Texas

[TexasLisa]

LOL

My granddaughter already has! Not with a crayon, but she got our marking pen and has drawn lines all over the posts and my dutch doors. I'm not painting those, so they will remain.

Why don't you have your granddaughter put her hand prints on the outside of the coop?


Lisa

 

[Brookshire11]

Why don't you have your granddaughter put her hand prints on the outside of the coop? Lisa

I love that!

 

[yoopersjd]

hello all, been in the forums for awhile, but mostly to get ideas on coop design ect for this climate. I am originally from Michigan (Voted with my feet 6 yrs ago and moved here to texas). Up north had good idea on how long to brood chicks for release to outdoors. Which in michigan was end of april, beginning of may.

But with the wild swing here in temps (For west central texas, Concho Valley area) wondering when i can put my chicks out into the coop from my indoor brooder. They are just about feathered out, I got heat out in the coop, right now it is buttoned up pretty tight for cold drafts. And all sorts of vents to open when summer oven temps hit! My run is completely wired off so no threat of avian predators getting my young birds.

Do y'all think about time to throw them out into the coop with a heat source?????

 

[Ms Jellybean]

I almost lost all my new 2-week old Ameraucana chicks tonight. They were peeping a lot and I didn't go to check, just thinking they were growing up and getting noisier. When I went in, they had all gathered at one end of the brooder . The whole pile of them ended up in the water and were soaked. I usually have a quail-sized waterer but used a bigger one this afternoon. The chicks didn't have the sense to go under the brooder so were chilled to the bone. Two are still chilled, but I blow dryed them and they are huddled under the the heat. I'll keep checking on them.

Glad they are ok. How are the two doing today?

Why don't you have your granddaughter put her hand prints on the outside of the coop?


Lisa

That is really cute. When I sorted out all the stuff I had save over the years that my kids did (needed a more manageable collection) the one thing I did not toss was anything made with their hand prints.

 

[SlipsWife]

hello all, been in the forums for awhile, but mostly to get ideas on coop design ect for this climate. I am originally from Michigan (Voted with my feet 6 yrs ago and moved here to texas). Up north had good idea on how long to brood chicks for release to outdoors. Which in michigan was end of april, beginning of may.

But with the wild swing here in temps (For west central texas, Concho Valley area) wondering when i can put my chicks out into the coop from my indoor brooder. They are just about feathered out, I got heat out in the coop, right now it is buttoned up pretty tight for cold drafts. And all sorts of vents to open when summer oven temps hit! My run is completely wired off so no threat of avian predators getting my young birds.

Do y'all think about time to throw them out into the coop with a heat source?????

How many chicks do you have? We kicked the older chicks out about a week ago at ages 2-3 weeks. There are about 40-50 of them. We moved their brooder outside, its a small coop w/nesting boxes, about 3ftx4ft. I can't remember if the dimensions are with or without the nesting boxes. They all group up in the nesting boxes at night and have done fine without any extra heat, even when we dropped down to 18*/feels like 5* a couple of nights ago. They have power in numbers though, if you only have a few chicks they might still need heat. If you put them out during the day and watch them, you'll be able to tell if they are ready or not. From what I've read on the forum, even during the extreme cold, air tight isn't the best because it will promote frostbite. Again, as with most things chickens, it seems to be a numbers game, if you have just a few in a large coop it should be fine.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I am so glad you were able to warm them up. Have you heard of putting marbles in the water bowl? I did that when my chicks hatched and they never got wet. Keep us posted on how they are doing.

CUTE!!!

Lisa

They are good this morning in spite of everything. Marbles wouldn't have helped--they were sleeping in a pile beside the waterer and some ended up on top of the waterer and in the dish of fermented feed, and just wicked the water up. The waterer wasn't even tipped over and they were soaked. I'm putting them back on wire today so there is no chance of water wetting their bedding and I'll make sure the waterer is nowhere near the corner where they like to sleep away from the heat.

They have decided that they don't need any extra heat and have been sleeping away from the brooder so last night I raised the brooder up to the highest setting--maybe they thought it was too hot for them. I plugged it back in but didn't think to check that the light was on.... Yup, somehow I didn't make the electrical connection and the brooder was stone cold this morning. I feel like I'm in a "Final Destination" movie, with Fate decreeing that my chicks should die from chilling.

I sure love that Brinsea brooder. They seem to have hardened themselves off the supplemental heat really quickly. The room they were in is really cold at night and even with no heat, they are happy and running around this morning, even the two that got really chilled. They are only 17/18 days old.

 

[Brookshire11]

I'm getting a 12'x12' chain link pen ("dog kennel") on Saturday!
It might not look as crisp and tidy, but 144sq feet should be enough for my 5 large birds and 2 banties lol
And if I got more, I shouldn't have to expand it!
Besides adding cover/a roof, how should I modify it for a run?
My backyard is enclosed by a 6' wooden fence. And I don't think foxes or bobcats are a problem here. As you can see from Ms. Jellybean's pictures though, we DO have some hawks.
I HAVE seen a coyote (one!)...just walking down the street. I've never had an issue with one, but is it possible the chickens would attract them enough to where they'd dig or climb into my backyard?

 

[TexasLisa]

hello all, been in the forums for awhile, but mostly to get ideas on coop design ect for this climate. I am originally from Michigan (Voted with my feet 6 yrs ago and moved here to texas). Up north had good idea on how long to brood chicks for release to outdoors. Which in michigan was end of april, beginning of may.

But with the wild swing here in temps (For west central texas, Concho Valley area) wondering when i can put my chicks out into the coop from my indoor brooder. They are just about feathered out, I got heat out in the coop, right now it is buttoned up pretty tight for cold drafts. And all sorts of vents to open when summer oven temps hit! My run is completely wired off so no threat of avian predators getting my young birds.

Do y'all think about time to throw them out into the coop with a heat source?????

Welcome from Rosenberg! What kind of chicks do you have?

Lisa

 

[jajeanpierre]

So sorry to hear of your loss. Love my Ams. They are such sweet birds. Chin up.

Sweet is not what I would call my Ameraucanas! They are tough birds and really good foragers. Very responsive to any predator alarm call from my parrots or the neighbor's peacocks, geese or roosters. Every cockerel I've had so far has been on the aggressive side around people. The one I have left is just avoiding freezer camp because I don't have another cockerel to replace him and I want some chicks from him.

 

[TexasLisa]

I'm getting a 12'x12' chain link pen ("dog kennel") on Saturday!
It might not look as crisp and tidy, but 144sq feet should be enough for my 5 large birds and 2 banties lol
And if I got more, I shouldn't have to expand it!
Besides adding cover/a roof, how should I modify it for a run?
My backyard is enclosed by a 6' wooden fence. And I don't think foxes or bobcats are a problem here. As you can see from Ms. Jellybean's pictures though, we DO have some hawks.
I HAVE seen a coyote (one!)...just walking down the street. I've never had an issue with one, but is it possible the chickens would attract them enough to where they'd dig or climb into my backyard?

Have you considered putting an electric fence around the bottom of your run?

Lisa