Texas

[hungnguyen]

I did my daily 1 mile walk at 10am. When heading South, it started to get colder, when head back facing North, I could feel the freezing 25 mile wind. Tomorrow we will be 27-39F. Then on Fri (Chinese New Year day) it will be 59-77F, just can't wait.

On Sunday I will go to Houston to see my Mom, have lunch with her, do a little card game for luck and maybe she will give me a red envelope with some money in there ( a way to wish me to grown up )

On the way, I will wave to Hens (Katy), Lisa Rosenberg) and a few more.

 

[hensfortherapy]

We got home safe and sound!  My new gold laced wyandotte chicks are nice and toasty warm inside my room, enjoying the heat of a lamp after the long trip.  I had to give them some ACV and a pinch of electrolyte powder to make sure they were perked up, but I think they'll be fine.  

I really enjoyed the trip and it was a nice break from being trapped in the house.  I'm ready to start painting again!  Tomorrow, I think I'll get to work, but for now, I'm exhausted.  

Post pics soon of the chicks. I would love to have some gold lace Wyandottes. I hope to be able to find chicks in the Spring when one of my girls go broody. I have always just put 2 chicks under my broody hen,(One time 3)but I think I will do 6 next time since I have more coop space.
I can't wait for Spring!!!!!!

 

[hensfortherapy]

Love the snow pics! I love looking at everyone's chickens and set up. Thanks for posting!
I'm still working on mine. Making progress, but still not finished yet.

Beautiful flocks.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Every now and then I go back and read the older posts in this thread. This is such a positive,smart and talented group. I can't go a day without checking in. I don't want to miss a lick of knowledge and experiences with chickens.
Thanks Texas BYC thread.

 

[RustedOak]

They're gorgeous!
I wish I had more space...lol
So with all the talk of gardening and beekeeping yesterday, I figured this might stil kinda be on topic:

Anyone tried aquaponics?
A co-worker was asking about my chicks and then showed me his plans for his set-up.
It's basically...fish and plants helping each other and they grow faster?
I'm not being terrible scientific, but it seemed like a pretty neat idea. A lot of people do it in their backyards and the set up can be as large or small as you want. I'm really thinking about trying it next year: I think it requires more planning and timing than I have time for and I definitely want my chickens established first. But I thought it was neat! lol

I'm in the process of building a small scale aquaponics aquarium herb garden using a 20gallon tank and goldfish. If it's a successful venture, I'll scale it up outdoors with tilapia or catfish

 

[hensfortherapy]

I'm in the process of building a small scale aquaponics aquarium herb garden using a 20gallon tank and goldfish. If it's a successful venture, I'll scale it up outdoors with tilapia or catfish

I have a set up for my waterlilly. It has goldfish. I drain water off the bottom and water plants with it. I think I am going to have to move it to a sunnier location for my waterlilly. I will bury half of it so it will stay cooler in the Summer for the fish. I thought I had lost all 7 goldfish in Aug. They were about 5 inches long and they came floating to the top. Then I realized they had spawned and I now have 15. I figure that the water I drain from the bottom has some nice fertilizer in it.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

I finally just let the girls all back together. They did not lay a single day they were all separated. Then the day Trouble happened to escape her solitary confinement and got in with them and started beating them up again I gave up and just let her be with them. Trouble, Yum-yum, and Chocobo, all laid eggs. Goofy birds... Trouble is still beating them up a lot, but now Yum-yum is starting to fight back. Looks like things will start working out soon. That is making my husband happy. Also, does anyone else have this nasty bug going around?! My entire family is sick! We are all cughing, feel like our heards are twice their normal size, drainage, stuffiness, dzziness, soreness, you-name-itness. You get the idea haha. It is horrid. I just want to crawl in a hole and die.

 

[RustedOak]

Aquaponics is a nice idea but I have shied away from it.  With so many areas of the country, particularly TX, being in a drought most of the time, I decided that my time would be better spent working on perfecting gardening techniques that don't require so much water.

Actually research shows that aquaponics uses considerably less water than traditional gardening

 

[Ms Jellybean]

This is a pretty good comparison article. It seems everyone wants blue eggs these days, my self included. I plan on getting an Ameraucana chick, but I also want an EE. It will be fun to see what color egg I end up with. All the other chickens I want lay brown eggs, with the exception of one. I think.



I figured out a way (not much on the figuring out part) to get my coop sooner. I just need to buy a roll of wire every month or so until I have enough for my coop and run. The wood isn't all that expensive, especially if I can get pallets. I never ended up with the pallets from that roofer in December. The ice storm hit and I think he forgot. I never got back with him since I couldn't get the chicks this spring. So, I am going to buy some wire next month. The garden needs new wire too.

I love it when things start to come together.

 

[henless]

@ henless - love the little chicks in your avatar. Are the S&P shakers? So cute!

Actually, they are resin statues. They measure 8 in. long and 9 in. tall. I found them at Wal-mart and just couldn't resist.

I got them to put in my raised garden bed. My beds are going to be out by the coop, so I thought they would look good there.

I'm a chicken nut anyway. I've had pics/statues in my kitchen for years. I don't know why it took me this long to get real ones. Yes I do, we've always had horses and I needed every available space for them, lol.