Texas

[CatKai]

No it's sure not

Rude birds!

its so not fair when they do that!

 

[jesirose]

I have to say I am getting really sick of this heat. It was 107 yesterday, hopefully it stays a little lower today.

The girls all have frozen bottles of water, but I can't get them to drink water from their waterer. It's in the shade but it still heats up.

Trying to decide between getting an outdoor fan, or a mister. We're not home during the day so I have to get something that can be outside in case it starts to rain or something.

 

[wlhtx]

I have to say I am getting really sick of this heat. It was 107 yesterday, hopefully it stays a little lower today.

X2! We all should have shut our mouths a couple weeks back when we were all excited about the mild summer we WERE having. Guess our lovely home state decided to play a trick on us all. This is what we get for thinking we were gonna have it easy this year... Ugh.

 

[txmel]

its 105 here so far today! I had misters for the runs but with the limestone in the water here it plugs the little holes up and i quit using them last year the runs and coops are under the shade of several small oak so its cooler there by about 5 to 10 degrees i wet down the runs and they tend to dig down into the sand of their run. so far they have done well.

 

[NickyPick]

I love fermented feed. I started it last October in one 5 gallon bucket. Just Layena, oats and BOSS with a little unpasteurized apple cider vinegar and water. Kept it in the house and every 2 - 3 days, I'd add more food and water and stir. It was a bit of a chore to strain the feed each morning, but I felt the benefits outweighed the time consumed. Heck, the lack of smell in the coop was worth it for that alone! Now, I've got 43 hens and we've just moved the feed out to a large rubberized feed can (50 gallon) in the feed room of the barn. I have it filled about half full and the feed is COB (corn,oats, barley) with a fish meal added for extra protein. I have hung a large 5 gallon pail over with holes in the bottom and we just fill it with a couple of scoops of feed, raise it up and go about the horse feeding chores. A few minutes later, the excess water is drained out and we can feed it to the chickens. It worked out pretty simple.

My feeders are PVC pipes cut in half and set on a wood block - maybe about 4 feet long? I've got 4 of them spread about the run. I don't mind having left over feed after 20 minutes because that's just as long as the older girls take to eat. The younger ones have to wait their turn, so this way there's still feed left over for them. It's usually picked completely clean by afternoon.

 

[back2simplelife]

I have to say I am getting really sick of this heat. It was 107 yesterday, hopefully it stays a little lower today.

The girls all have frozen bottles of water, but I can't get them to drink water from their waterer. It's in the shade but it still heats up.

Trying to decide between getting an outdoor fan, or a mister. We're not home during the day so I have to get something that can be outside in case it starts to rain or something.

Rain? what is rain? We have both.. it's HOT and I get freaked when I see my babies panting.. yeah, I know I know but think the kids like the mister just as much as I do.. birds, not so much yet

X2! We all should have shut our mouths a couple weeks back when we were all excited about the mild summer we WERE having. Guess our lovely home state decided to play a trick on us all. This is what we get for thinking we were gonna have it easy this year... Ugh.

Agree! This is getting OLD! I heard upper 90's next week.. it's sad when that sounds like relief!

 

[Jobele]

I see in the picture your blues have that same brown cast to their feathers (or maybe it is just the lighting) that I'm criticizing my blue cockerel for having. I would imagine those brown undertones are not desired (for exhibition). How faulty is my bird's color? Below are a couple of pictures of my blue cockerel. I can't get an opinion on the BYC Ameraucana thread. The breeder is not giving an opinion other than to wait. Thanks.

Pictured at 13 weeks



Pictured at 8 weeks

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to answer your post.....I'm so busy here lately I don't get to log in very much! Not knowing how you keep your birds (free range or pen) it would be hard to say....so seeing the roo on your door step....I'll take a shot that they free range a good bit. Here's what I see.....the bottom pic is nice desirable blue color(nice birds). The top pic the cockerel is older and shows more brown tinges......but, this could be caused by the sun if he is outside a lot. I think that may be why the breeder told you to wait. He will change a lot before he is grown and too many times (I'm guilty of it too) we get rid of the roos....when we should have held onto them. It could simply be that he is sun bleached. If you want to check that.....confine him in a pen where he isn't subjected to a lot of sun and see if his blue color comes back. If it does....you'll know it was the sun causing the color change. Hope that helps!

 

[Jobele]

I have to say I am getting really sick of this heat. It was 107 yesterday, hopefully it stays a little lower today.

The girls all have frozen bottles of water, but I can't get them to drink water from their waterer. It's in the shade but it still heats up.

Trying to decide between getting an outdoor fan, or a mister. We're not home during the day so I have to get something that can be outside in case it starts to rain or something.

I know what you mean Jesirose....we're about to die over here! I've got misters going and put frozen water bottles in their water and I have a kiddie pool that I teach them to get into to cool off! Don't laugh....it works! I also make mud puddles under bushes....because when they are hot....they like to stick their feet in the mud to cool off. I also have shade cloth draped all over my pens. We also put out frozen watermelon and canteloupe.....along with frozen strawberries, grapes, etc. etc. The misters are the best because they will drop the temp about 10 degrees. The fans only move hot air...they help but not as much. Now...if you could get misters on the fans....then you'd be talking! Here's how my coops are set up....just for Texas heat....because our winters are a piece of cake for my Orpingtons...they handle cold a lot better than heat. Open coops keep disease down too. You always have circulation of air in an open coop.

 

[showbarnmom]

Very jealous of your set up Jobele!

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Oh my, jabele! I love what you have going there