Here in New England the season is changing. Goldenrod is in bloom (that’s a tall, yellow plant that fills abandoned hay fields), the pumpkins are turning orange (the photo below is from my garden), and Candy is shedding clumps of fur and replacing it with her winter coat. She is also eating like a pig and layering on the fat to keep warm this winter.

As far as I can tell, the chickens are oblivious to the coming cold. However, some are molting, which might be linked to the falling temperature, or perhaps the fewer daylight hours. Walking into the coop in the morning, and seeing the feathers strewn across the floor, I startle, thinking there’s been a predator attack, but, no, it’s just the hens losing their old feathers and growing in new finery.