Poe Jr. Jr. and Her New Feathers

One of my favorite movies ever is a film called Everything Is Illuminated. In the movie, there is an older man who has a dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. I loved this dog and loved this name, so when we were hatching eggs from Poe’s son in 2021, I decided, if we got a black hen, I would have to name Poe’s granddaugther Poe Jr. Jr.

We got one, and she was beautiful.

She was also very shy, very standoff-ish, but I figured I could win her over in time. I always do, but Poe Jr. Jr. was in for a tougher time that I thought she would be. Because Poe Jr. Jr. was a loner like her famous grandmother, she became a target for a young rooster born the same year. He got on her too much. Eventually, I decided it was just too, too much, and he had to go; however, when a rooster gets on a hen too much, he damages some of her feathers. I make little jackets when this happens, but it helps only in certain areas. Still, Poe Jr. Jr. wasn’t in too bad of shape at all, and I knew she would molt in the fall and get all new feathers.

For some reason, she didn’t molt.

I have never seen such a thing. Every year after their first year of life, chickens molt to get rid of their old feathers and grow new, beautiful feathers for the coming year. They usually molt in the fall, so they are ready to go for winter with a nice, thick batch of beautiful feathers. The molt can be hard on them. Well, it almost always is. It takes a lot of work to grow new feathers, and the pin feathers can be painful to touch. When we have a chicken having a “hard molt” where they have lost a lot and are growing many new feathers, they will just hide from the rest of the flock for days or longer. Still, the molt is necessary and wonderful in helping a chicken live a happy, healthy life. New feathers once a year are critical.

When Poe Jr. Jr. didn’t molt last fall, I was worried. She had some bald spots for sure, and it seemed so strange that she never molted. I thought maybe she was off schedule, but fall came and went. Winter came and went. Spring came and went. Still, no molt.

By this summer, she just looked downright scraggly. I was so worried about her and not sure what to do. Chickens will just naturally lose feathers to normal wear and tear throughout the year. After two years without a molt, I was worried she wasn’t going to have enough feathers to make it through this coming winter. A couple of times, I captured her in the evening to make sure she didn’t have mites or a skin condition. I could see nothing wrong, just a relatively bald chicken.

My plan was to look into having a sweater made for her for the winter. I cannot crochet well enough to make one for her, but I know people who can. And, if that didn’t work, I thought she was either going to have to move into the garage, or I was going to have to take her to a vet, even though I had zero hope that any vet would know anything at all.

Then, last month, I noticed that maybe her little underneath feathers were coming out. It looked like a molt, but I wasn’t sure because of her history. I kept a close eye every day, and finally, I saw them–the pin feathers! Poe Jr. Jr. was finally getting new feathers.

And, oh my goodness! When she finally got her new feathers, they were more gorgeous than I could have imagined. When chickens molt for the first time, you really see who they are in terms of their feathers. They will change some, and though I have found that they will change a little with each molt every single year, there is nothing as big as the change after the very first molt.

Poe Jr. Jr., who was all black before with a little bit of green sheen, is now still mostly black, but there are little random brown feathers in the mix. Her green sheen is also just extra. It’s almost blue. She looks like a model chicken, and I am so happy for her.

On top of this, she is no longer hiding from everyone. She is still a bit of a loner, but I see her with her people a lot more. Plus, she doesn’t run from me anymore. The other day, Poe Jr. Jr. took a treat from my hand for the first time in her life! I had tears.

And, I swear, when I went to take a picture of her for this blog post, she let me do a full photo shoot of her. She definitely knows she looks better. She must feel so much better. I love this little chicken, and I am hopeful that now I can really get to know Poe Jr. Jr.