New in N TX

[scollier]

Hi all! It has been our dream for several years to be chicken owners. Our dream has come true! Some friends gifted us with 8 chickens!!

We live in North Texas. We moved here in Aug, from Michigan. We are renting, but the landlords gave us permission to have chickens. We live in a wide open area, and haeks are our main concern.

7 of the chicks are about 6 weeks old, one is about a week old. Since they were given to us, we are still trying to figure out what kind they all are. We hope to build a coop soon, but have about zero experience in coop building.

 

[eggbert420]

 

[Egghead_Jr]

If hawks are a problem you'll need a covered run. I don't like gifts where work is involved myself. You've some real work to do in short time now. Build a coop and erect a run and ot much time to do it as the girls are 6 weeks and ready to go outside.

 

[scollier]

Yes, they love the outdoors! We don't know all of their sexes either. They are in a kennel that we can take outside, but we know we need to make a larger area for them soon.

 

[drumstick diva]

Thank you for joining us at Backyard chickens. You can also post on your state thread. Just put Texas in the search box and it will come up. You have may Bycers in your area who would help mentor you. You may be able to score a coop, run materials etc. off your area Craig's list. Many people start out that way.

 

[drumstick diva]

ps if you post clear individual photos of your chicks at, "what breed or gender is this." They will sort out your chicks for you.

 

[Teila]

G’Day from down under scollier

Welcome!

I see you found the Breed & Gender Forum but just wanted to say that you might also be interested in checking out the Learning Centre; lots of good tips there:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/1/Learning_Center

and some great coop ideas here if you do not already have any: https://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/2/Coops

I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun.

If you would like to share pictures and stories of your flock, you have come to the right place. BYC’ers never tire of these and do not back away slowly or commence eye rolling when the photo album or home videos come out

 

[scollier]

Thank you for the welcomes! I am growing rather attached to these chickens already and my 7 year old has decided to save money to buy more
We are looking forward to the adventure of being chicken people

 

[Teila]

Thank you for the welcomes! I am growing rather attached to these chickens already and my 7 year old has decided to save money to buy more

We are looking forward to the adventure of being chicken people

There is a term for that .. it is called chicken math

Tell your 7 year old to save money for an incubator and then you can hatch lots of chickens! lol You will soon learn that BYC is full of enablers and I am just one of many

 

[Hamiam]

Hi Scollier, I also live in North Texas. I'm new to BYC but not to raising chickens. Growing up we always had old chicken coops made from anything we could find. However, when my husband & I first got chickens, I wanted a chicken tractor. We made it from our son's old radio flyer wheels & painted it to match the house. When we sold that house, the buyers wanted the hens & the coop. We recently moved to a larger place & are working on our new chicken tractor made from an old goat trailer. I plan on posting pics & details on the chicken coop section soon. In the past, I never lost a full grown hen to Hawks, but I did to owls & neighborhood dogs. Lessons I learned were teach your chickens to come when called. I'm working on this now with my 6-10 week old flock by saying "here chick chick, here chick chick" and then giving them treats like dried mill worms, a caught cricket, or tasty red worms from the garden. That way I can call them to the coop when danger is near or before dark if they decide they want to roost somewhere other than the coop. Also, I only let them free range with supervision & have a pellet gun nearby for protection, if needed. Good luck with your coop & run. There is loads of great information here & great members.

Vera