Finally

FINALLY~ EGGS!

photo credit

your wondering.... what are you talking about?
and honestly, I have no idea what I am talking about....
but the hens decided to all stop laying for a while.
for a very LONG while.
One started to molt in September.... the others followed suit soon after.....
and it has been a very S.L.O.W. molt.
and the eggs stopped!

I believe we got one egg in December.
We got another 1 in early January.
and since September~ we have had no more than 5.

I have hated the fact that buying eggs at the market is now a monthly thing... especially when I have girls in the yard for that!  Its the same feeling I get when I need to replace a brand new pair of jeans that my son, so kindly, decided to slide into third base.... and rip up.  It makes me want to "GRRRR!"

When one has bird struggles- you seek out advice.... and at our local feed shop the owner has birds~ and struggles with the same thing. She said that with 20 bird~ she only had 7 eggs for the whole month of December.

The weather.
The dark. (even with a light in the coop)
The molting.
so many factors.....

as of this past week though.... there has been some ruckus in the coop, and the girls have started to sing again.  The past two days we have had 1 egg.
Imagine my excitement when today I walked out to find 2.
it was almost as if I could sing from a mountain top....( I have never been known to not be dramatic!).

Who knew that having chickens would create such excitement in one person.... much like the birth of your first child (ok, so not THAT exciting), but maybe when your child brings home their first 100% on a spelling test... Or when they finally start understanding multiplication tables (can you tell I have a 4th grader!).

So, all this to say.... We have eggs.... and I am "oh so happy" about it!