sn0wwhite's Wichita Coop for the Twin Cities

[sn0wwhite]

Maybe that's why Sunny isn't the alpha chicken... she's the biggest, but too easy going to care about being the top bird. I haven't picked up Omelet (the Black Austrolorp) in a while, but I wonder if she's more solid? She bosses even the rooster around.

How are your girls doing with the cold?

Mine don't seem to mind too much, except they are hungrier (if that's possible) and on Sunday when it was really cold they seemed to be complaining about it vocally.

 

[chickiegrrl]

Our head bird is the smallest looking, our RIR. Buffy was head hen for a while. It was a reign of terror. She was a horrible leader. Lots of chasing, pecking, and wattle pulling.

The girls are doing pretty well in the cold. They actually seem to like it better than when it's warm. They want to stay out free ranging for over an hour while I'm freezing my patooty off. Our fluff brain EE wants to stay on the shelf all night instead of going in to roost. She is our most feathery girl and she seems to love the cold, but nobody has been bothered by it too much so far. I have noticed that our girls have been eating a lot more, too.

Have you been able to keep your water from freezing? I have to put a 60 watt bulb in the cookie tin to see if that works. Our waterer froze over a couple of times this weekend.

 

[sn0wwhite]

I bought something like this:
http://www.statelinetack.com/item/f...rccode=GPSLT&gclid=CI_807bRgbsCFYNaMgodZHAABQ

It's a galvanized metal base and the galvanized water fount sits on top of it. No freezing at all. I thought about doing the cookie tin base AND also the light surrounded by bricks under a water pot... but decided to just go with the manufactured version. I had enough do-it-myself stuff going on at the time.

At least it's one less thing to worry about.

And how about that frozen poo? If they leave some on the patio before I can scrape it off, I fear it's going to be there until March.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Congrats to your Sunny and to you! Whoa! She's a big girl now! That's so exciting. Wait til you get a blue one now.... It never gets old seeing those eggs in the nest boxes.

Frozen poo is horrible!!!! Only upshot on it is that it doesn't stink!

 

[aart]

WOW Congrats!!

That egg looks very pink...and I didn't think BO's laid pink eggs...hmmmm.
Maybe it's just the vagaries of the computer screen.

 

[sn0wwhite]

WOW Congrats!!

That egg looks very pink...and I didn't think BO's laid pink eggs...hmmmm.
Maybe it's just the vagaries of the computer screen.

Thanks, aart!
It's definitely not pink. I have pinkish (very slight) indoor flood lights above my counter and I was just too excited about the egg to notice.

I'm going to bring it to work today like show and tell!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I so love that you are bringing that Egg into work!

And if people seem unimpressed about your little brown egg -- just tell them what that egg's value is at this point in time! hahaha.

 

[sn0wwhite]

heh... the people at work have heard me talk about my chickens non-stop since April. They are sufficiently impressed with the little beige egg.

 

[chickiegrrl]

I love the little beige egg!

I really don't mind the frozen poop. It's a lot easier to scoop than mushy poop. There are a couple of spots that will have to wait for the spring thaw because they were splattered on the cinderblocks and froze, but mostly, I like picking up poopsicles. My girls are nuts, they absolutely love this weather. I froze my booty off today and they were in heaven. I finally had to chase them into the run and come inside to warm up.

 

[sn0wwhite]

And she laid a second egg today! Yay!