Here an egg, there an egg, everywhere.....

My chickens are giving me a glimmer of hope that spring is right around the corner. The last few days I have been getting about 30 eggs a day from my girls, which is kind of crazy for this time of year. I have somewhere between 50-60 hens...I think...I have lost track somewhere along the way. If I start naming off their names I could give you a more accurate census....no really, I could, they all have names. I just choose to not count them for fear that I will realize that, I am, in fact, the crazy chicken lady. Normally egg production slows way down in the winter months, partially from the cold temperatures, but more so with the waning daylight hours. Many people keep artificial lighting on their hens throughout the winter months to keep the girls popping out their little treasures. I always figure that, after they have kept me supplied all summer and fall with eggs to sell at the farmers' market, they should have a well earned rest, so I let them do whatever they would naturally do. After all it's enough work trying to stay warm here in the Midwest winter without the added stress of laying pretty eggs every day.

Although the landscape outside is painted only in shades of brown, I am going to take the excessive amount of eggs as a positive sign that my girls are in on some secret cue from the universe telling them that, even though it may not look like it, spring is coming. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

You go girls!