Every year, just when I despair that the winter is going to go on forever, and that my hens are never going to lay again, I get a glimmer of hope that spring is around the corner.
Yesterday, for the first time in months, one of the Bantam While Leghorns laid an egg.
And today, Tina Turner laid an egg! Her first one!
It’s well below freezing, and the winds are gusting at 20 miles per hour, but Spring is in the air. Thanks, girls!
Very jealous of the eggs – lord alone knows when I’ll see one from my lot. Jealous too of your sunshine, very grey here today and the girls were in bed by 3.30!
The vacation of their hen are leaving…
Usually if I don’t give my hens any ‘Lay Pellets’ they don’t lay any eggs till’ springtime.
But, one of my heds has laid for two days in a row here in Long Creek.
I never give my hens lay pellets because it makes them labor all year long.
Fortunately we have had a mild winter here in Long Creek/Eastern Oregon this year, so the chickens at our house can go outside to exercise several times a week.
You have such a wonderful website and I really enjoy your ‘Hen Cam’ alot.
I really like your Coop too. Mine is just an old shed, but it keeps the hens and the rooster protected at night.
Doesn’t matter what the henhouse looks like, as long as the animals are kept safe and comfortable!
I’m getting one egg a day from my seven girls. Can’t wait for the rest of them to get back to work! Colony14, I’m pretty sure it’s the length of daylight that makes the hens lay, not the laying pellets.
Marna (CT)
Hi Marna, You’re right, the laying hen pellets don’t affect whether they lay or not, but it will affect egg quality and health of the hens. It’s daylight and warmth that matters! My old hen, Marge, got into a nesting box today. She made a lot of noise announcing her intentions – but didn’t lay a thing.
Today here in Louisiana is a nice day. It started off cold cloudy and damp but afternoon gave way to sun and 50 degrees. My two Buff Orpington hens have laid eggs on and off all winter. The girls have really been laying more on a regular basis this past week so I hope Spring is not too far behind. Here in Louisiana today we are awaiting the Super Bowl and our much loved Saints. Win or lose we are proud of them for all they have accomplished this football season.
My husband grew up in New Orleans, so you know who we’re rooting for!
Who Dat, Who Dat, Who Dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints!!!!!!!
I hope that your hens are getting the leftover snacks from your superbowl party!
No Super Bowl party my mom is too sick for all that but I did give them a special snack—white corn on the cob. They love that—it’s their favorite.
My girls started laying again about 10 days ago…. I went from no eggs to two days in a row of 4 eggs! Seems like they are back on track… it gives me hope for spring too!
I used to be very affected by seasonal affect disorder, but now that I have chickens, I get more sunlight cause I am outside taking care of them and it doesn’t bother me at all. Also, I am more aware of the days getting longer cause they go into the coop later each day and now eggs means longer days and soon spring! Hooray!
I know – having animals forces me outside even if I’m tired or in a grumpy mood; it always lifts my spirits to be out of the house and around my critters.
Amen! I think that it’s been a good thing for the area, city and state. Finally something positive.
I love your site. I saw your book and website advertised in Scholastic magazine order forms at the Early Head Start in Pt. Angeles, WA. I’m doing a lesson plan on Chickens and Eggs for my Early Childhood Education’s, Creative Curriculum class. I was so excited when I saw your book. I ordered it and have been devouring your site all day today. I shared it with classmates in a post. Hopefully others will look you up. My husband is building me a wonderful hen house. Hope to have layers by May. Thanks for all your pictures and information.
Thanks! A lot of schools have egg hatching programs, which is great. But, the kids never get to see what a full-grown chicken looks like (so different than a fuzzy chick,) so they’re using the HenCam to introduce the children to chickens. You’ll love having hens.
I am fascinated by my hens especially when they start laying eggs. Nature is so awesome!
sweet!
I was starting to despair since I haven’t seen an egg in months. Today I got three. I know just how you feel. Fresh eggs in the morning.
I won’t feel like we’re really into spring until I have such an abundance of eggs that I start making custard.
Just found your fabulous site – I am about to embark on chicken-keeping and this looks like the go-to place for all things hen. Thanks!
Welcome aboard! I checked your URL. Looks like you have one mean mud season out there.
Hi Terry! Same problem here! California cold and very wet…But the girls seem to like it because I have seen more eggs the last couple weeks than in months! Yesterday I got 14! I am back in business! Lots of green and blue ones…they make that dozen in the box look so pretty and SPRING-Y! YEAH!
I still don’t have a blue egg layer in the flock. The Polish are laying pointy white ones now, though.
I’ve been getting 8 +/- eggs per day. I cheat though, I started providing about 13-14 hours of light a day since 01/01/2010.
Still not very good considering I have 23 hens. Keep in mind I have 6 that are 7+ years old.
Light doesn’t work on my older hens, and my two young birds lay no matter what, so we left the lights off this year.
Wow, one of my hens just laid an egg yesterday for the first time since the winter darkness set in. I live in central Pennsylvania.
Hello,
I just stumbled upon your site and I am both captivated and enchanted by your animals and by the site and by your beautiful coops and barns/sheds! So glad to have found you! I am a 40 something mom of two middle school/high school age boys and I have wanted to have hens and goats for a very long time. Due to my husbands preferred summer activities (not that I didn’t enjoy our past summers, but not my preference, mind you) we could never have farm animals. Things have changed and I’m starting to stir the pot on the subject! ;) I have begun doing research on hens and plan to head to the library soon. I live where the winters are cold (actually, 55 miles north west of Boston) and I am curious about egg production in the winter. I noticed here that you don’t get many eggs. I want to have hens for the purpose of eggs but I don’t want to expect more of the hens then I should. Anyway, I still have a lot of research to do I guess. I am very curious as to whether it is cost effective in the long run to keep hens for eggs? (hoping to the answer will be yes so I can add it to the “pot” I’m stirring which I will present to hubby!) I usually purchase the more expensive cage free eggs at the market and we eat them often. I don’t know how to find that information out. If anyone has thoughts or information I will be thrilled to hear it!
I will be checking in often, I hope – time permitting. Take care and enjoy those eggs! :D
I’ve written about the financial side of it. Read this blog post.
http://www.hencam.com/henblog/2010/01/year-end-egg-count/
So, you might break even, you might spend more. But as far as hobbies go, this is cheap compared to others – my horse addiction cost a lot more!
This is for Sharon who is thinking about raising chickens for eggs. Do yourself a favor and check out these books: Storey’s Guide to raising Chickens by Gail Damerow and Keep Chickens by Barbar Kilarski. I have eight hens between two and four years old and they stopped laying in September. I live in FL. I added a light with a timer so they have 10-12 hours daily and switched their food back to Layena. Within a week they were laying at least four eggs daily. Today I got seven.
I was surprised to find 7 eggs today! So, yes, Spring must be on the way. By the way blocking off the feeder from the goatlings was a very good idea. They can get into the tightest strangest places and get stuck. We had one get a leg stuck and break it. Very sad. After that I was always paranoid about them climbing into/into something and getting a body part hung up. Like I said… good move on your part.