Texas

[orumpoultry]

Late start this morning, off we go! Hope to see some of you there!

 

[jtn42248]

K wow you do have a flock lol. I'm hoping to avoid chicken math. I think if it gets really hot I'll put a fan in the coop and maybe try the wading pool method. I really wanted mixed so I could tell them apart

I'm still working on coop plans and how I'm going to put everything together.

Good luck with that avoiding chicken math thing. We started out with 5 hens for eggs just for us and now have 64 chickens, ducks and geese. In the worst part of summer here in West Central Texas we freeze gallon milk bottles of water and sit them in the coop. Also a fan that is actually hanging outside the coop and blows in through ventilation openings. It drops the temps by about 20 degrees inside and the girls love it. The ducks get fresh water in their pools in the shade and the geese, which free range on 3 acres during the day will usally find the shade of an old oak tree to lounge in. So far we have not lost a single one to the heat.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

Hi all. I've just ordered my first chicks. They should be here end of october 2015. I'm just outside Austin. I think the breeds I got are ok for the area.
1 black astralorp
2 buff orpington
2 easter Eggers
1 barred rock
1 rhode island red.
Looking forward to chatting with everyone and learning all I can.

Those are good production birds for providing you plenty of table eggs when they mature. It should take about 6 months and then you will find that that your Rhode Island Red and Astralorp will be your more productive egg layers. The Astralorp is purported to have a really nice personality. The Buffs do too. I have two buffs, and when it comes to wing clipping time, they don't act like they are being murdered like the other hens I have. I think you will find the Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red will be your top birds in your pecking order. Easter Eggers, Astralorps and your Buffs will be the submissive hens.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

I was going to the fair, but, we're going to conroe trade days instead. We're bringing about 200 birds.

I wish I could have gone. But, we're plugging away at the coop. We were painting until the rain started in. I was going to put the roof on today. The same little storm popped up when I was taking my son to shoot his first center fire rifle (7m08) because he passed his hunter safety and wanted to be in the stand with me this year. I think two clicks up and two right, and we'll be zeroed. Need to go back out and try again. With the Walmart shut down finding a good sling for him is limited. I saw a padded camo at Tractor Supply, but I prefer the one that let's who put four extra rounds in the sling.

 

[regul8r85]

Hello all,

I am new to the thread and had a few questions. I have recently become interested in raising a few chicken for laying and wondered if anyone has answers to my questions. First I will start off by asking:

1. Does anyone live in San Marcos, Texas that raises chickens in a residencial backyard?
2. From what I gathered the max you can have in residential is 6 hens with no rooster but I have no idea where to confirm this.
3. I plan to purchase a coop from Amazon and wondered what others recommend from their experience. I only desire 4 hens max and have a specific one in mind.
5. Does anyone have any experience with a gluten free and grain free feed for their chickens.

I truly appreciate any help that you can provide and I am excited to start my project of preparing for our chickens.

 

[reindeermama]

Hello all,

I am new to the thread and had a few questions. I have recently become interested in raising a few chicken for laying and wondered if anyone has answers to my questions. First I will start off by asking:

1. Does anyone live in San Marcos, Texas that raises chickens in a residencial backyard?
2. From what I gathered the max you can have in residential is 6 hens with no rooster but I have no idea where to confirm this.
3. I plan to purchase a coop from Amazon and wondered what others recommend from their experience. I only desire 4 hens max and have a specific one in mind.
5. Does anyone have any experience with a gluten free and grain free feed for their chickens.

I truly appreciate any help that you can provide and I am excited to start my project of preparing for our chickens.

Call animal control for the ordinances. I would not myself, purchase a coop from Amazon. I will tell you the experience I had. The coops are not very sturdy most of them being made from fir. They usually have poor hardware on them. I bought one, and I would say if they last a year or two you will be lucky. The instructions are not so good. If you want a pre-made coop I would recommend Urban Coop Company in Texas in Dripping Springs. I think it is about an hour away from you. I don't know what your budget is, but they have all sizes including a mobile coop. I have two and they are sturdy and took about 2 hours each to put together and they send all the hardware, and even tools in a fishing like tackle box. I know Scratch and Peck Feeds is soy and corn free. We use organic Coyote Creek feed. I don't know of an gluten free food for chicken but they probably have some Urban Coops has an online site with lots of information so you could look and see if their coops would work for you. I got mine after I got tired of waiting for Hubby to build me one.




