Texas

[Belott]

Was anyone watching CBS this morning. Story about renting out chickens and supplies. Very cool business idea. Would apply more thought to it if I was not miles and hours from any target market. Happy Easter. He has Risen!!!!

He has Risen Indeed!!! Alleluia

Happy Easter All

David

 

[lovingmyhens]

Helloooooo Texas!  

I was wondering, one chicken person to another, does anyone here have an opinion about the best place to live around Houston?

My ex is moving to Texas shortly and for my daughters sake, I am considering moving there as well.  His destination seems to be the Houston area.

You all seem to be a nice group of people here and maybe you would share your thoughts and opinions on if the heat is too hot for some breeds of chickens in Texas, or if they all seem to do okay?   

Also, if you are willing to share, what would be a nice place to move outside of Houston, but still commutable, and away from the Coast not towards it.  I think he is focusing on Katy, Magnolia, and Conroe areas.      Any opinions, or pros and cons?

I won't be bringing the chickens I have right now, but once I get settled I will get some more hatching eggs and start all over.  Hatching can be addictive all on its own.

Anyway, Hello from Northern California.  Sorry to butt in on your group, but I might be joining it soon! 

I'm partial to Katy!!
If he decides to move to Katy, he needs to really be careful because of the traffic. They have built a million houses and have great schools but have not thought through the infrastructure and traffic is horrible in sone places. Where he will wk is also a huge factor.
Chickens live all over Texas and as I've not had my chickens during the summer heat, I've only had mine since thanksgiving, I'll probably put out a kiddie pool with water in it and milk jugs of frozen water on the hottest days. You can pm me as you narrow down the choices. Katy is HUGE!
Have a blessed day and welcome to the Texas forum of BYC!

 

[Ali707]

Two hours difference here and it looks like a lot of folks went to bed!

I'm just east of Austin but I'm sure some people around Houston will chime in.

I don't know of any birds that you cannot have because of the heat, I even have cochins and you can't get more feathered than that!!

...your will need a coop with plenty of ventilation. I like to give them more space than what "experts" say just to keep them cooler in summer and in my opinion, healthier.

I went to bed too right after I posted that. I didn't really think anyone would still be up. Out of all the different birds I have kept I would say that the Black/Blue Orps are the most heavily feathered birds I have. They are pretty sweet mellow birds. And HEAVY. The Wheaten Ameraucanas weren't as heavily feathered but didn't seem to tolerate the heat as well. Where I am can get over 100 for several weeks in the summer but the humidity usually isn't too high.

I find that more space for the birds is easier to keep clean too.

Quote:

My Son and my Ex-brother in law both live in the South Conroe area and like it alot!

But all the close to Houston area has too much traffic for me. I live on the coast. Welcome to the forum!

I've never heard of any breed of chickens not surviving Houston area weather. I have Dominiques and they weather just fine down here!

I am not a traffic fan either. I lived about an hour outside of San Francisco for many years and worked in the City. I wasted about 3 hours of my life every day commuting back and forth. I finally found a job in a more rural area and right now my commute is about 15 minutes. I do not relish the idea of bad traffic. Would South Conroe be considered "close to Houston". Or is that considered far enough away to be out of the City rush?

Personally I prefer the Magnolia/Conroe areas but of the largest cities in TX - Houston is my least favorite anyway. Too many darn people there. I like to breath a little more.

Rachael's right, you can pretty much have any chicken you want and lots of ventilation is the best. If you acclimate your chickens well and don't try to baby them so much, they'll do better. The people that baby their chickens a lot usually see the highest number of losses during summer heat and when the temps drop abnormally low in winter. The only chickens I have lost in the heat were hens that went broody and I couldn't break them of it - they dehydrated themselves, refusing to eat/drink in the middle of summer.

We have wide fluctuations in temps - in as much as a 1 hour period. Literally. We can have a drop of 30-40 degrees in an hour when a cold front blows in. We got down to 32* this week and yet by the following afternoon, it was in the 70s. And by the middle/end of this coming week, we're s'posed to be up to 90*. It can be a pain. I can be getting fresh cool water for the chickens and wearing shorts all day because it's 80*, and by sundown, trying to get plastic tacked up on the sides of the run with a wind chill in the 20s and sleeting. In case you hadn't heard - Texas really is like a whole other country.

