Winter Eggs

After getting home this evening and letting the dogs out to run around in the woods behind the house to investigate the squirrel and rabbit action they've been watching from the windows all day, I went in to say hello to the girls.  I asked them if they wanted to go outside for a while and they resolutely refused doing an abrupt about face after pecking at the snow right outside the door.  Upon investigating what they'd been up to all day, I found two of the girls had left me an egg apiece.  A welcome surprise after a few weeks of next to no egg action.

Most people don't get many eggs in the winter.  I've been very fortunate.  When my young hens started laying it was already very cold, but they continued to all lay an egg a day until just a few weeks ago.  The one week it actually got to 20* for a few days in a row they stopped.  This is quite backwards!  My gals have been very spoiled compared to some chickens this winter though, inside a little barn with plenty of room to roost and play with a heater that is mostly for the rabbits and has never let the temperature drop below 0* {without the heater my critters would have to had endured multiple days and weeks in the -15* and well below range--not something I'm willing to risk with my rabbits}, and they've even had 24 hour lighting in the form of a strand of Christmas lights.  The lighting--although dim--and the heater {which has actually been switched off for several days in a row!} surely helped keep the girls laying.  And a few days ago two gal, I think probably Pansy and Ida, started laying again after perhaps adjusting to the fact that it could be 40* in their chicken world again!

It felt very strange to be running low on eggs after about 3 solid months of egg bounty.  It'll be interesting to see how things go next winter.  I would like to have eggs through the winter and it wouldn't be too hard to keep them in the barn again.  Three laying hens are very manageable and all I really need right now.  As it is I'm giving eggs away.  Has it been the heaters and the lights or just the fact that they're peppy young birds?  Will my chickens slow down as 2 year old hens and not lay despite warmth and lights?  Things I'm curious to find out. Right now these two eggs mean French toast in the morning.