If you keep pullets that hatched last springtime, then you’ve likely been enjoying their eggs all winter. Laying might have slowed down, but it shouldn’t have ceased. (You don’t even need a lightbulb in the coop for winter eggs from young chickens.)  If you have older hens, that molted this past autumn, then February is the month when they get back into lay because the molt has given them a rejuvenating break and sunlight is increasing. For some of my hens, February and March are peak laying months. But, for many hen keepers this is a time of worry. Why isn’t my hen laying? What’s wrong?

Let’s look at my chickens for an explanation of why some hens lay and others don’t. I have two flocks. They live in separate barns, but each structure has large east and south-facing windows. The chickens are fed the same feed – I use Poulin Grain laying hen pellets – supplemented with Manna Pro Crushed Oyster Shell Calcium Supplement For Laying Chickens - Poultry Treat - 5 lbs. and Manna Pro Poultry Grit, 5-Pounds, free choice, vegetable scraps from my kitchen, and a small amount of scratch grains. I toss chopped alfalfa into the bedding. Both flocks are healthy and have been exposed to the same germs and worms. Both flocks are a mix of breeds. All molted at the end of last summer.

All six hens in the Little Barn are laying. (There’s one girl in this photo who is not making eggs, but she’s not a chicken!)

The hens don’t lay daily, but still, I’m collecting about three eggs a day.

Astoundingly, the White Leghorn, Twiggy, never did a full molt! I know this, because there were no white feathers strewn about the coop. Although in December her laying slowed to only two eggs a week, she never stopped. No wonder the modern hybrids used in industrial farms are descendants of the Leghorn.

Meanwhile, only one hen of the ten in the Big Barn is laying. Misty. The Andalusian.

What’s going on? The answer is simple. The nine hens not laying are two years older than the others. The Big Barn flock hatched in the spring of 2011; that is, all but Misty, who is the same age as the Little Barn hens – she and they hatched in the spring of 2013. She’s proof that there’s nothing different in the Big Barn other than the age of the hens. This is why farmers can’t keep older chickens, they’re not financially viable. My soon-to-be four year old hens are past their prime. Already. This is not a modern phenomena. Even a century ago laying hens were expected to be productive for only two years. With all of the backyard chicken keeping boosterism out there, this reality is glossed over. Even the major hatcheries tout that hens that will lay for up to eight years. Some hens will, but not most. This misinformation is leading to unmet expectations and misguided, poor care of backyard hens. Knowing the truth about what the future holds will make you a better hen keeper as your flock matures.

I do expect my Big Barn girls to resume laying, maybe next month. I also expect that each individual will produce fewer eggs than last year. I predict (based on 20 years of chicken keeping experience) that some will not lay at all. By the age of four, much goes wrong inside of a hen. Some can no longer form sturdy shells. Some will be diseased. Some will simply give out. But, a few individuals will keep going. I’m not a real farmer. I have enough room for a flock of productive hens and another of retirees. I’ve had hens live to be nine years old. I can keep the low producers as beloved lawn ornaments. My hens are lucky, and so am I.

For millennia, equines galloped across the steppes of Asia. About 5,000 years ago they began to live in concert with humans. Soon people couldn’t live without them and horses spread with us across the globe. We began to selectively breed horses to make them even more useful and amenable for life with us. It wasn’t that difficult. There’s a reason that we ride horses and not antelope. Horses are peaceable herd animals that form deep friendships. Horses bond not only to each other, but to other species. Like us. They are built for traveling, have a back that can carry weight, and can find forage in a wide range of places. It took a few thousand years, but horses became stronger, larger, faster, and more suited to the tasks required by humans. The domestic population surged, the wild dwindled, and now there are no truly wild horses left in the world. (Herds out west are feral, not wild.) Recent DNA research confirms this. Even the Przewalski horse is descended from domesticated species.

Still, there is something of that wild steppe equine in our modern horses.

