Texas

[TammyTX]

Hi yall im from Crawford Texas i have 8 pet quail a bunch of chickens and 4 ducks. i see someones from Elgin my hometown ! yalls post are halarious

Elgin here! We have an Elgin address but we are not in Elgin, proper...about 12 miles south.

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Ren2014]

Is it necessary to have a pond in order to have ducks? I love ducks. Just the basic white duck nothin fancy. But I would want them to be happy and healthy.

Pond not necessary. My ducks can attest to this I have been trying to transition our ducklings from the back yard to our pond. They want nothing to do with it As a matter of fact they practically beat me back to the house

It's only necessary to have enough water to dip their heads under so they can eat, wash their nostrils and eyes.

 

[TammyTX]

Good afternoon Texas!!!

I have a question for y'all.

Do any of you get birds based on their heat tolerance? I am near Crockett in East Tx and it gets very hot. I am about 1/3rd finished with my coop/run. It is 10X25 and will be roofed with left over barn roofing. 1/2 inch hardware cloth all around. I also will be using heavy duty tarps on all sides except the southeast, so they will provide shade also. I will also be using electric poultry netting to allow the birds to range too!

Appreciate all the help!!!!

David

Look toward the lighter Mediterranean breeds for heat tolerance.

I'm in South Central Texas and even my Cochin does okay.

 

[Heidisgran]

Ohhhhhh! I want this coop. Too cute. I may have to build this one for my silkies. I found the picture in my new Chicken Gardens book.

that is adorable

 

[Heidisgran]

oh fancy meeting you here TammyTX hehe

 

[kenmlang]

I just got a text from an Iraq War vet. He wants me to build him a coop, but doesn't have much money. The coop he wants costs $500.00. I am doing it virtually at cost, and what he doesn't know is, I am throwing in 6 or 7 birds with the deal. The question I am asking is this, our "all knowing government is CUTTING the budget for the people who VOLUNTEER to go into harms way to protect us. These people have been shot at, mined, bombed, and who knows what else. I am trying to start a movement to supply these patriots a way to transition back to civilian life with very little stress. All of you know that raising chickens is very therapuetic. Some of these people come home with problems, that make it hard to return to civilian life. What do you say we help them. I am willing to give everything I have to help them. Let's start something in Texas, please give me your thoughts.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

Welcome, from Cut-N-Shoot, TX. We are about 40 miles north of Houston.

Howdy from new waverly! Just a bit north of you

Hi folks...an FYI... I may be putting this up a bit early but thought I would mention it for thought...We have an aquaintance thru our folks church that will be selling his chickens.  He has 3 kids that are all in agg and they each raised 100 chickens.  The fair is this weekend and after they will be for sale.  I was told they are barred rock.  These are laying age hens.  Don't know how much he will want for them.  Anyway Mom is going to call him tonight to get varified info.  I live about 5 miles north of Willis so if anyone might be interested I'm sure we can work out transfer.  Anyway I will know more tomorrow so will post again when I do. Thanks Magpie

Would definately like to know more when u do...wouldnt minf grabbing a couple layers

 

[SlipsWife]

Good afternoon Texas!!!

I have a question for y'all.

Do any of you get birds based on their heat tolerance? I am near Crockett in East Tx and it gets very hot. I am about 1/3rd finished with my coop/run. It is 10X25 and will be roofed with left over barn roofing. 1/2 inch hardware cloth all around. I also will be using heavy duty tarps on all sides except the southeast, so they will provide shade also. I will also be using electric poultry netting to allow the birds to range too!

Appreciate all the help!!!!

David

We are in Odessa, so hot but dry. My suggestion from research is to make sure you have ventilation in the winter to help protect from frost bite.

Onto the fun stuff...chickens...

We have red sex links, turkens (naked necks), Plymouth rocks, a bantam frizzled cochin and a bantam EE. All of our girls did great last year in the heat and all winter. Turkens are bred for hot climates and they did great, but I can't say they did any better than the other breeds. Our run and coop do have a lot shade and ventilation, which helps. During the hottest part of the summer they roosted out in the run, they roost in the coop when its cold. We also had Polish, Spitz, Buttercup, Jersey Giants and some others I can't recall off of the top of my head and they all did great too.

During the hottest days we would go out and spray the ground/coop to help cool things off. We were going to put in misters to help keep things cool but it was easy enough for us to just go out and spray. Our pecan trees also have a drip system, well, more of a spray every which way system since our dog likes to eat the sprayer tops, and we turn that on if it gets really hot also to help cool things down. We try to let them free range whenever possible but its usually limited to a few hours a day.

Shade is a must but make sure you aren't blocking wind too. Our original run was 10x30 (we are using a 10x10 section for a grow out pen right now) and we put a shade top for dog kennels up and it worked like a charm. It did collect a little snow this winter but it was pretty easy to knock the snow off. We could have removed it but it held together well enough we didn't feel the need to.

Practice 'escorting' your group into the coop/run from free ranging a few times BEFORE you are in a hurry trying to put them up. For a week or so before letting them out to free range, have them associate a special bucket with treats and either shake it or use a short phrase, we just repeat the word chick, to get their attention. Then when its time to put them up, all you have to do is grab the container, get their attention with the noise and they will follow you in. Trust me, herding chickens is NOT fun...herding chickens in a hurry, not fun...herding chickens in a freezing down pour because they can't figure out how to get back around to their coop/run and you are by yourself and they keep running the wrong way from you and you weren't the one that let them out but you're the only one around...you guessed it...NOT FUN!

 

[hensfortherapy]

It's funny how you think things are going to go one way and then they don't.  I should be used to that by now since that always happens with me.  I still get frustrated over it though....

What am I talking about?  The breeds of chicks I want to get.  grrrrr!!!!!!

My plan for breeds I"m getting is changing by the minute right now.  I think it is settling down though.

I'm getting silkies and a cream legbar from the breeder in Farmersville, a Delaware from the feed store (in May), I can get a BA from the feed store too at the same time if they still have them,  and BCM's from a guy in TN (from on here).  I'll be getting 3 of them, but really only want one.  I can sell the extras, or keep them.   I'm still looking for a buckeye.  Hoping the feed store can get one for me. 

I wonder if I should just get them all from MPC...  I think I will end up paying about the same. I could get them about the same time....  Of course sourcing them from breeders is better, even if some are coming from the feed store.

My mind is spinning.  Need to take a step back here and regroup.

MsJellybean I can not wait for you to get chickens. You will have your favorites and it will probably not be because of the breed. Hens have personalities. I can't wait for you to bond with your babies.

 

[Cockle-Dood]

MsJellybean I can not wait for you to get chickens. You will have your favorites and it will probably not be because of the breed. Hens have personalities. I can't wait for you to bond with your babies.

So true!! I spent good money on some birds and it seemed like it was the ones i ended up with "just cuz" were my faves!