Texas

[StelleKitten]

Too cute!!! Those cats looked like they were having fun.

 

[bnjrob]

If the chickens have access to their run from sun up to sun down can i just put feed and water in the run or do i need to have it in the coup as well?

Really depends on how you're setup for things and the way you maintain your chickens.

For us, we can't just pick up new ones if some are lost to predators (rare breed), so ours are not allowed to free range without supervision, and they are locked into the coop at night for added safety. There have been times that emergencies have arisen that prevented us from getting the coop door open until way late in the day. So we have food and water in both the runs and the coops as a safety measure. It also helps when we have a timid chicken so that they can always be assured of having food and water even if someone is "guarding" one of the feed/h2o stations.

 

[Kilsharion]

So we were busy today - spent the first part of the morning delivering Adirondack sets to Mike's customers. Then we hit Lowe's so I could get the paint and floor sealant I needed for the coop and Mike could get the tar and webbing he needed to seal the roof. We then came home and got busy. Here are the results of our labour:

We still have the arbor, the trim around the side and back wire, the door on the back, the roosts and the nesting boxes to finish up...but, it's really coming along wonderfully. I'm thrilled with it.

 

[TexasLisa]

Hi, I'm Karen (member name "makingshift"). I'm about 500 ft outside the Austin city limits. We have had chickens for several years and we are just now starting out with ducks and guineas. I'd love to add turkeys and rabbits to that list in the next two years. We are on 1.3 acres. Nice to see so many Texas folks.

Howdy and

from Rosenberg, TX!

Lisa

 

[ShadowsFIAL]

This is awesome

So we were busy today - spent the first part of the morning delivering Adirondack sets to Mike's customers. Then we hit Lowe's so I could get the paint and floor sealant I needed for the coop and Mike could get the tar and webbing he needed to seal the roof. We then came home and got busy. Here are the results of our labour:







We still have the arbor, the trim around the side and back wire, the door on the back, the roosts and the nesting boxes to finish up...but, it's really coming along wonderfully. I'm thrilled with it.

 

[adstoffels]

We got our layin hens today. They are perfect!

We also have chick tv out our kitchen window. I am new at the chick thing. I'm nervous I will mess up so that they won't make it . I have a heater lamp for them at night but how warm is to warm?

 

[jockeyeba]

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter

 

[adstoffels]

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter

Happy Easter to you as well. Love the picture

 

[bnjrob]

We got our layin hens today. They are perfect!
We also have chick tv out our kitchen window. I am new at the chick thing. I'm nervous I will mess up so that they won't make it

. I have a heater lamp for them at night but how warm is to warm?

The best description I have ever seen for the heat lamp temp is that your chicks should be running around all over like the waterbugs that skate on top of the water at the lake. Happy chicks will usually talk to each other and is distinctive from the distress screaming that they do. Huddling in a mass together and screaming is generally a sign of being too cold (provided they are not doing a rendition of "the big scary giant is looming over us). If they are trying to stay away from the lamp, not moving much/lethargic, sometimes yelling, trying to get away from each other to sleep, those are signs of being too hot.

Hanging your heat lamp from a chain, I've used bird feeder chains, can make it easy for you to raise or lower the lamp to get the desired amount of heat to the chicks. I've used a hook in the ceiling, 2x2s and even pvc pipe sections laid across the top of the brooder to hang the lamp from. I have an easel for lectures and have even put it over the brooder and hung the lamp from the easel. Just make sure that the chain or rope you use will not make part of your lamp pop off and allow the lamp to fall on the chicks, causing not only an injury hazard but a fire hazard.

If you are going to have chicks more than once and can swing the price, I like the Brinsea EcoGlow brooder warmer - it mimics a momma hen and the chicks can run under it when they are cold, but otherwise they get out and about in the brooder as if they were being raised by a hen. The fire hazard is reduced with this product and my chicks feathered out faster and were ready to go outside faster than when a heat lamp was used, since the heat lamp warms up the entire space and not just the chicks themselves.

I think more people probably get them too hot than too cold. The best thing I did, for the chicks and me, was to throw out the thermometer and not bother with all the stuff in the books about what temperature they are supposed to be at what time and let their behavior guide what level of warmth to give them.

 

[Texiken2000]

san angelo Texas here. im just getting back into the hobbie of raising chickens and looking for people in the area locally to buy different breeds. i find it so soothing to sit in the coop and hand feed them treats or just watch them scratch around. its been about 12 yrs. if i had the money i would own every breed but u know how that goes. but indeed im looking for people close to me to buy some chickens or eggs to hatch. i would much rather get them locally. haven't had a whole lot of luck mail ordering them. so new pens new incubators new life N looking for birds now if you can help put message me back and i can't wait to see everyone's birds.