Texas

[orumpoultry]

All we do is tarp up if winter winds get messy. Our coops are all open to the elements, built under giant shade trees. I will post updates maybe tonight or tomorrow, but, we had a quail explosion this week and I'm trying to throw together pens to move the teenagers into breeder pens to make room for the 200+ still in grower tubs.

 

[StelleKitten]

Hello from texarkana Texas

We used to drive through there all the time! Very pretty area!

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!

I will have to go by there and get added on to their order. I have promised my physical therapist one from their last order and they didn't get any. He was less than happy. Lol.

Our last round of therapy went pretty good. They have upped the ante on the physical therapy and I swear they are trying to kill me! I thought I would fall over dead after that last session. The mental parts are the most tiring though. I have a lot of work there. I am hoping to eventually be able to drive again and to be allowed to cook unsupervised again. Those two things would make life so much easier. Though not forgetting who I walked in the restaraunt with would be helpful. That was embarassing to say the least. But I have learned to laugh at it and just keep on going. I'm sure the chickens wonder why they have so many names. I keep renaming them as I keep forgetting what their names were. But that's fine. We lost one yesterday. We came back from therapy and the coop door was open and my delaware was gone. No feathers, blood, or anything Just gone. I'm guessing someone grabbed her. So as soon as I can get a ride I am getting some hasps (I think that's the right word) and locking my coop up! They didn't take the Rhode Islands or the one White Leghorn. Just my Delaware, the one my husband liked.

And I am glad you survived cancer. That's a tough fight. I never got to cancer, they found the pre cancerous stuff and got it out before I got there.

I'm in the Brazos Valley.... B/CS, TX. Just getting started. Buying my first chicks next week. I feel like a nervous mother hen. LOL

You will be so nervous and then you will find out chickens are tougher than they look. The first time I saw them eating what I thought were big worms and it turned out to be baby snakes is when I quit worrying so much about my chickens.

 

[kenmlang]

Fellow Texans, I need a bit of advice.

I'm in the beginning stages of redoing my coop. I have a 30 x 30 barn that I am redoing into 6 10 x 10 coops with a 10 x 30 aisle down the center. I have taken down the North wall and had planned on replacing it with new siding. I was going to enclose the entire end, with a door in the middle and a large upper vent in the eaves for ventilation.

Today I was out there standing in the aisle thinking how nice it was with the breeze blowing through. It was over 80 degrees today. That got me to thinking, instead of enclosing the North wall, just hardware the whole wall and put up tarps/plastic during the winter to block the wind. In fact, I plan on pulling down all the walls and having it all hardware with plastic up where needed during the winter.

What are ya'lls thoughts, opinions or suggestions? Am I nuts for making an all wire coop? Either way, I plan on taking down the walls in my current coop and putting up hardware cloth.

This is how it looked this morning. Your looking at the North end, my coop is on the South end.




This is how it looked this afternoon after I took down the wall, stall boards and odd/end junk, lol




Thanks for any suggestions!

Fellow Texans, I need a bit of advice.

I'm in the beginning stages of redoing my coop. I have a 30 x 30 barn that I am redoing into 6 10 x 10 coops with a 10 x 30 aisle down the center. I have taken down the North wall and had planned on replacing it with new siding. I was going to enclose the entire end, with a door in the middle and a large upper vent in the eaves for ventilation.

Today I was out there standing in the aisle thinking how nice it was with the breeze blowing through. It was over 80 degrees today. That got me to thinking, instead of enclosing the North wall, just hardware the whole wall and put up tarps/plastic during the winter to block the wind. In fact, I plan on pulling down all the walls and having it all hardware with plastic up where needed during the winter.

What are ya'lls thoughts, opinions or suggestions? Am I nuts for making an all wire coop? Either way, I plan on taking down the walls in my current coop and putting up hardware cloth.

This is how it looked this morning. Your looking at the North end, my coop is on the South end.




This is how it looked this afternoon after I took down the wall, stall boards and odd/end junk, lol




Thanks for any suggestions!

You have a great idea. May I suggest you use hardware cloth, because, as you probably know, chicken wire sucks for predator proofing. I hate to advertise on this forum, but check out my ad on the classified /everything else forum. I build run panels that I think would be perfect for what you are wanting to do. I can build them any size you want, within reason, and it looks like you already have most of the framework needed to attach to. Check it out and let me know what you think.

 

[kenmlang]

Is anyone out there going to Conroe Trade Days on May 3, 2015??

 

[topdycke]

Henless it looks like you have a great start. I have mine in a 12x12 horse stall.

 

[henless]

Hi all I'm like 20 pages behind...been busy like crazy! Have lots of stories to share but will wait to get on my computer...I type way too slow on my tablet!
Bought 6 Cochin chicks for my bday...11 days old and doing great...ordered 25 assorted chicks from ideal but won't get them until June...anyway...just want to wish everyone a happy Easter! Later folks...Magpie

Happy Birthday! Baby chicks are so cute! Glad you were able to get something you wanted for your birthday. What kind/color of Cochins did you get?

