Wing and Wool Farm, Olean, NY Videos
Videos by Wing and Wool Farm in Olean. Wing: Soy Free & Pastured Broiler Chickens and Chicken & Duck Eggs Delivered. Honey. Wool: Angora R
#ad From pincushion…to fresh feathers…what can you expect during and after a molt?
Most chickens will have their first adult molt at around 18 months old…where they often shed a significant portion of their feathers in the fall, triggered by dwindling daylight hours, and then regrow fresh, undamaged feathers before the cold weather hits.
This shift in bodily resources towards growing a large amount of protein-rich feathers means that molting birds will cease egg production. It’s totally natural—and understandable! 😅
The process of shedding and regrowing feathers can take approximately 4-12 weeks. Some birds seem to drop all of their feathers at once…others seem to progressively shed from their head to tail. All molts are different, and your individual birds won’t necessarily molt all at the same time or to the same degree.
But here’s the kicker…even after they finish molting, many birds still won’t resume egg production (or at least not FULL egg production) until the spring when daylight hours start to increase.
You might choose to add a light to your coop to simulate longer days and coax them to start laying a bit earlier than they otherwise would…or you might give your girls a nice, well-deserved break in the colder months. Either way, they need good nutritional support during this time, and plenty of good protein. One of my favorite ways to give them a protein boost is with Purina® Farm to Flock® Larvae for Ladies™ hen treats from @purinafeedgreatness . They’re a high-protein hit with my flock!
Have you had any hens going through their first molt this year? How is it going? Do you have questions? Let me know in the comments!
#feedgreatness #checkerboardhappiness #chickenlife #chickenlady #raisingchickens #chickenkeeping #backyardchickens #chickenmom #chickensofinstagram #chickens #backyardpoultry
to enable soundOther Wing and Wool Farm videos
#ad From pincushion…to fresh feathers…what can you expect during and after a molt? Most chickens will have their first adult molt at around 18 months old…where they often shed a significant portion of their feathers in the fall, triggered by dwindling daylight hours, and then regrow fresh, undamaged feathers before the cold weather hits. This shift in bodily resources towards growing a large amount of protein-rich feathers means that molting birds will cease egg production. It’s totally natural—and understandable! 😅 The process of shedding and regrowing feathers can take approximately 4-12 weeks. Some birds seem to drop all of their feathers at once…others seem to progressively shed from their head to tail. All molts are different, and your individual birds won’t necessarily molt all at the same time or to the same degree. But here’s the kicker…even after they finish molting, many birds still won’t resume egg production (or at least not FULL egg production) until the spring when daylight hours start to increase. You might choose to add a light to your coop to simulate longer days and coax them to start laying a bit earlier than they otherwise would…or you might give your girls a nice, well-deserved break in the colder months. Either way, they need good nutritional support during this time, and plenty of good protein. One of my favorite ways to give them a protein boost is with Purina® Farm to Flock® Larvae for Ladies™ hen treats from @purinafeedgreatness . They’re a high-protein hit with my flock! Have you had any hens going through their first molt this year? How is it going? Do you have questions? Let me know in the comments! #feedgreatness #checkerboardhappiness #chickenlife #chickenlady #raisingchickens #chickenkeeping #backyardchickens #chickenmom #chickensofinstagram #chickens #backyardpoultry
It seems like overnight my hens cut way back on egg production and turned into pincushions. 😂 How are your chickens doing? Have they started their molt? #chickens #chickensofinstagram #chickenlifestyle #chickenlife #chickenlove #chickenlady #chickenkeeping #backyardchickens #henstagram
Fall? 🍁 or Broccoli? 🥦 For the most part, the chickens seem to agree with me…not too jazzed about the broccoli. 😂 I was clearing it out of the freezer, though, since Ben has decided to eat carnivore, too, now. Have you ever tried the carnivore diet? I started back in 2020, and went off for a short period of time…but it sure feels good to be back on it! If you have any questions about my experience with it, feel free to leave them below! #chickens #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #chickenlove #chickenlife #chickenlady #chickenkeeping #backyardchickens #backyardchickensofinstagram #chook
