Texas

[hungnguyen]

Back to those years, I like Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood movies, not much a fan of Sally Fields. Then a year later, I loved my poster of Farrah Fawcette. Then a few years later when i had more time to watch TV, Morgan Fairchild was the face I love to see.

Then life took everything away, except the chicken.

 

[lovingmyhens]

Well my daughter found 3, count them 3!! Eggs in the coop today so everyone is pulling their own weight but the australorp. I shall not give up on her yet. I am amazed at how well and healthy they look from when I got them from the feed store at thanksgiving. All had their butts pecked clean of all but a couple of feathers. Now, they are strutting so beautifully!!

 

[jajeanpierre]

I'm going to check and see if maybe anyone is ordering this feed locally. I know Tractor Supply is a franchise, but do they ever order specialty feeds? My local TSC doesn't sell any organic feeds, but I'm sure 4-H and FFA groups would clear them out if they did.

I would think TSC would order it in for your specially if it is a product they carry.

 

[ClovisMan]

Yea!! I have 4 walls! Now to build the doors and shutters and then I can paint. Suggested color scheme anyone??

 

[henless]

I'm currently looking on Facebook, but I'm pretty far down south (Harlingen, to be exact). Most of the people around here just don't seem to be wanting to invest in the good feed and those that do have smaller flocks (or focus on other animals). It's hard to find people who care about that kind of thing.

Have you thought about using Texas Natural Feed? It's a non-soy, non-gmo and non-medicated feed, made here in Texas. I just bought a 50# sack of starter crumbles for $25.00 which I thought wasn't bad since TSC had a 5# bag of starter for $6.59. I looked on their website and they have a dealer in Harlingen, Taubert Farm & Ranch.

Just saw a hawk in the backyard. He might have flown down on the girls if he had seen chicks or smaller pullets. Hawks are showing up every day.

We've lived here for almost 16 yrs, and just this past summer a pair of hawks have set up shop here. I'm glad they're cleaning out the mice/rats, but I would like to free range my flock.

Yea!! I have 4 walls! Now to build the doors and shutters and then I can paint. Suggested color scheme anyone??

Nice build! and fast too!!

 

[hungnguyen]

Looking good

 

[Brookshire11]

Hope ya'll dont mind me posting my coop progress here. It enables me to upload the pics to the site so later when I am finished, I can make entire build thread and all the pictures will already be in my album....so any way...

Finished the roof framing and overhang framing. Also installed the sub-roof OSB. This took a better part of the day since every board had to be cut to fit and hoisted up by myself.



Also managed to get 3 of the siding ply up.



I'm considering leaving the top section open for ventilation and just cover in hardware cloth. What do ya'll think?



I'm going to cheat a little. Instead of building nesting boxes, I purchased some plastic ones from Tractor Supply. Should be easier to keep clean. Do you think 4 is enough for 15 hens?

Keep posting pictures! Seeing them gives me hope for me! lol

Feeling alive. Head still stuffed up and my hearing still sounds like I have cotton in my ears, but much better. Roast in the oven so it's kick back time.
ClovisMan the coop looks great. Good idea to wire and vent the top. You can always cover it if we ever have another winter like we did this year. About the nesting boxes. You could have 10 and they will fight over their 2 favorites.Ibejaran congrats on the new chicks. Sorry about your rooster Hung. RachaelS good job on the runs.
I have been checking out the Orpington threads. Most Orp owners feel the same way I do about that breed. Closest thing to a dog of any chicken breed.

I thought I saw you on the Orp board the other day! I drool over Johnn's pictures. They're always so pretty! If I was a chicken, I'd want to live there! lol

Lots to catch up on after not being on pretty much all weekend.

I walked Sasha around the neighbourhood yesterday afternoon and found more neighbours with chickens. They had a low (under 3 feet low) picket fence covered with chicken wire around the back yard with a mix of birds. I could actually name the kinds now! One was outside the fence and Sasha was really interested in her. The hen was quite frustrated she couldn't get back in the fence and finally flew over. That was the first time I saw a chicken fly. I am not so worried about my chickens getting out now. This hen was a white leghorn and just barely made it over the fence back into the yard. I want to go back and talk to them about their coop and set up. It was cute and looked easy to build.

I also met a neighbor that is remodeling his house himself so I might be able to ask him for some help with my coop. He needs to finish his project first though. His house was built in 1920. I love those old homes with their big porches....

Rain in the forecast this week. I sure do hope we get it. It has been really dry here this winter. The lakes are really low. I hope we don't get into stage 4 water restrictions.

It's like when I got giidy seeing that one big blue house on Virginia. They have a rod iron fence you can see through and their lot is huge, so when you drive down Louisiana, you can see all the chickens in the yard! lol
I saw another one this weekend, but I can't remember where...
It sprinkled on my way to get the kids!...for about 30 seconds. I heard its supposed to rain tomorrow too. Who knows..

Have you tired looking on Facebook for a group?

The one feed store near me sells Bryant feed and it is supposed to be as close to organic as you can get without being organic. You could look into that. It's non-gmo and doesn't have antibiotics in it. It is in crumble form, not sure if it comes any other way.

Which feed store?
I really like the one off 380 better. D&L. I've mostly gone to Collin County Feed & Seed but, I don't know if its just me, the guy is always grumpy and borderline snippy :/ D&L staff are always friendly and even carry stuff to the car for me. I tried to tell them I could carry it by myself but...realistically, I couldn't get both the 40lb bag of feed AND the 40lb bag of wood pellets..lol
I like their chick setup better too. ...Now I'm blabbering.


I can't get Eloise or Pearl to stay in their "brooder now.
I usually end up walking around the house like this:




OH! lol, and my sweet Mother in law built me nest boxes...and then asked if we could build a pen around them and if that would be enough....lol. I had to politely explain the reason for a coop

 

[lovingmyhens]

Yea!! I have 4 walls! Now to build the doors and shutters and then I can paint. Suggested color scheme anyone??

Hot pink, lime green

 

[ClovisMan]

Quote: I'd like to keep my ManCard...LOL

 

[Brookshire11]

I'd like to keep my ManCard...LOL

~~Oh! Totally had a question. I've had to add the 2 week silkie chicks to my 6 weekers. They generally get along fine, but 2 of the pullets seem to go out of their way to be mean. To the point where the silkies stay in the same corner, huddled up to stay out of anyone's notice, for really long periods of time (or I think so..for a chick). Are they going to get a break soon? I know pecking order and all, but I didn't think it was this discriminate