Texas

[bluejean55girl]

In Fort Worth tx well Bedford to be exact would love to meet fellow chicken lovers

Welcome! I live in the texas panhandle towards amarillo. Used to live in the dfw area years ago.

 

[josh85]

Welcome! I live in the texas panhandle towards amarillo. Used to live in the dfw area years ago.

I like it here but I want a place with more land so my chickens and dogs can be happyer

 

[bluejean55girl]

I like it here but I want a place with more land so my chickens and dogs can be happyer

Yep, totally understand. I was on a full acre in Forest Hills across the street from the community college for 8 years. Area really has grown. South of I20 in kennedale used to be country.

Moved to the panhandle in 1997.

 

[Nunie]

Hey everyone!

I was actually wondering if I could ask a few questions of you Texans.

First a little background: My fiance and I are living outside the US, and we plan to move to the states in a few years. I'm from NY, lived in NC 7 years before moving to Sweden to be with him. So all he's heard about Texas is the crap Europeans put on their news sites and whatnot (Europeans hear all sorts of crazy biased stuff about the US). I'm trying to sell him on Texas as a possible state to live in when we make the move! I just need a little more information, and who else would be best to ask but actual Texans?

-

What's it like living in Texas? (Are the people friendly, is the weather nice, etc!)

How's the cost of living in Texas?

How's the cost of houses/land in Texas? (ie, can we get a nice little house with a basement and an acre or 2 of property for a decent price)

Are there any bad weather extremes in Texas that are somewhat "common"? (like how Florida gets hurricanes and Cali gets brush fires and earthquakes)


Thanks in advance to anyone who answers and helps me build my case for living in Texas!

 

[MandyJ]

Hey everyone!

I was actually wondering if I could ask a few questions of you Texans.

First a little background: My fiance and I are living outside the US, and we plan to move to the states in a few years. I'm from NY, lived in NC 7 years before moving to Sweden to be with him. So all he's heard about Texas is the crap Europeans put on their news sites and whatnot (Europeans hear all sorts of crazy biased stuff about the US). I'm trying to sell him on Texas as a possible state to live in when we make the move! I just need a little more information, and who else would be best to ask but actual Texans?

-

What's it like living in Texas? (Are the people friendly, is the weather nice, etc!)

How's the cost of living in Texas?

How's the cost of houses/land in Texas? (ie, can we get a nice little house with a basement and an acre or 2 of property for a decent price)

Are there any bad weather extremes in Texas that are somewhat "common"? (like how Florida gets hurricanes and Cali gets brush fires and earthquakes)


Thanks in advance to anyone who answers and helps me build my case for living in Texas!

I was born and raised in Texas. NO GREATER PLACE!!! I'll try to answer your questions.

1. I LOVE living here. We retired from Houston area we now live in the tiny town of Ledbetter, only 200 or so people here. It is close to central Texas, about 60 miles west of Austin (the capital). We have 10 acres with our retirement home, all woods except the 3 acres we actually live on which is cleared. The summers can be hot (sometimes over 101) the winters are mild (we have only had 3 nights of freezing weather this winter so far). Again, I say WE LOVE IT HERE!!
2. Cost of living is high everywhere, but where we are it is way cheaper than in the big cities.
3. Land/houses are high everywhere, especially in the big cities. We bought our land in 2003 it was $2300/acre. It now goes for $6500/acre. This was with no house or clearing of any type. Undeveloped land. We don't have basements only attics (above houses).
4. Weather extremes, stay away from the coast if you don't want hurricanes. We do have wildfires occasionally but not what I would call it excessive. Where we are (central Texas) we have NO earthquakes and NO hurricanes, just heat in the summer.
It really depends on where you live in Texas as to the climate. In the panhandle they have snow and lots of wind, in deep south Texas (Brownsville) they are nearly tropical in the heat department. They rarely get below 70.

Everything is bigger in Texas! You bet your boots! We are NOT all cowboys! You have to really look hard to find cowboys in the city. In the rural areas you still find lots of horses and cows!

Good luck, I hope this helped!
Mandy

 

[jtn42248]

Hey everyone!

I was actually wondering if I could ask a few questions of you Texans.

First a little background: My fiance and I are living outside the US, and we plan to move to the states in a few years. I'm from NY, lived in NC 7 years before moving to Sweden to be with him. So all he's heard about Texas is the crap Europeans put on their news sites and whatnot (Europeans hear all sorts of crazy biased stuff about the US). I'm trying to sell him on Texas as a possible state to live in when we make the move! I just need a little more information, and who else would be best to ask but actual Texans?

-

What's it like living in Texas? (Are the people friendly, is the weather nice, etc!)

How's the cost of living in Texas?

How's the cost of houses/land in Texas? (ie, can we get a nice little house with a basement and an acre or 2 of property for a decent price)

Are there any bad weather extremes in Texas that are somewhat "common"? (like how Florida gets hurricanes and Cali gets brush fires and earthquakes)


Thanks in advance to anyone who answers and helps me build my case for living in Texas!

There is a saying that Texas is a state of mind and in many ways it is just that. I was born in West Texas, moved to and live for almost 30 years in Los Angeles, CA then back to Central Texas (Austin) until I retired. The house we owned in Austin we paid 69 thousand for when we bought it and when we retired and moved sold it for 785 thousand. So, you can see that at least in Central Texas things have gotten a lot more expensive. In Urban areas (Austin, Dallas, San Antonio) prices are off the charts with million dollar homes not that uncommon.

