Texas

[jnntefend]

Hay is dried grass, greens, clover, alfalfa, etc that is intended for ingestion.

Straw is the cut and dried stalks of wheat/barley. It's used for bedding, not ingestion. It's not easily available where I'm at, either.

Using hay in the garden is a good way of winding up with unwanted seeds in your garden, btw.

Yes, Hay is feed, straw is bedding, Straw tends to be yellow and large, while Hay tends to be thinner, longer and green. We have both redily available in our feed stores, and from local farmers.

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

It's galvanized electrical conduit. Thanks, I'm building this one to sell. It will have an auto waterer also. If it sells for enough to make it worth all the labor I will start making more of them. (This is not a cheep attempt to sell them, I swear! ) This is fun. I feel like the "American Choppers" of chicken tractors......American Tractors?

Straw Bale Gardening Update -

I asked the gentleman who wrote the book on Straw Bale gardens if low-water conditions were ok for this sort of garden, and his response was that someone had emailed him to say they got by with only using the condensation drip from their window A/C unit! Sounds pretty low water to me. He's very nice, and you can like his page on FB if you want more info, or I guess buy his book. There's a giveaway going on for his book through FB right now.

His FB page is: Learn to Grow a Straw Bale Garden ///////////// Regular page: www.strawbalegardens.com

All I can say is: Wow

It was cold last night! I almost lost my tomatoes. Now wouldn't the chickens have been sad about that?

Yes they would! I remember my first batch of chickens, they would swarm me to get their tomato treats!

Hmmmm. We have straw up here... I wonder what the difference is.

If I am not mistaken, there is a feed store in dallas that sells straw. it has been a few years since I have been there, since I went there when I still lived with my parents, but man! It was more expensive than hay!

So I just use hay in my nesting boxes now. Smells nice too.

 

[kkidsmom]

Finall caught up on all the posts from the past four days. I want to say welcome to all the newcomers both to texas and to this board. Happy chicken farming.

As far as the cold goes, wow. Our chicks ages 4.5 and 5.5 weeks were moved to the outside coop last week. We did give them one lamp at that time. Saturday with the predictions of freezing temps, we added a second heat lamp. Then last night we covered two sides of the coop vetilation with plastic. All eleven hens and two roos seem to be adapting well. I am so thankful.

 

[kkidsmom]

Straw Bale Gardening Update - I asked the gentleman who wrote the book on Straw Bale gardens if low-water conditions were ok for this sort of garden, and his response was that someone had emailed him to say they got by with only using the condensation drip from their window A/C unit! Sounds pretty low water to me. He's very nice, and you can like his page on FB if you want more info, or I guess buy his book. There's a giveaway going on for his book through FB right now. His FB page is: Learn to Grow a Straw Bale Garden ///////////// Regular page: www.strawbalegardens.com

still you have to wonder about any difference in average humidity levels as that is how the ac units gets water to drip. Js

 

[Cockle-Dood]

its been crazy busy at work today, and was outta town all weekend! i feel as if ive been neglecting all my texas peeps! was away for 3 days, come home and all the chicks look so much different! its crazy the rate they grow when you see them every day vs every few days! even my younger ones have sprouted feathers in those 3 days!

 

[kkidsmom]

still you have to wonder about any difference in average humidity levels as that is how the ac units gets water to drip. Js

wow I hope that didn't sound as snarky to yall as it kinda does to me on the reread. I am just not as good at expressing myself as I like to think I am. lol sorry no offense intended.

 

[Little Wing]

she died yesterday as well!!! i think one of my kids got ahold of her and didnt say anything! her wing was dislocated and she wasnt eating... they were grounded and their chicks were taken away... what else bad can happen?

Very sorry to hear about your chicken. BUT, just want to say...Please, don't ever ever say that. 15 years ago I was laying in bed thinking the same thing. I thought things were going bad and what else could go wrong. I got a call at 2:15 that night that my 17 year old son had been in a tragic car wreck and had a traumatic brain injury. My whole world changed in a instant. He died 10 years later from complications. I had it made in the shade and didn't realize it.
I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt them. Go easy on em Pop.

Sorry I went there....I just needed to say that out loud. I feel better now

Everyone have a great day and hug someone you love!

 

[bnjrob]

That could cause a problem. Darn, is my Yankee showing? I didn't realize that straw wasn't widely available.

Mostly hay here. They will look at you like you are nuts if you ask for straw. Now I did get some very small straw bales, but they cost as much as a big square bale of hay. Not to mention, the chickens decided to scratch all the straw out of the nest boxes trying to get the few stray wheat heads that was in the straw. So that was the end of that.

I did manage to find a feed store that would special order me bags of wheat so I could mix my own scratch. That was a miracle.

 

[bnjrob]

Hay is dried grass, greens, clover, alfalfa, etc that is intended for ingestion.

Straw is the cut and dried stalks of wheat/barley. It's used for bedding, not ingestion. It's not easily available where I'm at, either.

Using hay in the garden is a good way of winding up with unwanted seeds in your garden, btw.

You know, I didn't have that problem using hay as mulch in the garden, even though I've heard other people also say that it introduces weeds.

 

[Imprfctme]

wow I hope that didn't sound as snarky to yall as it kinda does to me on the reread. I am just not as good at expressing myself as I like to think I am. lol sorry no offense intended.

Not at all, I know what you meant. I think I am too congested to remember my grade school science properly right now, but in any event, if you do get run-off from an A/C unit you could try redirecting it with aquarium tubing or something. At least it would go from being wasted to used.