Texas

[orumpoultry]

Ken,

You need to borrow my snake dog? He will do the job for a pat on the head and an attaboy.

 

[kenmlang]

Ken,

You need to borrow my snake dog? He will do the job for a pat on the head and an attaboy.

If it comes down to that, I will call you. This is personal now. The pullet that was the victim was a bielvelder, a rare bird. Very expensive. I am ******. I have seen the snake. It is a very large rat snake and very fast. This is why he/she is not dead yet, but he/she will be. I am pretty sure I know where he/she is living, if this is the case, this is where he/she will die.

 

[orumpoultry]

If it comes down to that, I will call you. This is personal now. The pullet that was the victim was a bielvelder, a rare bird. Very expensive. I am ******. I have seen the snake. It is a very large rat snake and very fast. This is why he/she is not dead yet, but he/she will be. I am pretty sure I know where he/she is living, if this is the case, this is where he/she will die.

That's terrible. You'll get it though, I know it.

 

[kenmlang]

I want everyone to know that this snake did not get into my coops. We made a makeshift run for the little ones, which was a mistake, and that is how he/she got in. This will not happen again. I realize, now, that I have to add on to the runs and combine them so my girls will be safe.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

I want everyone to know that this snake did not get into my coops. We made a makeshift run for the little ones, which was a mistake, and that is how he/she got in. This will not happen again. I realize, now, that I have to add on to the runs and combine them so my girls will be safe.

I don't think anyone would assume that. The one you built for my kid's birds have had no intrusions. It is probably more secure than the 'chicken mansion' I built for the 24 birds in it.

 

[henless]

I am trying to wrap my head around a *specials* coop that will have Silkies and cochin frizzles in it. Here in Texas for the winter do I need an enclosed coop for these breeds?
Everything I read says *draft free* but I am assuming that is for the people north of here. Where they get snow and blisters from the cold. because of the feather composition and smaller size are they able to hold in enough body heat to stay warm and healthy if I only had a 3 sided structure with a covered run for them or should I put a bit more construction into it maybe a removable front for summer?

My reworked coops have hardware cloth for all 4 sides. I put up clear plastic on the open sides last Winter and it worked great! I plan on doing the same this year.

All of my pens have three open walls. The western wall is up and closed off to get away from the evening sun. In the winter I wrap pens in clear plastic top to bottom. That's it. Never lost a bird to the cold, never had frost bite. Others may be different but that's all I do.

I think its the best way for Texas. Heat is more of a problem for us than the cold.

I want everyone to know that this snake did not get into my coops. We made a makeshift run for the little ones, which was a mistake, and that is how he/she got in. This will not happen again. I realize, now, that I have to add on to the runs and combine them so my girls will be safe.

Sorry about your bielvelder. Those are very pretty birds. It seems like when something bad happens, it happens to our favorite or most expensive bird.

Luckily, we haven't seen many snakes around here. I did almost step on a Water Moccasin up by the house one evening, but other than that none have been spotted. My dog Jack is pretty good at keeping the varmints away. He got bit last year on the 4th by a snake he was after.

Making progress on my coop redo. I'll have new pics up in a couple of days.

I'm thinning out my layer pen. I have some Barred Rocks who are laying good and a Buff Orpington that I don't know if she is laying or not. I'm asking $20 each for the BR, and I'll throw in the BO. They are 16 months old. If interested, send me a pm.

 

[tjo804]

I want to thank you all for your help in my coop thinking. I know it sounds silly because the structure DH is planning sounds cool and when he does something I know he does it right the first time. Thing is since I got the special feather birds all I have been reading is cant's cant get wet cant get cold cant get hot and watch vitamin deficiencies. WOW And I lost my silkie roo this spring ( the ladies were for him) to a respiratory infection he didnt do well with all the rain and chill we had.

So thank you for sharing your coops and not making fun at a crazy mother hen.

 

[needlessjunk]

If it comes down to that, I will call you. This is personal now. The pullet that was the victim was a bielvelder, a rare bird. Very expensive. I am ******. I have seen the snake. It is a very large rat snake and very fast. This is why he/she is not dead yet, but he/she will be. I am pretty sure I know where he/she is living, if this is the case, this is where he/she will die.

What a persistent snake! Geez, so sorry to hear about your pullet. That really sucks.

We had a great day out with the kids yesterday and came home to no AC. Yay! Plus my younger son came down with a fever in a super hot house. It was a long night and the AC guy should be here today. Having no AC in the summer in TX is horrible! Thank goodness it wasn't one of those 100+ degree days yesterday and our neighbor had a few box fans we could use.

 

[tjo804]

Quote:
We keep a small window unit on hand for just such a thing DH will not be without his AC. or He would fire up the motorhome until the AC guy was finished Hes kinda a baby in the heat! He can manage sick tired cold or broken but not hot.

 

[scully230]

Hello everyone. We just bought 8 acres in Liberty Hill, TX, but we are originally from the Houston area. We are hoping to pick up a mixed batch of chickens today. I raised chickens for 4H when I was a teenager, but that has been some time ago, and is very different from what we would like to do now. Our land is fully fenced with barbed wire and we were hoping to free range our birds. Additionally we are wanting to avoid gmo feed, but I am even unsure how much they need with free ranging. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.