Breaking Egg News!

(NOT news about “breaking eggs,” though!)

A 10-egg day yesterday! Whooo! That hasn’t happened in a looong time. In November, we got 10 eggs during the entire month! No photo, as I’ve already gifted them to a co-worker who got cut short on our “egg contract” last fall when the hens decided to get a bit lazy (or get busy growing feathers, who knows?)

This increasing day length thing is great, both for the happy hens and for me. The difference when leaving work at a reasonable hour is really noticeable since we came back from Boston; just a few days away can really help you take notice of subtle things.

In the chicken’s case, I thought the pineal gland was responsible for this little bit of egg-laying magic. Google tells me otherwise. Quoting from this science:

"It is now clear that an extraretinal photoreceptor present in the brain serves as the sensory detector for photoperiod in birds (9). Thus, a blind bird’s reproductive system responds appropriately to photoperiod, whereas blocking light shining through the skull consigns the bird to constant darkness (10)."

Yeesh! Whatever the reason, keep ‘em coming, sun-bathing, skull-illuminated chickens!