Hello from Houston, TX

[Kiki]

Hello everyone. My name is Rick and I just started building my coop/run to be ready to house pullets around March-April. 8x6 chicken coop with a 18x8 fully hardware clothed run and most likely going to fence off an additional 20x30 netted area for them to roam.

My flock will be mostly if not all bantams which leads to this question. Does anyone recommend any heat tolerant bantams and do you recommend a farm in or around Houston to pick and purchase the hens?

Hi neighbor!

I highly recommend ordering chicks from Ideal poultry. They will over night chicks to your local post office on a Wednesday. You pick them up Thursday morning.


There are way too many people around here who sell diseased birds. Avoid Craigslist, and the regular advertisers on there, at all cost.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Welcome to BYC! We're glad you joined us!

 

[416bigbore]

Hello Rick and welcome to BYC. You found an Amazing Poultry Community to be a part of, with many knowledgeable members who are willing to help you along your journey with any questions you may have. Enjoy

 

[rjohns39]

Hi Rick and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[cmom]

Shade in the summer and protection of a coop in the winter. You will find a lot of good information here Good luck and have fun...

 

[NewbieChickenFlocker]

Hi neighbor!

I highly recommend ordering chicks from Ideal poultry. They will over night chicks to your local post office on a Wednesday. You pick them up Thursday morning.


There are way too many people around here who sell diseased birds. Avoid Craigslist, and the regular advertisers on there, at all cost.

Thank you for the Ideal Poultry shout out. I'll definitely check them out. I wanted to avoid shipping, but with the assortment of breeds that I would like, I don't think it's avoidable. I really appreciate your input.

 

[Kiki]

The shipping from Ideal is just a short truck ride. It's isn't bad at all for us.

 

[NewbieChickenFlocker]

The shipping from Ideal is just a short truck ride. It's isn't bad at all for us.

And they have a huge selection. Thanks again!!

 

[janiedoe]

And they have a huge selection. Thanks again!!

I'll second that. I have a backyard mixed flock and several came from ideal.
They have some beautiful, and sweet natured black langshans.
My Welsummer is gorgeous too, and very "talkative". I will probably buy more.
I love their naked necks better than any of my other naked necks, looks wise. They have a more "forward" stance, and somewhat gamey long legs.
I have just one of their orloffs, she is beautiful but very shy.
I wasn't as impressed with the light brahma that I purchased, but the buff is one of my prettier hens although very small at around 3.5 to 4 lbs. In all fairness, I have some xlarge dark brahmas, so I may be expecting too much from the brahmas.
I'd like to buy a couple of their brabanters soon. I've heard good things about them.
I can't speak for shipping experience, because I drive to pick up my chicks. It is a 3 3/4 hr round trip, but they have a couple of great Mexican restaurants in Cameron so all is good.
Idealpoultry.com sexing has always been spot on for me too.

 

[NewbieChickenFlocker]

I'll second that. I have a backyard mixed flock and several came from ideal.
They have some beautiful, and sweet natured black langshans.
My Welsummer is gorgeous too, and very "talkative". I will probably buy more.
I love their naked necks better than any of my other naked necks, looks wise. They have a more "forward" stance, and somewhat gamey long legs.
I have just one of their orloffs, she is beautiful but very shy.
I wasn't as impressed with the light brahma that I purchased, but the buff is one of my prettier hens although very small at around 3.5 to 4 lbs. In all fairness, I have some xlarge dark brahmas, so I may be expecting too much from the brahmas.
I'd like to buy a couple of their brabanters soon. I've heard good things about them.
I can't speak for shipping experience, because I drive to pick up my chicks. It is a 3 3/4 hr round trip, but they have a couple of great Mexican restaurants in Cameron so all is good.
Idealpoultry.com sexing has always been spot on for me too.

I'm getting more and more excited each day about starting our flock. I'm going to do a couple of Isa Browns for large egg production, then a mix of bantams. Off the top I'm definitely going to get bantams of Barred Rock, Easter Egger, buff brahma (not sure if dark or lite) and Leghorn. Then I might dabble into some exotics once I get more experience.

I just came in from my coop area to see how much more area I can dedicate to them. I want a happy flock.