30-40 degree swings?!?!?! Well that wouldn't be very fun to be in a summer dress and not bring a coat and have it at 32 by the time I have to leave the office.

I just had a broody that wouldn't get off the nest and I don't have a separate wire bottom cage or anything to put her in to try to break her. 2 others were trying to go broody as well, so I just took the next boxes out for 2 days. They were all confused and I had eggs everywhere BUT they quit sitting. That was my first experiment trying that. If it happens again, I will try it again and see if it works again.

Lived in Hou area for about 20 yrs and still drive there several times a month for work and/or rescue work. Katy, Magnolia, and Conroe are all good areas. It seems like Conroe gets more destructive weather though. Tornadoes, etc. Not sure why, maybe it's in the path of some type of natural wind corridor or something.

If it matters: Magnolia and Conroe are forested and Katy is more prairie-like (for lack of a better way to describe it), Magnolia and Conroe are more 'country', and Katy is more 'suburbia'. The Woodlands are a little bit of both, but it's growing fast there, as well as in the Spring/Cypress area.

Wherever you go, just make sure you're on the same side of Houston as your ex if you're going to be swapping out kiddos. It can take an awful long time to get from one side to the other. A reeeeealy long time. It gets worse every year. It used to take 30-45min to get across Houston, now it's between 2 and 4 hours. We've tried every conceivable route and/or back road too.

** Not trying to be a "know-it-all", just passing on what information I know.

Well I am used to Earthquakes but not Tornadoes so much. I do like trees. I live in the foothills and there are rolling hills here and a lot of different kinds of trees.

2-4 hours is INSANE! But very good to know. Why do you suppose the traffic is now so bad? Are they not investing in more roads or widening the roads?

You are hearing some good advice as to what part of Texas to live in. Come SW of Houston and look at Richmond and Rosenberg. There are smaller towns along the way also. Just stay away from 'deed restricted' areas and places that have MUD tax.
Good luck on your decision.

Lisa

Thanks for the advice. I looked that up to see what it was and it seems a little similar to what they call Mello Roos out here. Basically the residents of a new subdivision pay for the parks, utilities and schools through an additional tax on top of property tax. I did see something called "Maintenance Fees" listed on homes for sale in Texas. Some have them, some don't, Some are low like $70 a year some are really high. like several thousand a year. I am guessing that maybe the Maintenance Fee is the MUD tax. IF there are both that could be really expensive.

I would love to be able to stay away from the big city and avoid traffic. I am done with all that. Time is too precious to spend it sitting on the road.

Welcome to the Texas thread. I live in CUT-N-Shoot, it is about 6 miles east of Conroe, and about 20 miles north of North Houston. I love it here and so do my birds. It is rural enough that you feel like you are way out in the sticks, but you can be in Conroe in abou 10 minutes, depending on traffic. Taxes are fairly low and there are plenty of jobs to be had. Hope this helps.

I LOVE the name! Cut-N-Shoot!!! It does help. Thank you! Out here there is a Rough-N-Ready.

I'm partial to Katy!!
If he decides to move to Katy, he needs to really be careful because of the traffic. They have built a million houses and have great schools but have not thought through the infrastructure and traffic is horrible in sone places. Where he will wk is also a huge factor.
Chickens live all over Texas and as I've not had my chickens during the summer heat, I've only had mine since thanksgiving, I'll probably put out a kiddie pool with water in it and milk jugs of frozen water on the hottest days. You can pm me as you narrow down the choices. Katy is HUGE!
Have a blessed day and welcome to the Texas forum of BYC!

I have heard Katy is nice. One of the Top 100 places to live in Texas I think I saw. I just want to try to avoid spending all my time on the road. It sounds like that may be impossible.

The kiddy pool is a good idea. I usually put ice in their drinking water on the hottest days and if necessary I put a fan out.

I know a fan for chickens..... But if the air isn't moving it is a good way to keep them cool. I used to use misters but we have been hit with a pretty good drought this year. So that would be a bad idea all around.