Who has leaves already turning where they live? Leave a 🍁 in the comments! #geese #geeseofinstagram #backyardpoultry #backyardfarm #hobbyfarm #homestead #homesteadlife #lifeouthere #countryliving
Which breed is your favorite speckled egg layer? #speckledeggs #prettyeggs #eggenvy #welsummer #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #chickenlife #chickenlove #chickenlady #backyardchickens #backyardchickensofinstagram #chooks
This is what the pullets and cockerels look like from the cross of a Black Copper Marans rooster over Opal Legbar hens… The version of the gene (allele) that results in a crest is autosomal (meaning found on one of the non-sex chromosomes, and so not a sex-linked trait) and also shows incomplete dominance (meaning it can’t completely overpower the recessive allele of having no crest—giving the hybrid bird a crest not quite as large as it’s crested parent.) And thank goodness for those little crests, because although the barring, legs, and beak clearly distinguish the male hybrids from the pure Marans cockerels—the female crosses look quite a bit like pure Marans pullets 😅…and their leg bands fell off weeks ago! 🙈 Not a huge deal since these girls should lay an olive egg, but still…I don’t want the hassle of figuring out exactly who is laying which egg. And obviously I CAN NOT WAIT to see those first olive eggs! #chickens #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #oliveegger #oliveeggers #backyardchickens #chickenlover #chickenladylife #chickenlady #chickenkeeping #raisingchickens
If you’re dealing with wild animals eating all of your chickens’ food, I can’t recommend this treadle feeder enough. 🐔💕 This is in no way sponsored and I went out and spent my own money on this feeder, and although I was hesitant to do it at first (because this baby runs around $225 😅), I eventually realized that it will ultimately save me SO much money—and it has probably been my best purchase of the year. Not only were the starlings disgusting—pooping EVERYWHERE…but they were literally draining a 30lb feeder in about two days in a coop that used to take a week or more to go through that same food. I was a little nervous that my extremely-flighty Legbars would be too afraid to use it. Fortunately, the feeder comes with screws to prop the lid open at various heights for a break-in period. For the first few days, the lid is mostly open, and the treadle barely moves when stepped upon. The birds can see that their food is in there and get comfortable standing on it. When the screws get moved to the next stage, the lid is propped about halfway open. The birds get used to more movement from both the treadle and the lid, but they don’t have the lid banging shut when they jump off. Finally, with the screws removed, the lid shuts completely and the wild animals that are too light to move the treadle are locked out of the food. 👏 A bonus of the design is that the chickens can’t waste the food, either. It’s a win-win! I’ve used all sorts of different feeders, including the pvc elbows—nothing deterred the starlings until this. I figured I’d share, in case anyone else out there is currently pulling their hair out, thanks to a flock of starlings. #chickensofinstagram #chickencoopdesign #chickencoop #chickenladylife #chickenlife #chickenkeeping #backyardchickens #chickentalk #backyardchickensofinstagram #chickensofig
I’ve had lines from many different breeders, and Welsummers always end up being my most calm chickens. Which breed do you find to be the most calm? #welsummer #chickens #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #chickenlady #chickenladylife #chickenlove #chickenlife #backyardchickens #raisingchickens #chickenkeeping
What do you get when you cross an Opal Legbar and a Welsummer? Apparently the answer is cockerels, according to my most recent hatches 😂 Was hoping for a mint chocolate chip-layer, but so far everyone’s a boy 🤦♀️😂 Oh well—what would you call this cross? Is there an official name already out there? #chickens #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #chickenlover #chickenlife #chickenladylife #backyardchickens #chickenbreeding #chickentalk
I get plenty of comments from militant vegans, condemning my small, free-range flock…yet aside from spewing fallacious talking points and biologically-inaccurate information, exactly ZERO of them have ever commented with a constructive suggestion for a way for humans to stop consuming animal products where all of these livestock animal populations don’t go all but extinct. I would just ask that they consider the differences between factory farming and a small scale, regenerative farm…maybe also brush up on some biology, too. #chickenkeeping #chickens #chickenlife #chickenlady #carnivore #carnivorediet #backyardchickens #backyardchickensofinstagram #backyardfarm #backyardpoultry #homesteading
