Hens’ clocks go back too! They normally wake up half an hour before sunrise and head to bed about half an hour before sunset, so when the days shorten they spend more time inside. Expect the hen house to need a little extra cleaning.
Put gravel or hardwood chips just outside the coop entrance.It works like a doormat, cleaning wet mud from your hens’ feet. Do the same across boggy patches of the run too – hens aren’t ducks, they hate mud. Remember wood chip, not bark chip, which rots and can trigger respiratory problems.
Most hens moult from late September onwards,but they all go about it differently. One might drop lots of feathers overnight, while another takes her time. When new pin feathers emerge, they look like a hedgehog.
It’s quite natural that they’ll lay fewer eggs this time of year. Don’t panic! Also, their eggs might be thinner shelled, as calcium in their bodies is diverted to feather growth. That’s normal, and fixable with diet.