Texas

[Honeybunny_3]

Honestly! The stuff we all wish for in the summer time and never get! I'm thankful for the rain and love stormy weather, just wish it was more evenly spread out through the year and I could actually work outside in March

Thanks! I'm hoping this evening will at least be not raining so I can finish breaking down pallets and get the roof of the run built. Gotta have somewhere to put these 20 roosters until my buyer comes by to pick them up

Good luck with the ducklings!

You are building your run with pallets? That's ingenious!!! Please posts pics if this weather ever lets you get it finished, lol. I spent 3 hours on TSC last night reading reviews trying to find a run and coop big enough to put around one of our ponds yet still be safe for them to be in. Didn't succeed, so I guess I will have to hire a handy man to help me think up something to build for these ducklings. It gets too hot here in South Texas Hill Country so can't have tin for a roof. I read some reviews that the heat off the tin killed the flocks. Heartbreaking, but great reviews. My problem is I need a very strong run and coop to keep out predators. We have lots of mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and snakes that take our pets and livestock. We live on acreage out here so lots of wildlife. We have had several birds killed as well. Mainly our turkeys and chickens years ago that my ex took care of. Now I'm trying ducks as a 1st time learner. I want chickens too eventually. I'm learning a lot on here.

 

[janiedoe]

Beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[Maddcatter]

You are building your run with pallets? That's ingenious!!! Please posts pics if this weather ever lets you get it finished, lol. I spent 3 hours on TSC last night reading reviews trying to find a run and coop big enough to put around one of our ponds yet still be safe for them to be in. Didn't succeed, so I guess I will have to hire a handy man to help me think up something to build for these ducklings. It gets too hot here in South Texas Hill Country so can't have tin for a roof. I read some reviews that the heat off the tin killed the flocks. Heartbreaking, but great reviews. My problem is I need a very strong run and coop to keep out predators. We have lots of mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and snakes that take our pets and livestock. We live on acreage out here so lots of wildlife. We have had several birds killed as well. Mainly our turkeys and chickens years ago that my ex took care of. Now I'm trying ducks as a 1st time learner. I want chickens too eventually. I'm learning a lot on here.

I'd suggest getting one of those pre-built sheds from lowes or home depot before getting a habitat from tsc. All the reviews on them say they fall apart in a year.

There's an article on BYC about building a hoop house for your chickens. I am pretty sure it'd work just fine for ducks. I have ducks, and mine are hardier than my chickens. My ducks also just spent time in my little duck ponds if they think it's too hot. (I got the concrete mixing trays from lowes, and they're my little ponds).

My ducks will alert me if they find a snake, but I don't have the other predators you have... So it's possible I'm wrong about the hoop house.

 

[RUNuts]

It gets too hot here in South Texas Hill Country so can't have tin for a roof. I read some reviews that the heat off the tin killed the flocks. Heartbreaking, but great reviews.

Tin doesn't kill but the heat does. If you have adequate ventilation and a large enough coop, you can do it. Ventilation is the key, so don't make an oven.

My original birds hung out under the coop in the cool dirt. Then the bananas grew up and now they hang out in the banana circle in the cool mulch/leaves/dirt. The important thing is a cool, well ventilated space. Lots of shade.

You don't get much rain, so the dirt is dry and can be hot. A mulch pile will hold more water and be good for a garden. Chickens and mulch piles are great together.

 

[NagemTX]

Lol, my chickens ate all my banana plants. To people who say you can't kill them just chop down to the ground and let the chickens do the rest.

RIP my red banana plants.

 

[The Ranch Girl]

My daughter lives in gladewater. She is coming here for the eclipse. Lol

My Great Aunts up there so that’s why we are going

 

[RUNuts]

Lol, my chickens ate all my banana plants. To people who say you can't kill them just chop down to the ground and let the chickens do the rest.

RIP my red banana plants.

Were the red banana plants established?

My chickens will eat all the leaves on the bananas until they are 3' tall. My bananas are thriving with all the fertilizer.

 

[The Ranch Girl]

A lot of my moms side of the family lived in Kilgore, everyone there knows them.

 

[NagemTX]

Were the red banana plants established?

My chickens will eat all the leaves on the bananas until they are 3' tall. My bananas are thriving with all the fertilizer.

Not as established as they should have been. Thad them for three years before the chickens but I think they kept getting frozen.

I'll eventually get more and put some fence around them.

 

[RUNuts]

Not as established as they should have been. Thad them for three years before the chickens but I think they kept getting frozen.

I'll eventually get more and put some fence around them.

Yep, mine have frozen for the last 3 years. This year wasn't all the way to the ground though. Another 18 months before possible bananas ripen, if we don't freeze next winter. They've spoiled me. Taste so much richer than store bananas.

I'd offer some banana pups but don't get to Angleton at all. I keep thinning these out and they come back for more.