Winter is almost upon us, you know what that means!

[Apis mellifera]

We have cold spells, kind of try on winter. The coldest we have been here, and I have lived here all my life, was -40 F, but I didn't have chickens then. I have been through -35 twice with no ill effects on my flock. However, that is unusually cold for us, It is not uncommon to be -25 F.

About the same temps here. The only heat is a water heater. Molting is over now so I will start adding light in the morning in a week or two. Pullets started laying and the rest will start laying consistently. The only problem with extreme cold is sometimes I get cracked eggs if I dont collect them in time.

Wow, that's cold! Do you dub the males and/or the females with the larger combs?

The beauty of Chanteclers with a dry clean coop, no frostbite, ever.

 

[Mrs. K]

The only problem with extreme cold is sometimes I get cracked eggs if I dont collect them in time.

I consider how cracked, how frozen. If just a hair line crack on clean egg - I just put in the fridge and use in two or three days.

Solid frozen with eggs whites popping out -goes to the dog.

 

[Sammster]

I have dozens and dozen of freeze dried eggs. They reconstitute beautifully, and will be great scrambled, made into omelets & casseroles or used in baking. The only way you can't enjoy them is sunny-side-up or hard boiled

 

[AEG]

Thanks for the information! Do you think the cold could be affecting them egg production-wise?

Hi I live in northern Alberta. It gets cold here and we have short daylight hours during the winter. I have found that decreased light is a bigger indicator of slowed production than temperature. We turn on our heat lamp and keep the girls in their coop when temps drop below -25C. To maintain some egg production all winter they need 14 hours of light a day. A few years we “forced” production by having a light in their coop set on a timer from 6AM to 8PM. We got about 2/3 our regular production. Last year (and this) we are letting them rest and don’t supplement light. We get the occasional egg during December and January and then it starts to pick up again. This is supposed to be a healthier approach for your girls but we are not selling. I hold back several dozen for holiday baking and just eat fewer eggs during slow production times.

 

[KayTee]

I froze eggs for the first time this summer. Just beaten and poured into silicone cupcake moulds, then turned out when frozen and stored in a bag. Each cupcake mould takes one egg, so when I want to make a cake / omelette etc it’s easy to take out the number of eggs I need and let them defrost for a few hours.
So far I’ve found they’re a bit thicker than fresh eggs, but they make great omelettes and scrambled eggs. The only disadvantage is that you have to plan in advance to let them defrost in time to use them. But if it’s a choice between that or buying eggs all winter then it’s worth doing.

 

[fluffycrow]

Hi I live in northern Alberta. It gets cold here and we have short daylight hours during the winter. I have found that decreased light is a bigger indicator of slowed production than temperature. We turn on our heat lamp and keep the girls in their coop when temps drop below -25C. To maintain some egg production all winter they need 14 hours of light a day. A few years we “forced” production by having a light in their coop set on a timer from 6AM to 8PM. We got about 2/3 our regular production. Last year (and this) we are letting them rest and don’t supplement light. We get the occasional egg during December and January and then it starts to pick up again. This is supposed to be a healthier approach for your girls but we are not selling. I hold back several dozen for holiday baking and just eat fewer eggs during slow production times.

Here it very rarely drops below 0°C, even in deep winter, but the light hours are definitely less. They have almost stopped egg production completely. I definitely think that the main factor is light, but it makes sense to me that extreme cold takes an extra toll on their bodies

 

[dpHenHouse]

…. I would still love to see someone post how to freeze eggs as that waterglassing sounded like too much work for me.

I’m not sure if it’s right, but I’ve been freezing eggs when I had too many. I’ll take a couple dozen fresh eggs and blend them up. I then pour 50 g in the egg bite molds (Instant Pot). 50g ~ 1 large egg. I snap the lid on and put in the freezer. Next day I pop them out and use my food saver to put them in freezer safe bags and suck all the air out. So far, no freezer burn issues. Use them for scrambled eggs, baking, and anything calling for beaten eggs. I don’t freeze whole eggs; I hear the consistency isn’t right.

 

[WTCH Ho Dog]

I have not yet caved! Although I have a feeling that 2 LF eggs and 2 serama eggs (if it's a good week) won't cut it. As Debbie said before, how does waterglassing work? Hope that one pullet lays soon. I remember you saying you've been waiting on her for some time

It works very well. I mix up 1 ounce Mrs. Wages pickling lime per quart of water in a pitcher, CAREFULLY lay fresh, unwashed, CLEAN eggs in a container, cover completely with lime solution, cap and date. I’ve used eggs from this spring preserved that way in the most exquisite French silk pie for dessert today.

 

[WTCH Ho Dog]

 

[fluffycrow]

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Very interesting, thank you for sharing! I might just make a jar of these next year