[moose tracks]

It is harder to find fresh eggs in the winter because most small farmers have fewer eggs. Winter’s cold weather reduces egg production. But darkness is the main reason production begins to slow in the winter months. Most chickens produce eggs at a fastest rate when there is a good chance that any resulting offspring would survive to maturity. In the northern part of the United States, that means they slow down their egg-production as the days get shorter and winter approaches. Some farmers add artificial light sources to their chicken coop to get the chickens to produce more eggs. The use of lights fool the chickens' metabolisms into thinking the days are not getting shorter. By providing 14 hours a day of light, winter egg production will not drop off as bad.