MOLT!!!

My chicken run currently looks like a pillow fight gone horribly wrong.  There are feathers EVERYWHERE!!  You'd think some critter got in there, nope not the case.  The weather is supposed to be getting cooler, the days are getting shorter, and my chickens have decided to get naked.  Molt, it happens every year.  The flock loses their feathers in preparation for the winter ahead.  This yearly phenomenon also leads to some pretty silly looking chickens with feathers missing and scraggly bodies.  The worst part is that egg production drops dramatically!  Hens need protein to lay eggs and grow feathers, unfortunately, they can't do both at the same time.  As the feathers fall the hens start using their extra energy to replace them.  Instead of a dozen plus eggs a day, I'm getting four.  Ugh!!