***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[DianaMoon]

Hi, I'm new, I see this isn't the most active (OK go figure lol). I was just wondering what people here did about coop design with the heat? I haven't actually started yet and just seeking guidance.

 

[Fallenone05]

Hi, I'm new, I see this isn't the most active (OK go figure lol). I was just wondering what people here did about coop design with the heat? I haven't actually started yet and just seeking guidance.

Howdy. In my opinion, open air coops are best with the humidity and heat we have. Mine has three full sides with the south side open for full air. Their run is an electric netting fence that they have full access to during the day.

Edit to add that some people have super open air, more like this https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/ .

 

[DianaMoon]

Howdy. In my opinion, open air coops are best with the humidity and heat we have. Mine has three full sides with the south side open for full air. Their run is an electric netting fence that they have full access to during the day.

Edit to add that some people have super open air, more like this https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/jens-hens-a-southern-texas-coop.75707/ .

I did see this one, but it seems huge for a beginner flock. I will have to scale down some I think. Good to know it's a great idea for the area though!

 

[artsyrobin]

Hi, I'm new, I see this isn't the most active (OK go figure lol). I was just wondering what people here did about coop design with the heat? I haven't actually started yet and just seeking guidance.

 

[artsyrobin]

Well I wouldn't recommend a metal shed, yes I've never had predators other than snakes, but oklahoma summers make it an oven. So you'd need a way to cool it.

 

[dagnabbit]

My father in law told me he wants to start keeping chickens and I got so excited he offered to buy a coop for me as well. I can't wait to start our flocks! We want to get pullets instead of chicks or eggs so we can get them in the coops asap. Where in OKC do y'all recommend going for pullets?

If we go to a swap meet to look for birds, what do we need to know ahead of time/bring with us?

 

[nnbreeder]

My father in law told me he wants to start keeping chickens and I got so excited he offered to buy a coop for me as well. I can't wait to start our flocks! We want to get pullets instead of chicks or eggs so we can get them in the coops asap. Where in OKC do y'all recommend going for pullets?

If we go to a swap meet to look for birds, what do we need to know ahead of time/bring with us?

That sounds great!
If you are getting adult birds there are several things to watch for. First how are the birds acting? Are they active or sitting there with eyes closed, all hunched up and the feathers fluffed out? If they are not active they may be sick.
Look for swelling around the eyes and face or anything that just looks out of place.
Look at the different hatchery catalogs to get a good idea of what the different breeds should look like.
Are you buying for egg or meat production or just to have color in the yard? You will go through many breeds before there are favorites settled on.
Newcastle Auction is about the safest bet on buying birds. Been in business for many years and have a good reputation.
Bring cages or pet taxis and budget spending or number of birds and stick to it! nothing like getting home and realising you have 14 birds and room for 4! LOL
There are a lot of scammers online right now, research, research! If it is a fresh website, they ask for a deposit to hold or seem elusive when answering questions walk away. Did I mention never give a deposit? I did? Good, never give a deposit. There are people that do ask for deposits and are good people but it is getting harder to sort them out from what I hear.

 

[dagnabbit]

That sounds great!
If you are getting adult birds there are several things to watch for. First how are the birds acting? Are they active or sitting there with eyes closed, all hunched up and the feathers fluffed out? If they are not active they may be sick.
Look for swelling around the eyes and face or anything that just looks out of place.
Look at the different hatchery catalogs to get a good idea of what the different breeds should look like.
Are you buying for egg or meat production or just to have color in the yard? You will go through many breeds before there are favorites settled on.
Newcastle Auction is about the safest bet on buying birds. Been in business for many years and have a good reputation.
Bring cages or pet taxis and budget spending or number of birds and stick to it! nothing like getting home and realising you have 14 birds and room for 4! LOL
There are a lot of scammers online right now, research, research! If it is a fresh website, they ask for a deposit to hold or seem elusive when answering questions walk away. Did I mention never give a deposit? I did? Good, never give a deposit. There are people that do ask for deposits and are good people but it is getting harder to sort them out from what I hear.

Thank you so much for the advice! I am buying for egg production and my father in law is looking for dual purpose (and I think he's secretly hoping for a sweet cuddly bird for company when he works in the garden).

We found a couple farms on Facebook that are near us and have good prices, but I'm going to ask around and see if anyone has bought from them before to make sure they are reputable. I did a reverse Google image search on the photos they post and didn't find any exact matches, so they at least seem to be posting their own pictures and not saving random pics off the internet to make fake posts.

So if anyone has experience buying from Southern Edition Farms in Tuttle or Longmans Family Farms in Hugo, please let me know!

 

[Purelychicks]

Just curious.. would anyone want a 4 mo silver leghorn roo?

 

[CLSranch]

Hope everyone has had a lovely Merry Christmas! And praying the New Year offers health, happiness, prosperity and rain for lush grasses and gardens.

Last year in Lincoln County, we had drought that dried up ponds, hay and pasture fields and our garden.

We were able to purchase 100 bales of hay for the herd before the prices jumped to $200 a bale (outrageous!). With 200 bales to carry over and the 100 we knew we couldn’t feed the herd thru the winter. So like many others we had to reduce our cattle herd. We dropped from 106 adults to 54 and sold all but 11 fall calves. Lost 4 new calves in the muddy shorelines of the shallow ponds.

The chicken flock has suffered a few attacks by predators…mostly in the free range flock.. The Columbian Wyandotte are the only ones I hatched this year. Breed pens are ready for spring.

The farmhouse remodel took longer than we planned but we love it. We have been working on the landscaping, renovating flower beds and in spite of the drought began planting trees and shrubbery. Still have some dormant plants and the bulbs to go in the ground.

Health in our 70s has been good. Got my leg stepped on by an angry cow after she knocked me down and tried to drive me into the ground. Nothing broken but my bruising was pretty ugly.
Had cataract surgery on both eyes.
We both got COVID in August even with all our boosters.
Can’t complain about the typical aches and pains of growing older because we are both still very active.

@nnbreeder, thank you for posting the virus updates and keeping our Oklahoma page open.

Hello NanaKat. I guess I should check in more often, although I don't think I've done any thing much on the internet for months now. I hope your leg is healed by now. I barely got enough hay for the winter after selling stock as well.

The pasture is just now getting to be more than enough to feed the chickens. I basically dry lotted everything last July so the other pasture can come back. It's still not enough to turn them out on.
It seems that once we FINALLY got some rain in Oct all the warm grasses were already gone and it dropped down into the teens before the cool grasses could come up enough to get a deep root or enough leaf to do have a head start now that it's warming up and raining again.
Where I usually bought hay was 2,000 short of there own supply last year. Its was rough and will be again this year if the pasture got overgrazed.