Texas

[HippyChick29438]

Hi to all, I am new to BYC and chicken raising. I am in Allen Texas, about 30 miles N of Dallas. My coop is finished and my run will be in a couple week. Any suggestions on the best chickens to get for the extremes in temperature.

 

[dexterlady]

Hensfortherapy &Showbarnmom, yes I do raise Dexter cattle...We only have a few about 16 at present....We only have fifteen acres.....You ask how are they so special?...Well Dexter cattle are a duel purpose cattle.....You can use them for beef, milking and oxen.....They come from Ireland originally, have only been in the states for about 125-135 years, so they are relatively a new breed to the states....Yes they are small cows, half the size of a regular cow, but they are NOT miniatures........They are great for small acreage and they are much easier on the land....They are very gentle and raised with a little tender love and care are very friendly....They do very well in the show ring ( Dexter shows)...They come in three colors , black dun and red.....I raise the red ones because I like that color the best.....I love our little Dexters and after having raised these cattle for almost 6 years, I would not ever consider another breed.....You sure can get attached to them very quickly...If anyone is interested in Dexters , and learning more about them, they can go to the ADCA website and there is a wealth of information on there....I am a member of this organization.....We have a meeting coming up in June where people will be showing their Dexters and the is an auction also.....It will last for 3 days...The dates are 6/20-22....You can also find info on this on the ADCA web.....I will have a couple for sale soon....I do have two steers for sale at present....Thank you all for asking about the Dexters...They are very "Special" little cattle...If anyone wants to contact me for any questions I may have the answer to, please feel free to do so...If I don't know the answer, I sure can find someone who does know.....Now back to the chickens......
WOW a hatch of 65 chicks...Do you ship day old chicks?....I sure would like to have some EEs....I am also still looking for Australorps....I have looked several places , Craigslist and hatcheries and no luck.....Guess it is about a couple weeks too early for Ideal hatcheries....They are the least expensive......So I guess I will just have to wait.....Contacted a breeder and she doesn't ship...Oh well, I have waited this long, I guess a couple more week won't hurt...
Couldn't figure out how to "embed" my photos, wanted to send some pics. of the Dexters....Maybe next time.....Thanks ....Dexterlady ( Donna)

 

[SlipsWife]

Hi to all, I am new to BYC and chicken raising. I am in Allen Texas, about 30 miles N of Dallas. My coop is finished and my run will be in a couple week. Any suggestions on the best chickens to get for the extremes in temperature.

Our favorites for layers so far have been Turkens/Naked Necks and red sex-links, that go by a number of different names.

Any EE's we've had have been pretty stand-offish but we love the pretty colored eggs. The EE bantam we have stopped laying in October, didn't start up again until February and is now broody, so not laying. I don't think that's normal for the breed though. Our Partridge Plymouth Rocks are big, heavy girls who lay small/medium eggs and one has horrible manners! Our frizzled Cochin bantam waited until she was a year old before she laid her first egg.

We had Polish for awhile but sold them right before they started laying. They were very stand-offish and loved to roost. The cockerel was MEAN and EVIL but I've been told that's unusual. We had a Buttercup pullet, we forgot most of the time we had her, she was wild. Oh, and we had German Spitz pullets that were EXTREMELY friendly, they thought they were lap chickens but would roost in crazy high places and not go into the coop at night.

We started out ordering a hatchery surprise. It was nice to get an assortment of chicks and learn from the group on what worked for us and what didn't. It was extremely easy to sell the ones we didn't want to keep. A large number of them we sold as day old chicks to make the group more manageable and then the rest we sold around 5 months old after we picked our favorites. I also bought the sex links at our local TSC so I knew I had a couple of layers.

Picking what's best for you will depend on what you are wanting. I would LOVE a couple of standard Cochins, I love the look of them, but I've heard they lay small eggs for their size and sometimes aren't very reliable layers and since I already have a couple that fall into that category, I'll have to wait.

