Texas

[TexasLisa]

Well, DH starts his trip home this evening and I CAN'T WAIT. It's been the longest 2 weeks for some reason. My baby is home today sick. I took his to the dr last Thursday and she said allergies and didn't give us anything.... Doctors!! Well, he now has it in his chest, and this throat is raw. Why wont they just listen.... I knew this was going to happen. I have only been his mom for o'....... 18 years!!

Ya'll have a great day! The forecast isn't looking so good for this week around here knowing the work I have ahead of me and DH. Got to do some praying about that one. LOL

I am praying your DH has a safe trip home. If we don't hear from you in the next couple of weeks, we will understand why!! I am also praying your son gets better!

Lisa

 

[jajeanpierre]

Ok that's what I needed to know.... so I am looking at......400 sq I think in my run so I guess that should be good for 23 birds..... I just looks small. Made when we get it all wired up and fixed it will look bigger. Kind of like a house slab before any walls go up.

That's a lot of chickens in a pretty small space. Do they get out to free range? I have a pen going up that is 24 feet x 8 feet. It will house four or five bantam Cochins. The more you crowd them, the more problems with aggression. I had a flock of 9 feather-footed bantams (8 Silkies, 1 Cochin). 1 bantam Plymouth Rock and 4 large fowl Polish pullets in a pen about 1000 square feet. They were a big enough load on the pasture to do damage and I moved them to my back yard for the winter to allow it to recover.

 

[A1momof3]

That's a lot of chickens in a pretty small space.  Do they get out to free range?  I have a pen going up that is 24 feet x 8 feet.  It will house four or five bantam Cochins.  The more you crowd them, the more problems with aggression.  I had a flock of 9 feather-footed bantams (8 Silkies, 1 Cochin). 1 bantam Plymouth Rock and 4 large fowl Polish pullets in a pen about 1000 square feet.  They were a big enough load on the pasture to do damage and I moved them to my back yard for the winter to allow it to recover.

I thought the rule was 10sq feet per bird. It's 25 x 16 or 18 I can't remember. By the 10sq per chicken it would be 230sq. No there is no free ranging here. To much woods in the back yard. Now that's just their run the coop is about that size. So total with coop and pin it will be closer to 1000sqf.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

It has been a long time, it feels like months. I feel like I have been rode hard and put away wet for sure. I am not sure if I even posted that my mother passed on the 13 in her sleep. She was 97 years old, born with a heart defect, danced her way to a strong heart.

I have been at the ER about 8 times for uncontrolled nose bleeds. If you wish to see pics, I posted 3 in Family Album in my profile. Any thing that raises blood pressure, such as cleaning my refrigerator, or just getting up will start it going.

The day after my mother died I lost my billfold, with all ID, medical card and passport card. Fallowed by my IPad stolen out of my pick up. I realized I forgot it when I got to the store door. It takes longer to get to a store because my dog (service dog) is to pee before going inside anyplace. He just will not pee without checking out the right spot. By the time I got back it was gone.
Other then that my girls have been neglected. Feed and water only. I am hireling some help to put things right here, they deserve not to wait for me to get well. Next I have found a camper, should be getting it in a mid April. I may have my house rented. And I have started my design on a truck bed coop plus someone that is going to help me build it. I am unwilling to wait until my nose is no longer sending me to the ER. IT IS REALLY A BUMMER.

I have joined KOA & GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM, goal is shake down run for 2 weeks. Then rent out and go on the road. Just Ernie my dog, Lucy (RIR), Lisa (Partridge Barred Rock), Rosa (EE), and 2 checks (1 half leg bar & 1 Blue and rooster Lemon Cuckoo Marans) and I will be off for a 2 yr adventure.





THE OR is going to be re-homed to a good home.

So sorry you lost your mom. Hope you get better quick too. My son used to have random, really bad nose bleeds. I finally had his nose cauterized and he hasn't had any trouble for over 5 years now. I also learned this trick to get a bad nose bleed to stop. Take a piece of paper (about 2x3") fold it up and place it between your lip and upper gums (it will be just under your nose) and leave it there until the bleed ing stop. When we started doing this his nose bleeds went from 45 mins + to less than 20 minutes.

Yep, once again, ya'll make perfect since! It's on the list.

Ok that's what I needed to know.... so I am looking at......400 sq I think in my run so I guess that should be good for 23 birds..... I just looks small. Made when we get it all wired up and fixed it will look bigger. Kind of like a house slab before any walls go up.

I have opened it up and plan on reading it over breakfast! Thanks again for you help with the latch!

I can see why the girls were so impressed. Poor little guys... He's given them a complex!