When a pullet becomes a newly laying hen, there can be a bit of a learning curve 😅 The most common hiccups I see with chickens newly laying include: -missing shells -double yolks -fairy eggs -eggs laid from roost (not really a hiccup…they just either weren’t expecting it or didn’t know where to go to do it😂) Do you have any to add to the list? Do you have any new layers experiencing these things? #chickens #chickensareawesome #chickenlife #chickenlove #chickenlady #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #backyardchickens #chickeneggs #chickenladylife
The top 3 reasons I enjoy keeping ducks… 3. They are easy to herd: Ducks like to stick together as a group, unlike chickens that scatter when chased. I really like being able to herd all of my ducks out of an area or get them all to go to their coop when needed. 2. Ducks require less elaborate housing and fencing… Because ducks have a higher core body temperature than chickens, they stay more comfortable than chickens do in extreme temperatures—both hot and cold. Mine have a very minimal coop which serves as predator protection, a roof, and a windbreak, and that’s it. For the purposes of keeping ducks out of certain areas (rather than as predator prevention) much shorter fences will stop a duck than are needed to keep a chicken out. 1. I prefer the taste of duck eggs. I don’t know exactly what it is—maybe that they seem richer and fattier…I can’t pinpoint it. I just like ‘em! Do you keep ducks? Or are you interested in doing so? Tell me your main reasons why! #backyardducks #ducksofinstagram #ducksmakegreatpets #ducks #ducklife #ducklove #backyardfarm #backyardflock #homesteader
She has two that she actually sat on and hatched from a couple weeks ago (you can see one of them in the video), and I just gave her 23 more! There are approximately another 20 in the incubator, set to hatch in two days. Giving her those chicks, too, might be pushing it, though 😅 What is the largest number of chicks one of your hens has raised at a time? #hens #hensofinstagram #chick #babychicks #babychickens #chickensofinstagram #chickenlife #chickenlady #chickenkeeper #backyardchickens
Yes 👍 or no 👎…do you have any chickens that enjoy being pet? #chickensofinstagram #chickensofig #chickenlife #chickenlady #chickencoop #sillychickensunday #backyardchickens #backyardchickensofinstagram #chickensareawesome
Geese are pretty simple to feed… *This information is my opinion and my experience with my birds*. In the summertime they forage for nearly everything they eat, but I still provide them with options. Even though they have access to an all flock pellet, and will nibble at it here and there, their favorite meal is a scoop of whole wheat, soaked in water. (They also have access to oyster shells!) They water allows them to easily swallow the wheat, without choking. It also has the very important benefit of keeping out certain pests…including chickens. Any questions about the diet of my geese? Ask away! #geeseofinstagram #goose #backyardgeese #geese #backyardpoultrymagazine #backyardpoultry #myflock #hobbyfarmer #backyardhomestead #homesteadlife
I’ve had 4 different duck breeds over the years… a pair of wild mallards, named Chips and Quackers… As bunch of runner ducks who hid their eggs well and hatched an ever growing number of more and MORE runner ducks… Some very productive Khaki Campbells, who forage like pros and lay like there’s no tomorrow… And a few beautiful Cayugas, who lay a limited number of very unique, black/gray eggs each year, and are reputed to be amazing for meat. My favorites, by far, have been the khakis. Do you have a favorite duck breed? #ducks #ducksofinstagram #ducklife #backyardducks #backyardfarm #hobbyfarm #homesteadinglife #homesteader
Hopefully only two of these things continue on into July 🤞 #roosters #roostersofinstagram #roostersofig #roosterlove #backyardpoultry #backyardchickens #farmfresheggs #fresheggsdaily #backyardfarm #hobbyfarmer
I wrote dates on the eggs, but haven’t really been keeping track of when the chicks would be due…so this was a fun surprise today! It was like when you order something online, and by the time it comes you can’t remember placing the order…so you get to open a little gift from yourself…or is that just me? 😅😂 #chicks #babychickensofinstagram #babychickens #babychicks #babychicksofinstagram #chickenlife #chickenlove #chickenlady #chickenladylife #ilovechickens