I have been casually browsing this forum for years, but never registered because I didn't think I'd ever take the plunge. I'm not handy enough to build a coop on my own and just didn't think I wanted to take on the responsibility by myself. But it turns out that my housemates loved the idea of a backyard flock and are pretty handy themselves.
So they built a coop and, as of yesterday, the chickens have landed. We have a house with a large, fenced-in back yard right in the center of Houston (Third Ward). We have a wee flock of six hens purchased from Wabash, all about eight weeks old. Five are Red Sex-Link, and we ended up with one oddball hen who was kept in the wrong pen or mixed up somehow into the Reds-- a red-laced Wyandotte bantam. She already seems to be the Head Pullet In Charge. All the hens are very sweet and not even a tenth as noisy as I expected. They immediately started feasting on the fire ants. I swear I'd keep them solely for fire ant control, even if they never laid a single egg.
They have a nice little nesting area, but already seem to like to be UNDER the nesting box instead of hanging out inside. I may put a couple of buckets on their sides down there and see if they like those. My fencing is six feet, so after we trim down the wings we were going to let them roam a little, just while we're out with them. We do have dogs in the yards on either side of us, which would be terrible if the hens got over the fences, but is good for keeping creatures in general away from our space.
Houston has some ordinances about keeping chickens, but they aren't unworkable. We don't have a rooster, and our coop is the proper distance from other properties, so I think we're good. And, in our neighborhood, no one will intervene unless their are numerous complaints, which I can't see happening.
They are such sweet little hens. I like them even more than I thought I would!
So they built a coop and, as of yesterday, the chickens have landed. We have a house with a large, fenced-in back yard right in the center of Houston (Third Ward). We have a wee flock of six hens purchased from Wabash, all about eight weeks old. Five are Red Sex-Link, and we ended up with one oddball hen who was kept in the wrong pen or mixed up somehow into the Reds-- a red-laced Wyandotte bantam. She already seems to be the Head Pullet In Charge. All the hens are very sweet and not even a tenth as noisy as I expected. They immediately started feasting on the fire ants. I swear I'd keep them solely for fire ant control, even if they never laid a single egg.
They have a nice little nesting area, but already seem to like to be UNDER the nesting box instead of hanging out inside. I may put a couple of buckets on their sides down there and see if they like those. My fencing is six feet, so after we trim down the wings we were going to let them roam a little, just while we're out with them. We do have dogs in the yards on either side of us, which would be terrible if the hens got over the fences, but is good for keeping creatures in general away from our space.
Houston has some ordinances about keeping chickens, but they aren't unworkable. We don't have a rooster, and our coop is the proper distance from other properties, so I think we're good. And, in our neighborhood, no one will intervene unless their are numerous complaints, which I can't see happening.
They are such sweet little hens. I like them even more than I thought I would!
and Welcome To BYC! You could post pictures of your little girl in the What Breed/Gender forum, she looks like a White Laced Red Cornish 