I am so sorry for you lose. We lost my Father in Law 2 years ago and I still have a hard time some days. I hope your trip goes well.

Powdered eggs?? Ok I opened that one too to read a little later. The things we learn on BYC!


Well, DH starts his trip home this evening and I CAN'T WAIT. It's been the longest 2 weeks for some reason. My baby is home today sick. I took his to the dr last Thursday and she said allergies and didn't give us anything.... Doctors!! Well, he now has it in his chest, and this throat is raw. Why wont they just listen.... I knew this was going to happen. I have only been his mom for o'....... 18 years!!

Ya'll have a great day! The forecast isn't looking so good for this week around here knowing the work I have ahead of me and DH. Got to do some praying about that one. LOL

My allergies were on over drive last week and I had a sore throat from that. Never got into my chest though. My son had something that gave him a lot of congestion and a bad cough. HE got over it in about a week. Mucinex is great stuff.


I buy powdered egg whites for making meringue. They work great!
Why would you want to dehydrate lettuce???

I ran a a bunch of errands this morning, now I need to work. This day is running away fast! We have rain in the forecast for the next 3 days. I bought fertilizer and I am going to try and get it down after work tonight. It doesn't have to be watered in so if it doesn't rain I'm still good.

And on a more happy (?) note. I am leaning towards saying the heck with the budget and get chickens anyway. I really want them soooo badly. I will wait until May though. I need to recover (and see what April hits me with....).

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[harley1975]

I thought the rule was 10sq feet per bird. It's 25 x 16 or 18 I can't remember. By the 10sq per chicken it would be 230sq. No there is no free ranging here. To much woods in the back yard. Now that's just their run the coop is about that size. So total with coop and pin it will be closer to 1000sqf.

The rule is 4sq ft inside coop and 10sq ft run. Like you I will not be able to free range cause I live on a fram market road with so much traffic that I could not let them out even with a 4ft fence. With a 400sq ft run and 23 chickens that almost 2x the space. In time there will not be any grass left in the run. My plan is to pull grass or use the weed eater to cut it to put in the run from time to time. Also to use my small tiller to till the ground under in the run when it gets hard.

 

[tjo804]

I just finished reading an interesting article. See what ya'll think:

http://www.offthegridnews.com/2014/03/31/four-surprising-survival-foods-you-can-dehydrate/

Lisa

I Love it!

another reason to get a dehydrator!

 

[Brookshire11]

Hello fellow Texans,
I am looking for a few chicks that will be hatching this late Monday, March 31st or Tues. April 1ST. We have a silkie chick expected to hatch on March 31ST and it will need a few companions after hatching. After all of our precautions to keep our flock safe, we had a skunk tunnel 2 feet down and up into the coop. Our silkie rooster and hen were killed and we brought the hen's last egg to the incubator. We now have 2 new coops that have metal barriers that go down into the ground to prevent this from ever happening again. If you are in the Grapevine, Justin, Denton, Flowermound, Lewisville, Roanoake or Keller area and have a bantam or silkie "newbie" chick for purchase please let me know. Thanks so much.
Sincerely,
Deb

Like Ms. Jellybean said, check out that ranch. I think It's in Farmersville?

This is a great article to read if you are thinking about raising your own Meat.

BackYard Chickens › Learning Center Articles › The Emotional Side of Chicken Processing

They have other articles on processing and they are helpful as well.
Reading these is a good step to prepare yourself for this venture and to make a decision on how to take the first step in processing which is the kill.
You will need to have everything planned out and mentally accept these steps before you purchase the chicks.

It is also important to look into what kind of Meat bird you would like to raise

if you get broilers and then decide you do not wish to eat them, These birds will not live a long happy life as they were bread for short term to be raised only for meat. You buy the chicks that you will raise / eat each year.

Dual purpose birds offer the ability to maintain your own supply of meat and eggs you can hatch your *crop* by incubating them or let them do it for you.

I have made the decision myself to raise SLW and BR as Dual purpose. HOWEVER, my family is not there yet so I will most likely wait until next spring to ready them for the Circle of Life.

I will have to handle the processing by myself and I know this ahead of time so I am prepared not to wine about not having any help.

I am actually looking forward to tasting a chicken that is Fed good feed and yummy fresh foods. No steroids or antibiotics, No GMO's
I also think I might enjoy a Home Raised Turkey or Goose for the holidays.

Due to upbringing in the city, I have been considering this for 2 years and finally feel ready.
I did however forget that preparing myself was a selfish thing to do, my family is very attached to animals of all walks of life and the Chickens are loved dearly here!
So now it is time to involve them which will put this on hold again. If I had planned and prepared with them we would all be ready now.
I hope this helps at least one of you
Thanks!