 

[TammyTX]

The kiddy pool is a good idea. I usually put ice in their drinking water on the hottest days and if necessary I put a fan out.

I know a fan for chickens..... But if the air isn't moving it is a good way to keep them cool. I used to use misters but we have been hit with a pretty good drought this year. So that would be a bad idea all around.

You have a lot of good advice!

Well, I have a small window fan too for those days when the humidity is high and there is no breeze. I don't baby my chickens too much but I do try to make them suffer a little less if I can.

I was surprised that your Ameraucanas didn't do well in the heat because my EE's are the most consistent layers during the summer.

 

[Ali707]

You have a lot of good advice!

Well, I have a small window fan too for those days when the humidity is high and there is no breeze. I don't baby my chickens too much but I do try to make them suffer a little less if I can.

I was surprised that your Ameraucanas didn't do well in the heat because my EE's are the most consistent layers during the summer.

Yeah they panted the most out of all of them. I like a varied flock of birds and egg colors. I hatched out 2 Welsummers, 2 true Ameraucanas, 3 Orps, 2 Swedish Flower Leghorns, 3 Polish and one Splash Barnvelder. Everyone seems to tolerate it but the Ameraucanas are the first to start panting.

But come to think of it Last time I had 2 EE's to and they did okay in the heat.

 

[srosales1996]

So did a lot of work outside today. Finally got the property cleaned up from winter! Sad I know... Hubby is a jr. High and HS coach & science teacher. Last sport of the year ended last Tuesday so this was our first free weekend as a whole family in a while.

Anyway I did get some things done around the chicken coop in preparation for expansion. The coop is actually an old kids playhouse that the man who lived here before us built for his daughter. Our kids used it some but not in several years and I decided they have more fun with the chickens than the playhouse so were expanding into the top half. The chickens are going to quickly need more space!

I've tried several times to upload pictures to this and keep loosing what I type so they will be in replies.

I hope this works I keep having issues uploading pictures. This is the building and bottom floor of the coop where my teen chicks are now.

 

[srosales1996]

I hope this works I keep having issues uploading pictures. This is the building and bottom floor of the coop where my teen chicks are now.

I think I have them all uploaded finally. This is the top floor. As you can see I have a lot of cleanup and sealing birds out to do! I think I will eventually attach to the half hoop goat house with a half hoop run.

 

[hensfortherapy]

N

I finally got my chickens, all! The place I was going to was closed today, so I ended up taking a trip to Burnett's "Hill Country Hatchery." The drive was beautiful - 1.5 hour each way of gorgeous country living. I'm all about the variety for my first foray into chicken keeping...here's the line up:

• (3) Rhode Island Red...born 3/12
• (3) Black Beauty Sex Link...born 3/5
• (3) Assorted Leghorn...born 3/5
• (3) Black Australorp...born 3/5
• (3) Barnevelders...born 3/5
• (1) cuckoo maran...born 3/5...Rooster

The chicken nipple auto-water my boyfriend finished up while I was on the road trip sadly had a malfunction, so for now they're drinking out of an extra dog bowl. I'm bummed we won't be able to get any appropriate supplies for the auto-waterer during tomorrow's holiday. I went and checked on the girls at about 9:30 pm - they totally ignored the roosting branches and were huddled together. Was kind of cute. Now, the only thing I have to do is figure out how to get my newest dog not to attack the chickens. I was hoping he'd be protective...but unfortunately is being a jerk. Photos below:

Nice coop. Where are you located. I am in Liberty Hill.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Was anyone watching CBS this morning. Story about renting out chickens and supplies. Very cool business idea. Would apply more thought to it if I was not miles and hours from any target market. Happy Easter. He has Risen!!!!

I wish I had seen it. I thought about doing that as a business. I would have to move through.

 

[tcmstalcup]

I wish I had seen it. I thought about doing that as a business. I would have to move through.

I think if you lived in the Austin area it would be worth exploring especially if you could service san Antonio as well. it wouldn't be simple but a neat seasonal business. im thinking not much happening in winter.