Hidden Winter Egg Stash

With 10 inches of snow on the ground for the past month, my husband makes a "chicken trail" between the coop and out house to make it easier for me to carry unfrozen water to the coop throughout the day.

Frozen eggs are always a problem this time of year, but has REALLY been a problem with the subzero temperatures Michigan has faced this winter. Straw is key to preventing frozen eggs as well as someone collecting eggs from the nesting boxes on a daily basis.

I keep straw everywhere in the coop this time of year as a warm barrier between the frozen ground and chicken feet. Straw is known to trap air inside the tiny tubes, so when a chicken lays eggs on top of straw, the air becomes nice and warm around the chicken and the eggs which prevents frozen eggs.

A frozen egg waiting for the chickens to eat when our weather warms up.

Some of my "baby" chickens who are less than a year old lay their eggs in the run of the coop instead of the nesting boxes filled with straw. Those eggs quickly freeze and crack because there is nothing to keep them above freezing. Frozen eggs are tossed outside, I don't keep them. The chickens will enjoy eating them once (or if ever) all this snow and ice finally melts.

Partially hidden eggs, I got six eggs out of this hidden stash.

Last year, my chickens started doing something quite unusual with their winter eggs, especially during super cold weeks. They started covering their eggs with the straw and pine shavings immediately after laying their daily egg.

This year, because of the extreme cold weather, the girls have been covering their eggs every single day. I have to stick my hands through piles of bedding in search of my eggs.

So my "bird brains" are super smart after all! As if chickens couldn't get any more interesting, by natural instinct, they prevent their eggs from freezing by insulating them with coop bedding.

Below is a video of me collecting eggs yesterday, searching through the straw for any hidden eggs.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/84a231_46bd6c98692d4ebd90d2610ecfdd3227/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

My Hunt For Hidden Eggs

My "bird brains", in their brilliance and genius, also predicted this pretty heavy duty, brutally cold weather! Their egg production slowed in September and they molted much earlier this year than normal. Most of the time, both egg production and molting happens around Halloween instead of Labor Day. At the time, I wasn't sure if they were sick or getting old and not as productive, but now I know they were experiencing hints through the barometric pressure outside that the winter was going to be intense this year in cold temperatures and lots and lots of snow.

I hope everyone is staying nice and warm this winter. Although I'm typing this post with three blankets on my lap plus a purring, warm kitty, I love looking out my window and seeing the snow blanketed trees outside. It's quite beautiful and peaceful.

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly