Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

It's finally warming up around here, I am amazed at how much the snow has melted, but a sure sign of spring is I got a little egg yesterday and today. Which of the two I am not sure of but they lay the egg on the edge of the foundation footing, totally bypassing the nest four feet away. The younger one is old enough to lay but the egg looks like an older hen's egg. Spring is coming! Maybe maybe maybe.

I sure hope so!!

Me too!!!

You never know with the extremes in weather these days, but sure have been enjoying the mild temperatures and sunshine these days. My husband sure likes the warmer temps, as it sure saves on the firewood. It`s nice to see the chickens and ducks out. They love these temps too!

My chickens started laying in the early winter.. Is that unusual? They'll be a year old in May-July ish.

Laying early: its not unusual. Its a mix of many factors: condition of the bird, breed, water availability, and sunlight hours. The way to force them to lay is with lights increasing the light to 14 hours per day. WWW had birds in a greenhouse and they would lay well all winter I suspect to the increased warmth and the intensity of light received.

nekoatsume wrote:QR_BBPOST My chickens started laying in the early winter.. Is that unusual? They'll be a year old in May-July ish.

No that's not unusual, I used to have hens that never stopped laying even when they got old. Don't go by the two I have now. One is old and the other is just coming to laying age, plus they are just show bantams. They have no lights, no heat and their water is often frozen. So that's why I say it's a sign that spring is coming because everything is just run on chicken power alone. Also now my potatoes are sprouting eyes lol.

Skinny rooster wrote:QR_BBPOST It's finally warming up around here, I am amazed at how much the snow has melted, but a sure sign of spring is I got a little egg yesterday and today. Which of the two I am not sure of but they lay the egg on the edge of the foundation footing, totally bypassing the nest four feet away. The younger one is old enough to lay but the egg looks like an older hen's egg. Spring is coming! Maybe maybe maybe.

Umm. Didn't you close the barn door last fall? Get out of poultry keeping? A little egg from?

I did spring lawn raking this weekend. February. Shameful. I should be knee deep in snow. Clearly I need to move to Alaska.

Near the US/Canada border in Sarnia here.. Definitely looks like spring. Redwing blackbirds and robins singing in the trees. So early!