Chicken Lover in Texas

[PunkinPeep]

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I do not provide heat for my chickens. Most of these breeds are also cold hardy and do well up north where it gets WAY colder than it ever gets here. If it gets really cold (for us), i do put covers over the windows of the coop. But that's about it. What part of Texas do you live in, if you don't mind my asking?

I like getting chickens locally, just because it's cheaper. Often you can get hatchery chicks from local feed stores in the spring, and that will save you on shipping. I've never had any intention of showing my birds or anything, and i've been very happy with my hatchery stock Barred Rocks. My RIR are some hatchery - and some from a local. I like them all. I would just want to get them all as young as possible (if it were me, which it isn't).

 

[elmo]

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No! Unless you pick a breed that is cold intolerant (like, say, Seramas), most chickens do just fine in Texas winters, even up in the Panhandle, if they have dry, draft free but well ventilated shelter. On the other hand, Texas summers can be brutal, and heat can actually be deadly for chickens. If I were you, I'd pick heat tolerant breeds and build my housing to take into account the summer heat.

I'm in North Texas, and I have an open sided coop for summer use.