Oh, we also have Cream Legbars. They are suppose to lay blue eggs. The one that is laying right now, her eggs have a greenish tint. The cockerel is amazingly sweet. He's not exactly protective of the girls, and he stays out of the drama between them but he does show them when there's food and he's very people friendly so he's more than welcome to stay!

 

[harley1975]

Hensfortherapy &Showbarnmom, yes I do raise Dexter cattle...We only have a few about 16 at present....We only have fifteen acres.....You ask how are they so special?...Well Dexter cattle are a duel purpose cattle.....You can use them for beef, milking and oxen.....They come from Ireland originally, have only been in the states for about 125-135 years, so they are relatively a new breed to the states....Yes they are small cows, half the size of a regular cow, but they are NOT miniatures........They are great for small acreage and they are much easier on the land....They are very gentle and raised with a little tender love and care are very friendly....They do very well in the show ring ( Dexter shows)...They come in three colors , black dun and red.....I raise the red ones because I like that color the best.....I love our little Dexters and after having raised these cattle for almost 6 years, I would not ever consider another breed.....You sure can get attached to them very quickly...If anyone is interested in Dexters , and learning more about them, they can go to the ADCA website and there is a wealth of information on there....I am a  member of this organization.....We have a meeting coming up in June where people will be showing their Dexters and the is an auction also.....It will last for 3 days...The dates are 6/20-22....You can also find info on this on the ADCA web.....I will have a couple for sale soon....I do have two steers for sale at present....Thank you all for asking about the Dexters...They are very "Special" little cattle...If anyone wants to contact me for any questions I may have the answer to, please feel free to do so...If I don't know the answer, I sure can find someone who does know.....Now back to the chickens......
     WOW  a hatch of 65 chicks...Do you ship day old chicks?....I sure would like to have some EEs....I am also still looking for Australorps....I have looked several places , Craigslist and hatcheries and no luck.....Guess it is about a couple weeks too early for Ideal hatcheries....They are the least expensive......So I guess I will just have to wait.....Contacted a breeder and she doesn't ship...Oh well, I have waited this long, I guess a couple more week won't hurt...
      Couldn't figure out how to "embed" my photos, wanted to send some pics. of the Dexters....Maybe next time.....Thanks ....Dexterlady ( Donna)

To add pics to a post go to the right side above the comment box is a icon that looks like a mountain and sun click on it to add pics

 

[oweirdo]

I need incubator advice! And my 6 australop eggs look good, 1 hatched, 4 pipped so far. The hatched one pipped at wrong end, and with no help from me hatched!
So now for the advice, my dozen polish go on lock down Easter Sunday, the dozen Marans and Ameraucana go on lock down Tuesday. Is Monday an ok comprise, or would it be better to lock down all 3 dozen on Sunday? Or break lockdown on the polish to lockdown Marans and Ameraucanas?

 

[Brookshire11]

Hello Allen Wrench...I just joined BYC and was wondering if anyone is active on here now...I just see 2007 posts...Or am I doing something wrong?....I live in Goliad, Texas down near Victoria Texas...Was trying to find someone who has some black Australorp chicks for sale...I do not want Bantams...I want the large ones....Do you know anyone who has any for sale?....I really don't understand how to get around this forum but I am trying....If by chance anyone sees this and has any Australorp chicks for sale, please email me at [email protected] I will keep looking around the site...

Welcome from the Dallas area!

Just ordered the girls some meal worms from Uncle Jim's. And a bunch of worms I am going to add to my garden. I hope they arrive alive.

I forgot about Uncle Jims!

I went alittle crazy hatching too lol. I've got 20 1-3 day old EEs, most should be frizzled. And 10 4 wk old smooth EEs. Lol.

Oooh....frizzled EEs....

Our favorites for layers so far have been Turkens/Naked Necks and red sex-links, that go by a number of different names.