Does Tonka have an ancient memory of snow-covered Mongolian plains as he makes his way around the paddock?

The horse’s head is designed to shovel down into the snow, the upper lip wagging back and forth to push snow away, looking for hidden grasses.

Wild Horse.

Before I get to the main part of this blogpost, many of you have already commented about this morning’s temperature. Yes, the thermometer really does read -2° F. That’s -18° C. That’s bitter cold! But, no, the chickens don’t need a heat lamp. Here they are this morning, eating and doing fine. It’s not windy, so they do go outside. Soon the sun will be shining on the snow, making it bright and welcoming. For more about cold weather care, read this post. I’ve also written about frostbite here.

Yesterday was spent digging out. One son’s job was to uncover the minivan. There it is to the left of the garage.

Here is the run before Steve shoveled.

This is why I write in my Coop Design FAQ that large windows and height are essential. Imagine if I had one of those small, low to the ground, only one tiny window, coops. Or a coop in which the feed is outside and under the run. The chickens would have been in the dark. That means that they wouldn’t have had anything to eat or drink for 24 hours. My hens have light and space. They laid eggs despite the storm. Still, Steve had work to do! The Ladies ventured out as soon as the door was unblocked.

Steve shoveled a path to Phoebe’s potty space. That’s where she and the goats have a confab each evening. We cleared the area so that they could continue to have their nightly discussions.

Shoveling out the goats’ paddock was difficult. The snow blocked their door, so Steve had to reach over. Awkward!

The goats squeezed out as soon as the door could be pushed open a sliver. They were chagrined to find a wall of snow in front of them.

Steve kept shoveling.

The goats provided encouragement.

One difficulty with all of this snow is the problem of where to put the used bedding and manure. The compost pile is well back in the yard – now quite a trudge through three feet of snow. There is an area for compost in the goat pen that I haven’t filled for awhile. It is back in use.

While we were digging out, someone else was digging in. Phoebe is making a snow cave. I wonder how far in she’ll go?

A big thank you to everyone who sent cocoa and coffee! Without your support, I couldn’t keep the cams up and running.

Where I live, the snowstorm qualified as a true blizzard – high winds, no visibility and a lot of snow. Thirty inches! But, it could have been much, much worse. The temperature was lower than predicted so that the snow was fine and dry (dry as in light and not sticky, of course it’s frozen water, which will ultimately make for quite the mud season!) Such snow doesn’t stick to trees, bending branches and causing power outages. It was dramatic to watch the storm swirl and the snow to cover the pond, and then the benches, and then the fence…

This is a before photo:

Here is the after:

To share the fun with you, Steve made two time-lapse videos.

This one is a view from a second story window.

Here is Phoebe’s view of the storm.

Please share these. The move viewers, the merrier!

Late last night the Blizzard of 2015 began in earnest.

Deep snow is more of a challenge for some than others.

It’s colder than expected, which is actually a good thing. Although that means that there’s more snow (physics!) it’s lighter, so it’s not sticking to branches and bringing trees down, and it’s easier to shovel. Still there is a lot of it. This morning, for the first pass  to make our way out to the barns, there was already two feet. We expect another foot before the storm peters out.

The goats say Good Morning! You’re late! Where’s the hay?

Thank you for your comments. It’s nice to know that you’re thinking of us. Not to worry. Weather like this is a challenge, but we’re fine! Also, thank you to everyone who sends me “coffee.” (Which, if you haven’t checked it out, is $4 via PayPal.) The cams are expensive to maintain, and I couldn’t do it without support from my viewers. I love sharing my bit of the world with others, and I appreciate the contributions that enable me to do that. Today, I think, I should change the coffee icon to hot cocoa. We’re going to need it! In all honesty, that we is actually Steve and the boys. I’m sending them out to shovel, while I wave from the window.

By the way, Steve is making a time-lapse video of the blizzard. It’ll be posted when this storm is over.

In the meanwhile, Scooter and Lily have the right idea.