Texas

[Teri Metcalf]

It's nice to see that Texas is well represented on BYC. I'm in College Station, and I just met Jon Clucken from Bryan or Austin.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I have silkies. The babies under three months stay in a well ventilated coup. The grown adult birds I have had through three winters now. They live in a 10x20 dog run with a roof. All sides are open all year around. They have 50 gallon rain barrels that I made into tiki huts for them. As long as they have an area to get in that's dry to snuggle they are fine. My silkies and polish are just like all of my hardier chickens. They enjoy getting out in the light rain getting muddy and having fun.

How old were the ones you lost to chill?

The ones that were chilled were quite young, only 2.5 months. I was traveling and my 21 year old son didn't believe me when I told him they could get chilled and die if they got rained on. They escaped from the covered pen in the rain and were difficult to catch. When he finally caught them they were wet. The ones out now are 6 months old. They have covered areas, but not a covered run. They've enjoyed foraging in the drizzle today. Last I checked their outer feathers were wet, but the thick down was dry.

 

[LBejaran]

Documentaries are what all the really awesome people are doing! Being a drunken bar fly is way over rated. I have been lurking on the mutt breed thread for a while and saw you had some   I only have two so far, but plan on getting crazy next spring.

Oh, thank you! To be honest, what drives my documentary craze is, one: I like hearing about things I'm not knowledgeable of. Sustainable farming in forests, water conservation, sex trafficking, school lunches (I used to skip lunch and read in the library), and serial killers, etc. Two, my mild obsessive compulsive disorder. Once I watch one, I want to watch another and another and another. My brother heard me watching one last night and he started cursing me to go to bed, haha!

And mutt chickens are so fun! I've actually had dreams several times about the chicks that would hatch and I'm nearly always right! The first time, I dreamed of a yellow-pink chick and a pure black chick and that's what we got! And they said I didn't have the gift, LOL!

...dang, I want to stay home and watch chickies too!


Laura - WHAT IS THE CREEPY THING!!!

I don't know! Once I thought it was one of my game chicks, 'cause I've seen them hop up there before when I was getting feed. They were trying to find a way into the coop (which, by the way, is super creepy, too). But all the chicks were in the coop with me. I ended up locking myself in the coop (it's near midnight, mind you) and I called my dog, Sandy, to come get me. She sniffed around the coop, jumped, barked, and something scraped against the coop. Then she whined for me to come out and I high-tailed it inside the house.

 

[txmel]

On a lighter note, I have some chicken questions.

I'm very new to chickens, my oldest group from a hatchery are only 6 months old. This group is all breeds that are not good for free ranging, with the exception of the mystery chick that turned out to be a bantam Plymouth Rock pullet. I have some Polish, Silkies and a double frizzle Cochin pullet and cockerel. The double-copy frizzles has really lousy feathering, especially the cockerel. Up until yesterday, I didn't think about rainy weather and cold. Big duh moment.

Originally, I was intending to keep them in tractors and move them around but realize they just aren't all that happy kept that way so they will be out in a yard that I am trying to make raptor unfriendly. I also will be putting up a big aviary that I brought with me from the Caribbean that is in pieces on the ground. It was made by a local welding shop in the Caribbean, so you can imagine what a mess it is going to be to try to reassemble.

I'll eventually rotate them through the two 20 x 8 ' x 8' parrot aviaries, the 24' x 8' aviary that is in pieces and the fenced garden. All will have covers to make them raptor proof but not water proof. Right now, the grass in the parrot aviaries is a mess--I need it to recover--so they are not in that.

How do Silkies deal with rain and colder weather? I'm in the Hill Country near San Antonio.

Does everyone let their chickens out in the rain? I have a free ranging group of Ameraucanas that are 5.5 months old.

Thanks for your advice.

Hi I live just north of San Antonio in Boerne I have silkies and bantams as well. they have a run that isnt covered but also a coop that is their dry spot. for the most part when its raining they will stand out in the run until they are soaked and muddy then they will wonder into their coop until they want back out the silkies look pitiful in the rain but seem happy out in it. I have had my birds going on 4 yrs now and i dont put a heater in with them during the winter times. They seem happy and if its cold they just snuggle closer. I think the important part is to provide them an area to get out of the weather if they choose to. They all go into the coops at night and are out in the runs most of the day. hope this made sense

 

[txnative]

We've gotten 3.5 inches of rain so far, with more on the way! The chickens are wearing their water wings (just kidding!), the horses are a muddy mess, I spent a few hours getting soaked at an animal shelter deciding on which new dogs to bring into the rescue I run, my rainwater collection system is getting lots of water, and I am totally happy!

 

[RachaelS]

We've gotten 3.5 inches of rain so far, with more on the way! The chickens are wearing their water wings (just kidding!), the horses are a muddy mess, I spent a few hours getting soaked at an animal shelter deciding on which new dogs to bring into the rescue I run, my rainwater collection system is getting lots of water, and I am totally happy!

I am on rainwater also!!!! Man I thought I was a water conservation person before now I KNOW I am. If we pour water in a glass to drink and don't finish it (with 2 kids this happens a LOT), that gets poured into the dog or cat water dish. Nothing goes to waste

 

[Teri Metcalf]

In College Station we've gotten about 3 1/2 inches so far today, and it's still coming down. The wet chickens hunker down under the eaves when it's really pouring down. But when it drops to a drizzle, the chickens are happily foraging all over the yard as usual. A couple of them are about 4 months old now, and the rain doesn't seem to bother them. Of course the temperature is about 75 degrees outside.

 

[LBejaran]

I am on rainwater also!!!!  Man I thought I was a water conservation person before now I KNOW I am.  If we pour water in a glass to drink and don't finish it (with 2 kids this happens a LOT), that gets poured into the dog or cat water dish.  Nothing goes to waste

I've been so interested in conserving water for awhile. The only thing I've done so far is set out a storage crate, and the water I collected daily was used to fill our waterers. That's about it.

There was man locally who saved his bath and dish water (I don't know how) and used it to water his plants when the drought made for extreme limits on water usage. His plants were one of his main sources of produce! They water also worked as pest control since it had traces of soap in it.

I would love to learn from him how to set that up, but even if I knew how, I'm not sure my Dad would let me rework the plumbing, haha!

 

[erikk]

Revolution is a show that comes on NBC. The premise is that 10 years after an EMP caused by the US government knocked out all power, a group of people are trying to get the power back on. I think you might like it.

The show Revolution is also available on Netflix for streaming. Another similar EMP-type show as "Jericho" which I enjoyed a good bit too.

In Revolution at least I kept wondering how seemingly everyone could forget that before we had electronics we still had steam engines and even purely-mechanical diesel engines. The shows are entertaining, and I think we all could stand to learn a bit about what life was like 100 or 200 years ago. When asked where food comes from and people answer "the grocery store", we have an opportunity to educate about the origins of the food we eat and the conditions the livestock experience before coming to the grocery store and our restaurants.

Woohoo! Almost 2" of rain in the last couple days according to my rain gauge here near Abilene, TX.

Erik

 

[LauriTX]

My horses are muddy messes too! I know they are enjoying the break from the heat and sun though! My one Red chicken slept in the rain last night...she didn't go into the back of the coop where she should have (the babies were in there!). I am feeling lazy also...all i want to do is sleep. I am so thankful for the rain!