It’s been a while since I wrote about the chickens. They did well over the summer, but had a serious drop off in egg laying, going from 9-10 eggs a day to 3-4 eggs per day, with a major disturbance in late October, when a hawk took off with two of our girls, including one of our two Ameraucanas (we didn’t see it, but heard about it from a neighbor).
Trouble is, we haven’t had a green egg since mid Summer, which has led to discussions that our surviving Ameraucana had perhaps lived out her laying days, and maybe she should be harvested for soup. This plan did not sit well with the kids, and was really a plan we should have ahem…executed… while it was warm out. We tabled the discussion for a while.
Imagine my surprise today when I went out to feed the chickens the party leftovers from the weekend and they pre-emptively rewarded my treats with four eggs, including one green one! I forgot how beautiful these eggs are. I’m not really sure why there was such a long break, or if she’ll keep laying, but I’m happy to have a green egg back, and convinced that when we get chicks in the Spring, we’ll pick up some more Ameraucanas.
Delicious party leftovers! Everybody gets to celebrate!
Sing it with me…”I will survive! Oh as long as I know how to lay I know I’ll stay alive!”
Hatton House Diaries 
I heard if you use a red light during winter it’ll help them lay. This will also help them not peck each other, but will also shorten their laying lives.
Interesting…we’ve had regular “white” light. It worked their first winter, but not the second one. They’ve picked up laying now that it’s Spring.