No eggs today

For the first time since the gals started laying regularly, we've had a day with no eggs. I'm hoping this is just a coincidence and not a sign that the flock is getting sick or suffering from the cold. My concern is that we've lost three hens in the past 6 weeks, which seems a lot considering our last loss was an immature hen back in June. Worra, worra, worra!

Egg Popsicle Anyone?

Now that the weather in the Northeast is positively frigid (it was 15 degrees when I went out at midday yesterday), I've been worried about my eggs freezing. In the very cold weather, you're supposed to collect eggs several times a day to prevent this from happening. For a while, I had a broody hen who would keep my eggs toasty, but she hasn't been setting for a few days now.

My main worry about my eggs freezing was how would I know they were frozen and would this render the egg inedible? Two nights ago, I found the answer to at least one of my questions. When eggs freeze, their shells crack. Remembering back to your introductory physics class, water expands when it freezes, and something must give to make more room, hence the shell cracks. It all makes sense. And about the second question, well I don't think I'm even going to try to eat the cracked frozen eggs that were sitting in the coop among the wood chips and other things that will remain unmentioned.

What Was I Thinking?

When we got our coop last spring, my husband and I debated where to place it in our yard. We have a couple of acres, so we had no shortage of places to put the coop. My husband, in his infinite wisdom, suggested that we choose a spot very close to the house. Me, in my folly, thought that it was too close and picked a spot about 50-60 yards from the house. It was a nice little hollow, near a grove of trees that would give the chickens a great spot to scratch and forage. Now let's be honest, 50 yards, that's not too far. No one minded walking out there a couple of times a day...in the good weather. Even when it got cold and the days grew short, it wasn't much of a hassle to go out at night with a flashlight to close up the coop.
The coop in warmer weather

Well, that was before two feet of snow got dumped on us this past Wednesday. Yes, winter in New England means snow, and suddenly we had lots of it! As luck would have it, my husband was away during this latest storm, which meant that it was all on me to get out to the coop and back every day. As I trudged through drifts up to three feet deep, I cursed the aesthetically pleasing, yet far away spot that I picked for the coop. I had to don snow pants to get out there the first time.

And shoveling? Well let's just say that the coop is 50 yards from the house as the bird flies; the path, a LOT longer.
The path to the coop at its midway point.


Looking back to the house from that midway point

As you can well imagine, I am anxiously awaiting spring!

Dominiques

Saw an interesting blog post on why you should raise Dominiques. I happily count myself as a Dominque owner!


Peck Peck (the brown Speckled Sussex rooster) with a Dominque hen.