I have the top one(well actually two of top ones and a run). The bottom one is the mobile coop and you can also buy a run to make it bigger. I have ten chickens(cause I just gave 3 to one friend and 2 to my oldest daughter who wanted some) I also have a coop and run dedicated to my bantams. I am going to look at the local college and see if they have a shop class I can go to. lol I want to build me a big one.

 

[reindeermama]

This is a Wood Tex Coop bought from Home Field. They are $595.00 ( That included free delivery to house) I buy things I can put together myself or redo slightly for the better. I don't like chicken wire so I stapled hardware cloth to it. Put a clasp on the top roof. Just tweaked it a little bit. Put a piano hinge on the non-opening window so it could be opened and stapled hardware cloth on the inside of window. I am going to try and put a door into house area on another side to make it easier to clean out. I would say three hens would fit. The house part is 12 square feet and the run is 16 square feet. I wouldn't crowd them. My ten have about 75 square feet and I am making another run (or trying to, we'll see how I build) for extra. The red one is for my Bantams...which some are being given away. This has four roosting boxes built in. It is pretty easy to move also.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

This is a Wood Tex Coop bought from Home Field. They are $595.00 ( That included free delivery to house) I buy things I can put together myself or redo slightly for the better. I don't like chicken wire so I stapled hardware cloth to it. Put a clasp on the top roof. Just tweaked it a little bit. Put a piano hinge on the non-opening window so it could be opened and stapled hardware cloth on the inside of window. I am going to try and put a door into house area on another side to make it easier to clean out. I would say three hens would fit. The house part is 12 square feet and the run is 16 square feet. I wouldn't crowd them. My ten have about 75 square feet and I am making another run (or trying to, we'll see how I build) for extra. The red one is for my Bantams...which some are being given away. This has four roosting boxes built in. It is pretty easy to move also.

There is a gentlemen out of Cut and Shoot that is a 30 year Cabinet maker that does really good work making coops. I had him do something similar, except, his is a lot better quality.

 

[reindeermama]

I would recommend a cabinet maker over these pre-made anytime. I wish I had known about him. However, I couldn't find anyone to pay to build a coop. So I just did the best I could. You would think a local handyman would like to be paid to make something like that. I would have paid a good amount and furnished the supplies. I really need a shop class, so I can build my own. My hubby is so busy with work he really just doesn't have time. If he does have time to do it, he usually gets called and has to go to work anyway. If you can find someone to build a tractor for you I think that is the way to go.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Hello all,

I am new to the thread and had a few questions. I have recently become interested in raising a few chicken for laying and wondered if anyone has answers to my questions. First I will start off by asking:

1. Does anyone live in San Marcos, Texas that raises chickens in a residencial backyard?
2. From what I gathered the max you can have in residential is 6 hens with no rooster but I have no idea where to confirm this.
3. I plan to purchase a coop from Amazon and wondered what others recommend from their experience. I only desire 4 hens max and have a specific one in mind.
5. Does anyone have any experience with a gluten free and grain free feed for their chickens.

I truly appreciate any help that you can provide and I am excited to start my project of preparing for our chickens.

From very recent personal experience, I would say that it depends on how urgently you want to get started. I bought a kit coop from My Pet Chicken (didn't really know better). It was fine for a little while for my few pullets, but was just not big enough. I ended up building a larger coop myself - I bought and used the plans for The Garden Coop (you can Google it), which is nice for our climate (I'm in the San Antonio area). I just finished literally last night. I'm using the old coop for quarantine for a young cockerel. It will also be useful in the future as a hospital wing or maybe a brooding coop if desired.

So, the world won't end if you get one of these starter coops, but they are cheaply made, so I'd do it with the understanding that you will end up replacing it (likely with something you build yourself). And if you want it to have any sort of lifetime, when you receive it, you'll need to seal the wood well ahead of putting chickens in it. If you have some time, you may wish to build a coop yourself before getting birds.

Photo below of my new coop: the older coop is the smaller one in the foreground - with two additional add-on runs (only the runs are visible here) - the taller lighter one is the new one. BTW, I am NOT handy, and I did this all by myself. I made several mistakes, and there were a few things I had to redo, but this was totally do-able for a single person with a day job (took be about a month - couldn't work on it all the time). I just kept at it until it was done.



Also, Sunrise Farms makes hoop coops - I don't have one, but someone I know got one and they look good to me. I believe you could get it delivered. (No financial relationship...): http://sunrisefarmtx.com

- Ant Farm