Any EE's we've had have been pretty stand-offish but we love the pretty colored eggs. The EE bantam we have stopped laying in October, didn't start up again until February and is now broody, so not laying. I don't think that's normal for the breed though. Our Partridge Plymouth Rocks are big, heavy girls who lay small/medium eggs and one has horrible manners! Our frizzled Cochin bantam waited until she was a year old before she laid her first egg.

We had Polish for awhile but sold them right before they started laying. They were very stand-offish and loved to roost. The cockerel was MEAN and EVIL but I've been told that's unusual. We had a Buttercup pullet, we forgot most of the time we had her, she was wild. Oh, and we had German Spitz pullets that were EXTREMELY friendly, they thought they were lap chickens but would roost in crazy high places and not go into the coop at night.

We started out ordering a hatchery surprise. It was nice to get an assortment of chicks and learn from the group on what worked for us and what didn't. It was extremely easy to sell the ones we didn't want to keep. A large number of them we sold as day old chicks to make the group more manageable and then the rest we sold around 5 months old after we picked our favorites. I also bought the sex links at our local TSC so I knew I had a couple of layers.

Picking what's best for you will depend on what you are wanting. I would LOVE a couple of standard Cochins, I love the look of them, but I've heard they lay small eggs for their size and sometimes aren't very reliable layers and since I already have a couple that fall into that category, I'll have to wait.

Oh, we also have Cream Legbars. They are suppose to lay blue eggs. The one that is laying right now, her eggs have a greenish tint. The cockerel is amazingly sweet. He's not exactly protective of the girls, and he stays out of the drama between them but he does show them when there's food and he's very people friendly so he's more than welcome to stay!

Where did you get your naked necks?
They're so awkward looking, that I think they're adorable. lol
Plus I hear they take the heat really well, is that true?

My EEs are just little dolls. I guess they're all different just like people.
My Barred Rock is my "mean" chicken. Lol. She does NOT like to be messed with, but she sure will take any treats I give her

 

[8isenuff]

I went alittle crazy hatching too lol. I've got 20 1-3 day old EEs, most should be frizzled. And 10 4 wk old smooth EEs. Lol.

Where are you, are you selling any of the frizzled EEs, or where can I get some eggs? WANT some!!! =)

 

[lisaterrell88]

Hello and welcome all the new ones that joined. I been alittle busy last few days. I ended up with 16 chicks every time I give up on eggs a few more hatch out. Guess I will give it a few more days and see what happens lol. I took my dad to fort worth to see his dr cause he has infection in his neck where he had surgery we set there for a hour and they told us we had to come back cause dr was in surgery so I drove two hours for no reason. Errrr not a good day. But I hope who ever was in surgery made it ok. Now we are trying to get my dad in to see a dr over his neck cause he has puss coming out of it. That cant be good.

 

[orumpoultry]

Did I see a post about EEs???

Where are they hiding?!

Dexters are so cute. We're debating getting some next year. Mini cows and mini goats. Maybe even mini chickens. Haha!

 

[SlipsWife]

Where did you get your naked necks?
They're so awkward looking, that I think they're adorable. lol
Plus I hear they take the heat really well, is that true?

My EEs are just little dolls. I guess they're all different just like people.
My Barred Rock is my "mean" chicken. Lol. She does NOT like to be messed with, but she sure will take any treats I give her

Our first NN were part of our Cackle hatchery surprise. They were so cute as chicks we had to keep them! We were surprised by how well they laid, all winter with no extra light, we ordered more this year, this time from Ideal. We also ordered another surprise this year and we got one NN, we are hoping is a cockerel. I set 2 of our NN eggs with our Cream Legbar cockerel. The thing is, they don't sell here very well so I've had a little issue selling the extras from the sexed pullets we ordered. I know they are hard to get use to for some people looks wise, but ours are very sweet and great layers.

They did fine during the summer. They do have less feathers and during the winter they tend to keep their necks covered buy hunkering down...if that makes sense.