Just Starting in Central TX

Date sort Score sort
TxChicks1

TxChicks1

Hatching
5 Years
Joined
Mar 18, 2014
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Points
7
We just bought some land and put up a barn. We have water and electric on the property. My daughter is dying to get some chicks. We told her we needed to start with chickens and let them have the chicks. Complete challenge since we won't be living in the same place so need to make sure our Coop has plenty of protection. Any advice would be appreciated. We don't have extreme cold but we do have long periods of time with extreme heat. The property has an old falling down house on it so I was thinking the wood from that might work to build the coop. Was thinking that the large oak trees would be a great place to put a coop--lots of shade when you need it.

Anyway, if you have advice let us know.

TxChicks
 
I'm also from central Texas here in waco and heat is a major problem especially with some breeds. Placing the coop under the trees is a good idea, keeping them fed and watered might require a large feeder and waterer, size depending on how regularly you check on them.. For protection you might want to add a good roof on the coop and put something around the perimeter of the coop on the outside in case am animal tries to dig itself inside the coop.
 
Not living at the location will make it more difficult. It would be easy enough to make it secure from predators, but would be hard to properly care for the flock. You could set up a nipple watering system and have a large capacity feeder, but there are still day to day issues that arise when keeping chickens. I have 13 laying hens and have my coop and run set up to where I could be away for a week or two at a time, but would still need someone to collect the eggs daily. If you don't have a nipple watering system, you would also need to change/clean out their water each day.

If you are totally new to raising chickens, I would suggest first raising some laying hens from chicks. As soon as you get your flock established and have a hen suitable for raising chicks, then try hatching chicks from your own fertilized eggs (if you have a rooster) or by buying fertilized eggs and placing them under a broody hen. Not all breeds are broody and even then they are guaranteed to be good mothers and you may be required to incubate and hatch them yourself.

Just a few things to think about.
 
We are close to you. In the country Between Waco and B/CS. Thanks for the info. We will be going to check on them daily.
 
images


You might want to start with some reading in our learning center here on BYC for lots of tips and hints on raising your new brood from building the coop, raising, feeding and keeping your flock healthy...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

Then you might also want to chat with others in your state to see how they deal with all the elements...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/44/texas

Good luck in all your new adventures and welcome to BYC!
 
Welcome to BYC
frow.gif
X2 on the Learning Centre. There are a few articles on protecting your flock against predators. Good luck with your new venture!
 
I would really worry about them when the heat gets intense - predators will be looking for an easy lunch. Chickens handle cold much better than heat. Will they have a covered - run to give them some shade and protect from airborne attacks?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom