it's only 2 more weeks.  I think.  Not sure how long the coaches are going to keep the sophomores practicing (and that's not really the team that makes menu planning execution difficult anyway).

So sorry to disappoint my loyal menu plan readers.  Here's some inspiration for you.

In other news, I'm engaged in Molt-Watch 2018.  Molting is the process whereby birds lose their feathers and grow new ones.  For some reason, chickens do this in the fall.  When it's getting cold.  Instead of when it's 100°F and losing feathers taking off one's feather coat makes sense.  We didn't experience molt last year because it only happens to chickens who are more than a year old.

Toasty Crunch seems to be the least affected by molting.  I've seen a few of her feathers on the ground, but no more, really, than normal.  She's decreased egg production, but we've still seen nine eggs from her in the past two weeks.  Esther, as I've mentioned, lost some feathers around her chin--her lovely, fluffy beard has been naked for a while, but I haven't noticed her losing feathers from anywhere else.  Esther has laid four eggs in the past two weeks.  On the other hand, Rocky has given us zero eggs in the past two weeks, and there are Rocky feathers everywhere.  The ground seriously looks like she's been tussling with something fierce, and losing.  But I honestly can't tell by looking at her that she's lost any feathers.  Rocky's also been spending more time off by herself, which I guess is normal.  Growing new feathers can be painful and exhausting, or so I've been told.

I've been giving the girls a little extra protein to help them along, but there's really not much else I can do for them.  I just hope they've got full coats before the cold really hits full force.  I'll keep you posted.

See?  No starving around here.