Texas

[orumpoultry]

Well the power outage last Monday caused us to toss about 95% of both bators, and, my quail I set never finished hatching. I think if I had been home when the power first went out I could have kept them warm in my car. So mad. Four turkey eggs set before the power outage is all that survived, per today's candling.

However, that did get John to let out some pent up anger. Tossing eggs at the wood line turned into angry throws in a hurry. At least he feels better now.

So far everything we set afterword's is doing great. Lots and lots of quail expected to hatch Wednesday, I think... I'll have to recount. We did lose a BUNCH of quail during that power outage though. I'm so mad, did I mention that?

From all bad comes good, though. My muscovies from therry FINALLY laid their first egg today. Sugar dog said it was delicious, she prefers them raw and stolen off of the back porch when I go to turn off the water hose.

Still waiting on the guineas. They're mating, they're almost a year old, they're in a pen with nowhere to hide and still no eggs!!!

 

[Belott]

Sorry for your losses Kate!!!

Seems like when it rains setbacks it pours!! Just makes you stronger and builds character. Keep positive and keep going forward girl and you and John will do just fine.

David

 

[Tmoorie]

Welcome! Hope you enjoy it here in Texas!

I live between Glen Rose and Granbury. Out off Mambrino highway. I'm still on the hunt for an Easter Egger, Araucana or an Americana. Any of the three.



As a quick update, DH and I will be spending three days a week in Fort Worth for our therapy so we can hopefully focus on our recovery better instead of the outrageous travel times between here and therapy. My stuttering is getting better and the support from the community is really nice. The people we interact with that know of our situation are really helpful. There are a couple of people who notice if I look lost in the store will ask me what I was looking for and help me get back ont rack. And don't get upset if I just start crying because I can't remember why I am somehwere and if I am lost. I am just glad that I am not in a giatn city!

I know Mambrino Hwy well! I worked at Mambino Elementary for several years and now I am teaching at NCTA at Happy Hill Farm! I talked to Arrow Pet on Granbury, they are special ordering now for delivery at the end of May. I am thinking about ordering some Americaunas. She said she already has an order for 30 Americauna pullets but she is looking to add more.

I hope your therapy goes well! I understand lots of Dr. appointments I am a cancer survivor. I am praying for a total recovery for you quickly!

 

[bnjrob]

I'll definitely have to check out the duck forum! Even though I've had chickens, I've never had ducks. I'm pretty excited to get them, though! Do you keep yours for eggs, meat, or just because they're fun?


Mud isn't a new thing to me, fortunately, haha. Maine is absolutely nasty in mud season! And I'm not bringing my ladies down here. My mom said she'd be happy to adopt them (as well as my coop-- since I paid for the whole thing, they're just happy they can have it for free!). I'm starting over completely!


Thanks so much for this really informative post!! I'm going to save it so that I can keep referring back to it, haha. I'm thinking I might get one of those small kiddie pools for the birds. I have a small pond, but it's out front and I'd like to make the main chicken/goat space out back.

Do you happen to have any pictures of your set-up? I'd like to see how you've made your shade. I plan on letting the chickens free-range instead of making a run (we've got 9.5 acres, which should be plenty of space for a small flock!), so I'm planning on making a very basic sort of coop, or maybe even just setting up roosts in the shop. I don't know how ventilated it is, so I'll have to check on that and figure how to better the air flow.

Thanks again for giving me a lot to think about!!

This is a pic of one of our large open air pens. You can see the lighter brown shade cloth covering the top of the wire portion of the pen. The tarp is put on in winter to help keep the winter rain from getting into the feed and into the apartment roosting area. You can see that the shade cloth is up about 2 feet from ground level on the sides - if you take the shade cloth all the way to the ground on every side, it gets so stifling in there during summer when you're desperate for any little breeze to blow.

The back of these a-frame pens have a large flap. During warm months they are chained up, so that they provide more shade from the sun when it is low in the sky during the evening, because in summer, it can still be 90 degrees or more even at 11 p.m. so if the sun is up even just before dusk, it can be roasty wherever the sun hits in the pen. During winter the flap is lowered to provide wind and rain protection.

All of our pens are mobile, our newest and favorite ones are the a-frames because they are cheaper and easier to build but still let us have plenty of room to work inside and stand upright. We have large sheds on wheels too, that are more traditional looking coops. They have wire runs attached to them as well and we do the same shade cloth set up on them that we do with the a-frames. We have to keep our breeding stock penned, due to them being rare and can't risk predator losses, so they only get to free range with supervision, but our non-breeding stock are now free rangers. But they all still need the shade if you don't have many trees/buildings to give them shade during all parts of the day.

We get the shade cloth at Lowes/Home Depot, the lighter colors don't make the pens as hot as the darker colors do. Unfortunately they no longer carry the best shade cloth that blocked more sunlight, so we have to double up the shade cloth to get a deeper level of shade. But it still has an open enough weave to run some zip ties through it to tie it down to the wire runs. We use the rolls of welded wire, 2x4 inch rectangles, and put that on top of chicken wire that is run on the bottom 2-3 feet of the runs. The chicken wire keeps the chickens and most of their body parts in, while the larger welded wire keeps out predators. We don't have any weasels here, so we don't have to worry about something that size slipping into the runs with the larger holed welded wire. And the only thing that will keep mice out is small mesh hardware cloth, and it isn't feasible to use that for every pen that we have.

 

[Tmoorie]

Hi guys. I'm new to Texas, though not to chickens. I'm moving down to Midland this April to be with my boyfriend, and we just got a house on nine acres. I can't wait to fill it up with chickens, but... I know nothing about the climate out here. I'm from Maine, so I'm used to heavy, hardy chickens, and I don't think that they'd do so well in the heat down here. Is anyone here from West Texas who could give me some pointers as to what breeds work well here?

Also, we have a small pond on the property, so I'm thinking maybe getting a trio of ducks (for both eggs and meat-- both me and the guy love duck!). What are the best options that aren't too hard to find?

Thanks!!

MK I seen your profile pic and got very excited! I am a pug person as well as my chickies! We were part of the Pug Rescue of Florida and Participate in the Pugs Rescue in Dallas/Fort Worth! Welcome to Texas! My family and I moved to Texas 10 years ago and love it! I hope you will too!

Tanya

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Well the power outage last Monday caused us to toss about 95% of both bators, and, my quail I set never finished hatching. I think if I had been home when the power first went out I could have kept them warm in my car. So mad. Four turkey eggs set before the power outage is all that survived, per today's candling.

However, that did get John to let out some pent up anger. Tossing eggs at the wood line turned into angry throws in a hurry. At least he feels better now.

So far everything we set afterword's is doing great. Lots and lots of quail expected to hatch Wednesday, I think... I'll have to recount. We did lose a BUNCH of quail during that power outage though. I'm so mad, did I mention that?

From all bad comes good, though. My muscovies from therry FINALLY laid their first egg today. Sugar dog said it was delicious, she prefers them raw and stolen off of the back porch when I go to turn off the water hose.

Still waiting on the guineas. They're mating, they're almost a year old, they're in a pen with nowhere to hide and still no eggs!!!

I am sorry to hear about the egg loss. And, yeah, sometimes it is good to let out the frustration.

 

[easttexasfarmer]

Might need to do a Crockett meet-up.

That would be pretty cool!

 

[wday]

Hey guys got 7 BLRW hens for sale they are bout 7-8 months and are laying let me know if anyone is interested in buying any. Thanks

 

[rosie1991]

Where are you located wday??

 

[wday]

Where are you located wday??

Cleveland,tx