Texas

[Brookshire11]

I love my Easter Eggers!

Orpingtons are supposed to be big teddy bears. I don't have any yet, but I have some lavender orpington eggs due to hatch on NYD, so I'll know soon enough. From what I've read and my own experiences so far, I'd say just pick the breeds that appeal to you and be sure to take measures to acclimate them to our hot weather. There are certain breeds that may be naturally hardier in heat, but most breeds can do fine if they are acclimated gradually to it. You might also consider buying your birds locally, or from somewhere that has similar weather and temperature patterns. That way, as long as those birds are acclimated to the summer heat, your chicks will already have a head start.

That's a great idea! Thank you!

Welcome to the DFW area! (We have a few Buff Orpingtons, and they were fine last summer. -are very sweet birds. -daughter carries them around, and they will jump in her lap if she is sitting outdoors.) -never had Easter Eggers, but know folks that do. -seem to be a great breed. We initially purchased three Golden Comets from the local feed store. Two years later, we have a backyard flock of ten gals (two Buff Orpingtons, a Golden Laced Wyandotte, a Black Australorp, an Old English Game bantam, a Japanese bantam, and a Cochin bantam). -have enjoyed all of them, and they have all been good layers. Good luck on choosing your flock!

I think I'm just going to have to have 2 of each! They both sound like great birds.
If you don't mind me asking, where do you usually purchase from?? It's the one thing I can't seem to get..lol. Shipping seems like a popular option but it seems they do better in larger numbers and..I'm only wanting a few.
Thanks for your help!

Howdy from Rosenberg! Please keep up posted on what you get.

Lisa

Will do Lisa!

Gotta say, I love how friendly everyone is!

 

[Jobele]

Hello from Conroe! Looking for Seramas for my kids to raise this spring! Does anyone know where I can get a few?

Hello fellow Texans!

I'm new to chicken raising and in the process of building my coop. I would like to know what chickens do best in our summer heat and what type of coops do best?

I'm thinking about getting a mixture of chickens to see what I like best. Orpingtons, Australops, Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds and such. We had a Buff Orpington Roo when I was a kid and he was the nicest roo!

I'll post back later with what my coop is looking like and maybe ya'll can give a few pointers. I have to run and pick up our old blue heeler from the vet. She developed an abscess over Christmas and she had to stay a couple of days.

Thanks in advance for any help!



eta: I love the Orpingtons posted above! Pretty!!

Hello from McKinney!
New to chickens but looking to get some in March!!

Thanks so much for those heat hardy breeds!
This will be my first summer living in the Dallas area (from the Houston area originally..different type of heat) and that's a definite concern!

Welcome aboard to all of you! Great to have you!

 

[Jobele]

Hello all. Been on the site for a little while now and just came across this thread so thought I would post. We just moved to the waxahachie area where we finally bought some land and are new to the whole chicken thing. We have 3 pullets (new hampshire red, barred plymouth rock and silver laced wyandotte) and 1 roo (speckled sussex) that are 15 weeks old and in their first molt. I am enjoying reading everyone's posts. This website has been my life saver and where I get most of my information. Love it here and y'all are so patient!

~ Nicole

Welcome! I use to live in Waxahachie....LOL Loved it there...but had to move closer to Austin, TX for my husbands' work.

 

[Aphrael]

That's a great idea! Thank you!

I think I'm just going to have to have 2 of each! They both sound like great birds.
If you don't mind me asking, where do you usually purchase from?? It's the one thing I can't seem to get..lol. Shipping seems like a popular option but it seems they do better in larger numbers and..I'm only wanting a few.
Thanks for your help!

Will do Lisa!

Gotta say, I love how friendly everyone is!

Ideal Poultry is located here in Texas and they don't have a minimum number of chicks, just a minimum dollar amount ($25). However, you'd have to wait till warmer weather if you didn't want to deal with "packing peanuts" (male chicks included in the order to keep small orders of chicks from getting too cold). There is also a Buy, Sale, Trade section on here where you could look. Or maybe someone on this thread may live near you who has the breeds you want.

 

[Jobele]

I'd like to post a presentation that I did on another thread showing how we do our chickens in the TX heat. Bascially, our coops are wide open. The more air flow you can create for your coops.....the better. Chickens have been proven to do better in open air coops......hands down. We have a lot of English Orpingtons, which don't like the heat.....just sayin. Great cold weather bird....not so much a fan of heat. For this reason we use frozen water bottles, pools, misters, shade trees and shade cloth! Plus, tons of frozen fruit! This is how we set our coops up. Maybe you can get some use out of it. I wsh somebody had shared this type of stuff with me when I first got into chickens. Would have saved myself a LOT of money and HEARTACHE. There's nothing as pitiful as seeing a chicken die from heat stroke.

I will say that right now....I have plastic sheeting on my coops.....mostly to break the wind......it's the wind that actually isn't good for the chicken. Espeacially if they get wet. Also get clear sheeting (not black - like I did). That way more light is let into the coop.

We learned our lessons from trial and error~

Maybe you can get some ideas from this slides.

 

[sandovaljose214]

wooooooooooooooooooooo ttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssss

 

[Ms Jellybean]

Hello from McKinney!
New to chickens but looking to get some in March!!

Thanks so much for those heat hardy breeds!
This will be my first summer living in the Dallas area (from the Houston area originally..different type of heat) and that's a definite concern!

Welcome! I'm in McKinney too.

Not quite as humid as Houston and much hotter here.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

That's a great idea! Thank you!

I think I'm just going to have to have 2 of each! They both sound like great birds.
If you don't mind me asking, where do you usually purchase from?? It's the one thing I can't seem to get..lol. Shipping seems like a popular option but it seems they do better in larger numbers and..I'm only wanting a few.
Thanks for your help!

Will do Lisa!

Gotta say, I love how friendly everyone is!

Collin County Feed store on Chestnut (just east of The Square) will get chicks in starting the end of February or early March, depending on the weather. I don't know anything about the quality, but I know a few people who bought their chicks there.

 

[mi2bugz]

[COLOR=0000FF]Welcome!  I use to live in Waxahachie....LOL  Loved it there...but had to move closer to Austin, TX for my husbands' work.[/COLOR]

We just moved from central Texas to get away from the hum drum of city life lol

 

[lovingmyhens]

Welcome everyone!! Must be the Christmas season bringing all these new folks out of the woodwork! I will say that before I got my chickens I was on this website all the time reading everything I could. It's a good place and the Texas forum is the best ever!