When we retired we moved to Abilene, TX where I was born and bought a well cared for 2 bedroom, 2 bath with a den for 47 thousand. In Abilene you can still get small little houses that were built post WWII for under 60 thousand. But, you can also buy multi-million dollar mini-mansions if that is what you want and can afford.

After 5 years in Abilene we decided that we would really like to be on a farm. We found 4 acres with a 100 year old brick house (3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 10 foot ceilings, huge fireplace, barns and coops) 13 miles north of a town named Coleman, TX which, after much negotiating, we got for 77 thousand.

So, the price of rural property varies widely across the state. People as a rule are more friendly than in other places we have lived which is nice. Here they learn your name and everyone is on a first name basis even if they are only the cashier at the market or the teller at the bank. It is all very informal.

Weather varies from one extreme to another. Here in West Central Texas it can get VERY cold, snow and ice are not uncommon in the winter and summers get to 100+ and stay there for weeks at a time. However, Spring and Fall can not be beat. Winds do blow here as well and 50 mile per hour straight line winds are a regular occurrence in the Winters. Coastal areas have problems with hurricanes.

Remember that Texas is at the tail end of the Central Plains and there is not a lot between Texas and points North to stop winds blowing. Results in Texas having occasional major storm activity, wind, rain and hail, and tornados. Due to Fracking there has been an increase in earthquake activity in parts of North and North West Texas but they are not very severe or frequent...yet. Nothing like what we lived through in Southern Calif.

As for overall cost of living here. It really is not much differant than anyother place in the USA. If you factor in the price or products vs the income it all comes out to about the same percentage of expendable income in the end.

I can't imagine living anywhere else and am surprised now that we stayed on the West Coast for as long as we did.

Oh, also there is no state income tax in Texas...one of only a few states that have none. I have noticed that property taxes do seem to be a bit higher than other places we have lived but when you get older and qualify for exemptions like we do as elderly retirees they don't impact you all that much.

If you do end up here you will find friendly people in most areas, incomes that vary depending on the part of the state you are in, cost of housing that veries from very hight to very low and cost of living within range of that areas income levels.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Nunie]

Good luck, I hope this helped!
Mandy

Best of luck to you.

Thank you, both of you for the info! I appreciate it

 

[tjo804]

Hello all,
I am located in Wimberley, Texas. About 45 minutes Southwest of Austin. Just wanted to outstretch a Weird in Wimberley Welcome!!!
I am starting my chicken/farm adventure, I'm super excited. Any suggestion or words of advice would be appreciated.
Love and hugs,
Cheryl

WELCOME!
My best advise to you is know the predators in your area! That way you can protect more effectively. here the biggest killer of chickens is my neighbors dogs. make sure they have a place out of wind and cold drafts but SHADE! is the most important thing in the summer watch for dehydration and keep lots of water available both for stepping in to cool their feet and for drinking.

Keep on hand electrolyte solution I use the rooster booster because it has extra vitamins and probiotics as well. But there are alot of recipes here for home made electrolytes.

Most important have fun with them and try new things.


Hope these are helpful

In Fort Worth tx well Bedford to be exact would love to meet fellow chicken lovers

WELCOME
from central Texas. Lots of Chicken people in northern Texas But we are all friendly here!

 

[Eliza1313]

Just managed to get caught up with this thread. Things have been super hectic here. Ducklings are growing fast, they'll be ready to go outside soon. Will start work on their new space in a few weeks.

Hi, y'all! I'm in Ledbetter, TX (Between Brenham and Giddings, TX off 290). Glad to know everyone.  I have only ducks. I have 2 Pekin hens right now will be getting 5/6 more hen ducklings in May from Ideal hatchery in Cameron, TX. Wish me luck!

Again...glad Texas is represented!

Mandy

A lot of my flock is from Ideal. About the only advantage of picking them up is no packing peanuts. First order I picked up. The others I picked up from local feed stores, ordered one small batch. Did have a problem with getting some weak chicks that did not make it through their second day. Both were Barred Hollands, two different orders. From reading poultry books it seems like they had a riboflavin deficiency.
Would suggest having some growgel on hand when you pick them up. Or a mix that was posted in this thread before, but I have forgotten who to give credit to. Poultry nutri-drench, VetRX, B vitamin, and sugar source mixed with warm water. I use one dropper of the nutri-drench, a crushed B vitamin tab, and a tablespoon of honey in a cup of water. Usually omit the vetrx for the little ones.

 

[topdycke]

Hey everyone!

I was actually wondering if I could ask a few questions of you Texans.

First a little background: My fiance and I are living outside the US, and we plan to move to the states in a few years. I'm from NY, lived in NC 7 years before moving to Sweden to be with him. So all he's heard about Texas is the crap Europeans put on their news sites and whatnot (Europeans hear all sorts of crazy biased stuff about the US). I'm trying to sell him on Texas as a possible state to live in when we make the move! I just need a little more information, and who else would be best to ask but actual Texans?

-

What's it like living in Texas? (Are the people friendly, is the weather nice, etc!)

How's the cost of living in Texas?

How's the cost of houses/land in Texas? (ie, can we get a nice little house with a basement and an acre or 2 of property for a decent price)

Are there any bad weather extremes in Texas that are somewhat "common"? (like how Florida gets hurricanes and Cali gets brush fires and earthquakes)


Thanks in advance to anyone who answers and helps me build my case for living in Texas!

Texas is a huge state. I have lived in Dallas, San Antonio, Lubbock, Midland and I am now in the Houston area. The climate is different in each area. I would say that we don't get a real winter season but the summer can be tough. Not prone too huge natural event stuff as overdramatized in the media. But I will say that Texans step up and help out and are a friendly bunch to have for neighbors. Hope you find a spot that suits you!