Found this coop on Tyler Craigslist. It is in North Richland Hills. $200.00

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/grd/4398418854.html


Wish they had more pics of it. At least it does have ventilation up in the eaves, so that is an improvement over a lot of the smaller coops. Add longer legs to raise it up, be easier to clean out.


Another one in Douglasville. It's a TSC coop, origional cost 220.00, asking 150.00.

http://texarkana.craigslist.org/grd/4382692748.html

Totally jumped on that first one....

I've seen that second one in person. It is TINY and thin :/

Hi, everyone, just wanted to say hello to all my fellow Texans, I'm in Harlingen, which is between Mcallen and Brownsville in the Rio Grande Valley - WAY South! New to the boards and looking forward to getting to know y'all. We have a little flock of baby Bielefelders.

Okay, so the Chicken Run is free-standing now. I need to hang the door and install my other Chicken Water stick and they can officially utilize the run. The panels are held together with 3 inch door hinges with a removeable pin so I can take them apart fairly easy. (Thanks Harley!) It is 12x20 at the moment and when it gets moved, I'll stab in 2 more 12 foot panels so it will be 24x20. Should be plenty of space for the chickens I have now with room to spare for some...additions.

Looks great!

So what is ya'll s opinion on the amount of room in a run for chickens? For example, you have 25 chickens, what would be the smallest area they could have and what would be a Large area for them with out braking the bank?

I've heard a minimum of 10sq feet per bird as well.
My 6 large and 2 Silkies have 144 sq feet and I think it still seems kind of small...

Hmmm.... Seems we are a little late to the party on the chicken show idea. I've never seen on of the 'many' they refer to. I'm not a big TV watcher though.

Good thing we have a back up plan with the diner.


Edit: the article actually has pretty good info in it. I was impressed since a lot get it wrong.

 

[A1momof3]

The rule is 4sq ft inside coop and 10sq ft run. Like you I will not be able to free range cause I live on a fram market road with so much traffic that I could not let them out even with a 4ft fence. With a 400sq ft run and 23 chickens that almost 2x the space. In time there will not be any grass left in the run. My plan is to pull grass or use the weed eater to cut it to put in the run from time to time. Also to use my small tiller to till the ground under in the run when it gets hard.

We are clearing out a big area that is part of the woods that line the outside of our land, down from our barn. There are a number of trees that have to go and there isn't a lot of grass. There is this ground cover the last owner planted years ago I am sure and it has spread all over the place. I am going to do a lot of landscaping in and out of the run plus I am planning on planting, patches in the run with clover and flak seed mixes that are good for chickens. Of course I will have to block them off while they grow but I have come up with a system on paper I think will work to rotate areas. I am also thinking about a movable tunnel that they can run out in to other areas for foraging for food. A tunnel system that I put out for them when I will be out side and I can move where ever I want them. Not a permanent thing.
I found some good ideas on Pinterest and marked them on my coop file.
I had planned on a run twice that side, which would be the full size of the barn, but once cleared my DH decided that would be a great place to put his flat bottom boat into the barn.

Well, we will see about that!

Like Ms. Jellybean said, check out that ranch. I think It's in Farmersville?

Thanks!

Totally jumped on that first one....

I've seen that second one in person. It is TINY and thin :/

Looks great!

I've heard a minimum of 10sq feet per bird as well.
My 6 large and 2 Silkies have 144 sq feet and I think it still seems kind of small...

What's wrong girl, you don't have all day to sit down and read in detail every word we all share to each other and then give meaningful thought into each reply?? What gives lol

 

[henless]

The rule is 4sq ft inside coop and 10sq ft run. Like you I will not be able to free range cause I live on a fram market road with so much traffic that I could not let them out even with a 4ft fence.

That is what I have read here on BYC, but I think it's more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule. If you can give more space, that is always better. Also, I think it depends on what type of chickens you have. Some breeds do better penned up than others.

I would like to free range, but until we get the last pasture fence back up, and cross fence the back yard, I will have to keep mine penned up. I have 4 dogs to keep separate from my chickens. The one that I really worry about is Jack. He is a Jack Rat Terrier ( Jack Russell x Rat Terrier). He minds really well, but he sits there and quivers as he watches the chicks. He has a really strong prey drive. I usually get a rat, mole or some other varmint from him almost every day. He's better than a cat! So I have to make sure he doesn't have access to my chickens.

 

[Ms Jellybean]

I found someone that has olive eggers.....