Texas - Page 408

I had planned on attending Saturday, but we were able to find a lady who is giving away her 3 goats (all the does and 2 are pregnant) so I will be going to pick them up this evening and will be working on a new fence tomorrow :( happy about the new goats, but sad I'll be missing the event in Giddings.

That is awesome about the goats we really want a goat but we have to just stick with our chickens because my husband has drawn the line (well he thinks so) hehe  I'm sure if we asked for one long enough he would give in like he did with the chickens but we just got the chickens so we shouldn't push for more right now.

 

 

Hi everyone,

I'm Sarah and I'm new to BYC and chickens in general!!  I have 3 hens and they're about 6 weeks old.  I have a NH red and 2 wyndottes.

 

Some mistakes I have made...I bought a coop off of craigslist and it was too rotten to use.  Now we're building a new one.

BOSS, doesn't mean sunflower seeds in the shell.  I gave these to my peeps and they just looked at me.  I guess I need the shelled type, but the wild birds will eat the ones with shells so it wasn't a total loss!!

 

I'm hanging out a lot now in the coop forum, trying to figure out how to improve my coop design.  We have a coop with a single 16"x16" nesting box for 3 hens.  I wish I had thought to do a communal box for them instead.  I'm looking to buy some linoleum for the bottom of the coop, thinking of buying sand for the run, and buying pine pellets for the poop tray in the coop with pine shavings for the rest of the coop.

I made a roost that fits perfectly over a short storage container so the clean up of that poop would be easier.  :)

 

Do you guys deworm your chickens once a month?  Do you insulate your coops?  If you put sand in the run, what do you put under it (above the grass) to keep the grass from growing right though it?

 

Thanks!!  It is so nice to see so many Texans around here!

Howdy 

 

 

 

 

Welcome! In answer to your questions, No, i don't deworm my chickens once a month. Definitely do not insulate your coop. In the summer you will cook your chickens. Coops need to allow plenty of airflow. They're covered in perfectly good insulating material themselves, no need to supplement that here in Texas. As far as sand in the run, I wouldn't worry about putting anything down. Any grass that grows through will be instantly destroyed by your chickens. My run used to be lush and green...Its solid dirt. Just my opinions on those things

Just like the coop I wanted mine to be all nice in the inside as it is on the outside so i let the girls move in before I finished it and within a day they had pooped all over the wall and flung stuff everywhere. I live in Austin no wormer no insulation grass will disappear quickly. Wait till you add ducks hahah. I have 21 layers 2 close and 9 ducks. I am adding turkeys very very soon.

Hello

(BOSS) is black oil sunflower seeds and they eat it shell and all in fact they usually love it maybe your birds are a bit young to enjoy them

Hi all. I live near Houston and am new to chickens. Can someone who lives on the coast tell me what you do with your chickens during hurricanes/tropical storms? My husband has already told me he doesn't want them in the house. Is the garage ok?

I would insulate the coop, especially the roof to keep the heat out. I would also make sure there is plenty of ventilation high and low with cross breezes in the summer. Shade is critical IMO, high tree shade is best. You want to also be able to stop the cross breeze in the winter. Most people and books recommend deep litter method. There are people on this site that have been happy with sand.

 

I don't know why you couldn't put your chickens in the garage (depending on how many you have). I'm sure the cars would be in there as well.

We are planning on moving them to the garage if there's a hurricane, although it will take us a few hours to move our coop, but that is the plan for now.