Our chickens do great in open air coops. We do put plywood walls on one end so that they have safety against raccoons trying to grab them through the wire though. So that is something to think about unless you are going to put up all hardware cloth that is too small to let a coon or possum be able to reach through the wire. You wouldn't want the chickens to back into a corner and then give a coon easy access to reach in and start pulling body parts out of the wire. But other than determining what kind of wire you use, a full wire coop is a fine idea when done right. There is a good bit of antique poultry literature where open air coops were used and recommended even in cold climates and the birds were noted to be quite hardy. They would put wood up on the north/west sides and also hang canvas tarps to wall off sections to help the birds be able to retain body heat in the space during winter without having direct wind on the birds and still have plenty of air flow to reduce the humidity that causes frostbite issues.

I plan on putting hardware cloth on all the exterior sides of the barn. I will be putting up chicken wire between the coops/runs just to save a bit on cost.

It makes me feel better knowing that there are other people who are using the open air coops for the chickens. Most of the coops I see are all enclosed, even the ones here in Texas. It makes me feel sweaty just looking at them.

I saw where you had posted some of your coops earlier in the thread. I like how you did them, open except for the removable tarps.

All we do is tarp up if winter winds get messy. Our coops are all open to the elements, built under giant shade trees. I will post updates maybe tonight or tomorrow, but, we had a quail explosion this week and I'm trying to throw together pens to move the teenagers into breeder pens to make room for the 200+ still in grower tubs.

I would love to see some of your coops, once you have the time. With 200 baby quail, your hands must be full!

Our last round of therapy went pretty good. They have upped the ante on the physical therapy and I swear they are trying to kill me! I thought I would fall over dead after that last session. The mental parts are the most tiring though. I have a lot of work there. I am hoping to eventually be able to drive again and to be allowed to cook unsupervised again. Those two things would make life so much easier. Though not forgetting who I walked in the restaraunt with would be helpful. That was embarassing to say the least. But I have learned to laugh at it and just keep on going. I'm sure the chickens wonder why they have so many names. I keep renaming them as I keep forgetting what their names were. But that's fine. We lost one yesterday. We came back from therapy and the coop door was open and my delaware was gone. No feathers, blood, or anything Just gone. I'm guessing someone grabbed her. So as soon as I can get a ride I am getting some hasps (I think that's the right word) and locking my coop up! They didn't take the Rhode Islands or the one White Leghorn. Just my Delaware, the one my husband liked.

I can't stand a thief. You work your but off for something and some low life comes along and steals it.

I'm glad you are doing so well in your therapy. I bet it is tiring having to do both physical and mental therapy. I will keep you in my prayers for a continued improvement.

You have a great idea. May I suggest you use hardware cloth, because, as you probably know, chicken wire sucks for predator proofing. I hate to advertise on this forum, but check out my ad on the classified /everything else forum. I build run panels that I think would be perfect for what you are wanting to do. I can build them any size you want, within reason, and it looks like you already have most of the framework needed to attach to. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Those look like a great idea Ken! We've already bought a lot of our supplies, so I'll have to pass on it for now. Though after I feel today, I might want to rethink that, lol.

Henless it looks like you have a great start. I have mine in a 12x12 horse stall.

Thanks! Mine are in my horse stall also. In fact, I've decided over the last couple of weeks that I won't be getting another horse. So I decided to take the stall I was saving and convert it to a chicken coop. I'm still keeping my saddle and horse paraphernalia just in case though, lol. I would love to see how your coop looks.

In fact, I would love to see some of my fellow Texans coops. I think it would be neat to see what everyone else is building/has built for their chickens.

 

[StelleKitten]

I can't stand a thief. You work your but off for something and some low life comes along and steals it.

I'm glad you are doing so well in your therapy. I bet it is tiring having to do both physical and mental therapy. I will keep you in my prayers for a continued improvement.

My husband made me a happy girl. He added me to the Arrow Feed list. I am getting 6 Easter Eggers whenever they get theirs in! I'll miss the Delaware and so will he, but the new fuzzbutts will come in just as we are moving the four mystery birds out (some that were literally headed out to the trash bin, no clue what they are).

We appreciate the prayers. Right now they are trying to get him geared up to drive again. They think out of the two of us, he is the best bet. Even with his damaged hands. He is working on developing his ability to focus for longer lengths of time. Both of us received brain injuries and some physical damages but are doing okay-ish. It could have been a whole lot worse but I sure wish we had been anywhere else at the time. The first guy should have been somewhere but he wasn't. My husband and I both think he should have been in a rehab facility instead of driving a rig. Just yuck! Anyways, I meander.

My baby goat has been a great cheer upper! He has us all laughing like loons and hopping around like we were kids!

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Is anyone out there going to Conroe Trade Days on May 3, 2015??

I don't know, but it sounds like fun.

 

[orumpoultry]

Most likely we are going.

 

[orumpoultry]

My current project is new breeder pens for these guys that are in the grow out pens... I've also got to get four coops put together for the teenagers in the grow out pens, but, they're still young enough it doesn't bother them as much to be a little crammed. I've got 35 six week olds in a 20x6 pen. They can get a little cramped... But it's okay.

Here's some pictures of the quail in the grow pens! I'm not going to post pictures of the little guys just yet, I'll post some after I clean pens. LOL!