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Howdy Katie.
from just south of you outside Austin. While we're just starting out too, I've discovered that keeping hens in our climate is not a problem. I was considering providing heat for them this winter until I found this topic:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=421122
The lady is from Alaska for Pete's sake. If her chickens don't need heat ours sure don't.
I know I don't need to describe the summer we just went through for you. Suffice to say that with some shade and fresh water twice daily (We did add electrolytes to the water on the hottest days and it did seem to help them some.) they did fine. When the thermometer got above 105° I did give them a short 10-20 minute shower with a lawn sprinkler, but I'm beginning to think that was more of a treat for them than real heat relief.
If you want PM me with more info about your situation (urban, suburban, rural, already have chickens or just considering etc.) and I may be able to offer some more tips for starting out. You'll find that BYC is a great source for practical, real world answers.
The only problem you might have is that most questions that you might want to ask have already been covered in fine detail. Just learn to use the search function. Makes it hard to get out of the New Egg category.
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Howdy Katie.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=421122
The lady is from Alaska for Pete's sake. If her chickens don't need heat ours sure don't.
I know I don't need to describe the summer we just went through for you. Suffice to say that with some shade and fresh water twice daily (We did add electrolytes to the water on the hottest days and it did seem to help them some.) they did fine. When the thermometer got above 105° I did give them a short 10-20 minute shower with a lawn sprinkler, but I'm beginning to think that was more of a treat for them than real heat relief.
If you want PM me with more info about your situation (urban, suburban, rural, already have chickens or just considering etc.) and I may be able to offer some more tips for starting out. You'll find that BYC is a great source for practical, real world answers.
