Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Wishing4Wings]

MC, do you have a Ross or Marshall's nearby? They will carry snow clothes & boots for kids. Ski pants/overalls are easy to find. Other good places to look are thrift shops. Target and Walmart are affordable also. Order online and get delivered. As far as getting her out to the coop, sit her on a saucer or sled and pull her. If it's really cold, bundle her up in a blanket or sleeping bag. Everything takes longer with kids. Everything tales longer in the snow. I think it will just take longer. Is she potty training yet? That's really fun when they are all bundled up and have to go really bad! Not sure what to do when the temps are dangerously cold, though.

Oh, layering lots of socks with muck boots works fine if you are not out all day. We did that with my son when we went for a day in the snow. His feet were hurting really bad after a few hours, though. Cotton socks are not so good for this. Insulated show boots are best.

 

[BullChick]

Target and Walmart (online and in-store) are where the boots are all $30 and up.
I have a Ross's. The thrift shops are pretty much empty already. That was the second stop (okay, third).
I would only have her out intentionally (she loves to play, and I have to allow it!) for about ten minutes.
Funny you should ask about potty training. I will save the drama, and just say it will be happening soon. She isn't quite ready, but she is 16 months, and should be going to high school by now (a night with her parents about made me scream last night!

)
I had to break up water today. And did you know that ducks swim? Apparently that is why their chests are wet when I am holding them.

 

[cheeka]

she needs a snowsuit and wool socks to wear with her rubber boots. I'll check my thriftshops if you want. I can also ask my neighbor if she has anything her daughter has outgrown.

 

[BullChick]

I haven't seen a single snowsuit this year. Not even newborn. No, I take that back. I did. A newborn one. I am going to make it through somehow. I mean, if I have to take her out today (she will be here all this week too, except part of Wednesday into Thursday. Then she'll be back Thursday night) and I think she's going to be cold I can layer her in pants (I have jeans and two pairs of sweats) and I have that Winnie the Pooh costume/outfit that is pretty warm. I asked them last night if they had boots for her. I won't comment on what they have. It is obvious she won't be using them often.
My big problem is that we all know she's "mine". But without her being mine, I can't afford to keep buying everything for her. I myself need new boots, and I do have frozen feet when I go to the coops. LOL! Dave left a pair of boots here. If he doesn't come for them, I will be stealing them. Jaz can be carried and I can wrap her in a blanket if nothing else. I need to get into the garage (booby trapped) to get a sled. I have two of them. They are used to bring feed bags and water buckets to the coop. Work for trash too. Jaz can hold the feed bag or water jugs (no sloshing bucket with her on the sled!) and enjoy the ride on snowy days (like W4w said).
I have to get this house cleaned up and a repair done in the duck pen before she gets here. BYYYYYYEEEE!!!!!

 

[BullChick]

Jazlyn just said thank you! And on her own!!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

$30?? Yikes. Guess it's been about 12-13 yrs since I've had to look.

Winter comes later here, obviously, if you've got frozen water already. I can check the thrift stores too. People don't need snow gear here, it's only for folks who go up to the snow to ski, so there's usually quite a lot of turn over in the second hand shops. What size is she? For boots too.

 

[chickenraiser24]

Half ice half snow today. I am going to let the chickens out of their coop soon.
They are NOT going to like this.

 

[sophiap]

I have been silent for a bit from BYC, going crazy with work and having unfortunately to put down our sweet hedgehog. The chickens are well. My two older girls stopped laying for the season. My six new girls are now going on 8 months old. 4 are laying for the last month but 2 are still fighting it. Both the ones that have not laid yet are EE. One of them gave me a scare the other day. She was fine in the morning but in the afternoon she got pecked by my older Brahma chicken (she is a horrible bully) and then run into the bushes wheezing. I brought her inside and massaged her neck, gave some olive oil and kept her in for the night to monitor her condition. Thankfully it must have been something in her nose or throat because she was fine. She is a sweet girl and smaller than the rest. Ever since that incident, she is even sweeter to me, comes to be fed and petted away from the flock and wants food out of my hand not the bowl or ground! She is definitely a "people chick" . I am wondering with the cold weather coming in and the shorter daylight hours for how long the new girls will be laying. I do not use heat lamps or artificial light. I prefer them to be on a natural cycle. On that note, today the nipple waterer was frozen. I wonder if I should move to a regular waterer with a heating unit for the winter. Any thoughts?

Happy Thanksgiving to all in this forum. It has been wonderful to be in the BYC family.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Hi sophiap! You may be waiting until after the new year for eggs from the last holdouts, when the days start growing longer. There's no way to tell for sure. If your smaller EE is at the bottom of the pecking order, the stress may cause a delay as well. I've found that Ameraucanas are more of a light bodied bird and can be a bit flighty, therefore they tend to get picked on. Your little pet sounds like she has a lot of AM in her. Maybe you will get a blue egg! She does sound sweet, although they are smart enough to know who butters their bread! I think the EEs are torturing you a little, making you wait to see what color eggs you'll get.

As far as the water, it depends on how cold your winters are. We rarely get below freezing here, so I don't have to worry much. For people in colder climates, watering in winter seems to be one of the biggest chores. A heated water dish sounds good to me! You could always set it up and keep it unplugged until you need it.

Sorry about your hedgehog. Those look like the sweetest little things. We are not allowed to have them here in California. Can't have ferrets or gerbils either.

 

[chickenraiser24]

I use heat lamps, but usually we get below freezing and little snow. Today we have ice/snow, so that shocked me! I am also waiting for eggs from my EEs. The pullets hate this weather. They took one step in the snow, and ran into the coop. Their outside water dish was frozen solid. We heat their coop water dish.