Seriously contemplating the idea of backyard chickens in St. Pete, Fl

[Kevin565]

 

[greymane]

 

[benoitchicks]

I live in Tampa Bay area too and I have 3 hens and 1 is Buff (honey bun) and the other two are Wyandottes (pebbles and freckles). Anvil Acres in Pinellas Park is where I got my pullets and they turned out great. The heat is a big deal here as you know so if you do an automatic waterer that will work but you have to either cover the pipes or run them underground to prevent heating of the water. I found out the hard way that the sun heats up PVC so I had to move the pipes that run along my fence to under the cross bars and that provided shade. It is very important that they have constant, cool fresh water. Plenty of shade. I used shade cloth in a few areas in my pen to give them a bit more coverage. It was hard work in the beginning and definitely a trial and error learning curve. I spent over 1 year in research mode and it was important to do that and find people to ask questions. I also attended the state fair only to see the poultry exhibit and talk to the staff there who had valuable insight as well. It is well worth it though to have hens and you can see from my pictures what my pen looks like that I started with and would be sufficient for 3 or 4 hens but I went and did a free range pen totally covered in chicken wire and they love it and so do I cause I don't feel they are stuffed into small space but definitely overkill.

 

[gander007]

 

[drumstick diva]

Zombie thread - thread starter has not replied in almost 2 years

 

[sourland]

Zombie thread - thread starter has not replied in almost 2 years

What dd said!