Texas

[Brookshire11]

Hello Texas poultry people! My family is ready to move, but we have no place to move to. We want to stay in Texas, and we definitely want a place with land. We want more ducks(currently have three), some chickens, guineas, and cattle. Where would be a good area to look? We also want to slowly add goats, sheep, and horses, so we definitely need something with a lot of land. But, we really need something that's fairly cheap at first, just so we can hurry and get out of the house we're in now.

In the meantime, could anyone in Texas give me prices for Welsh Harlequin ducklings? And also where you live.

Where are you at now?

I know Dallas suburbs are pretty fairly priced. A little north of me, Anna and Van Alstyne still have plenty of room, and Anna is pretty cheap. I'm sure Van Alstyne is too. My mother in law lives up there and has a few acres. I know there are other areas all over though too.
I used to live in a few different Houston suburbs but nothing I could recommend with having animals.

Also @LightningTFarm might be a good source for info on the Welsh Harlequins.

 

[magpiesing]

That's not all of them either. The BA pullets, and month old goslings don't come till After the older birds eat! At last count we have 32 chickens, 8 geese, and 7 ducks. 4 of our ducks are less than a week old and in the nursery with our injured female black crested duck Ebony. They get breakfast served in there. I made sure to raise the geese and chickens together, so they would get along. They were separated into their separate coops a few weeks ago.

That's a handful...no doubt. Glad that Ebony is doing well and is happy with her "babies"!! We have 38...all chickens...11 are teenagers and 7 chicks that are 2 wks old. The rest are all adult or nearly so (3 are 5 mths now, one being a roo

) still looking for that first egg from the 2 girls.

 

[Starfire669]

That's a handful...no doubt.   Glad that Ebony is doing well and is happy with her "babies"!!  We have 38...all chickens...11 are teenagers and 7 chicks that are 2 wks old.  The rest are all adult or nearly so (3 are 5 mths now, one being a roo   ) still looking for that first egg from the 2 girls.

We have 4 cockerels scheduled for freezer camp this weekend. They are younger than hoped, but I can't have them beating up the ladies. I don't have a bachelor pen yet, so off they go. My oldest chickens and geese are 14 weeks now. So they are still young, we have a while to go before we get our first egg. But that's ok.

 

[magpiesing]

Im glad no one was hurt. Hope you can keep the dogs where they and the livestock are safe.

Yes, me too. They wouldn't know what to think of the horse if they ever got close...they act big and bad but are both "pusses". I have a yellow lab that is afraid of water! And all you have to do is yell at my boxer mix and she's on the ground trying to bury her head. Although I don't think anyone would try to come IN our house, they sound fierocious! We turned the fence off several mths ago, will need to rewire part of it but it's time to do so. I can't leave them outside when we leave and they don't like being in the house when it's nice outside.

 

[Starfire669]

Yes, me too.  They wouldn't know what to think of the horse if they ever got close...they act big and bad but are both "pusses".  I have a yellow lab that is afraid of water!  And all you have to do is yell at my boxer mix and she's on the ground trying to bury her head.  Although I don't think anyone would try to come IN our house, they sound fierocious!  We turned the fence off several mths ago, will need to rewire part of it but it's time to do so.  I can't leave them outside when we leave and they don't like being in the house when it's nice outside.

Nobody wants to be inside when it's nice out, lol. But keeping them contained is important. All kinds of dangers from cars to guns.

Btw, did you see the pic of my BR's eye? Do you think she will be able to see out of it again or is it too badly damaged?

 

[magpiesing]

Not getting anything done in front of this computer. Was busy weekend programs at church saturday and sunday, so slow to get going. Have a coop to clean and trip to town for shavings and feed. Have a good day!

 

[magpiesing]

Nobody wants to be inside when it's nice out, lol. But keeping them contained is important. All kinds of dangers from cars to guns.

Btw, did you see the pic of my BR's eye? Do you think she will be able to see out of it again or is it too badly damaged?

It's hard to say...it looks like the injury is more to the edge of the eye. I think you can put neosporin on an eye injury. You may have done that already...I used it on a chick some time back. Didn't help it's problem (it had mycoplasma) anyway it didn't hurt it either! Have you tried to open it and see if the eye itself is ok?

 

[Starfire669]

It's hard to say...it looks like the injury is more to the edge of the eye.  I think you can put neosporin on an eye injury.  You may have done that already...I used it on a chick some time back.  Didn't help it's problem (it had mycoplasma) anyway it didn't hurt it either!  Have you tried to open it and see if the eye itself is ok?

No, I am worried about injuring her worse if she struggles. From what I can see of the eye, it looks opaque, not like a healthy looking eye. So there is some damage to it. I just don't know if the eye was scratched or poked.

 

[magpiesing]

No, I am worried about injuring her worse if she struggles. From what I can see of the eye, it looks opaque, not like a healthy looking eye. So there is some damage to it. I just don't know if the eye was scratched or poked.

Oh, ok...so she does open it? If it's scratched it may heal...but If she got pecked it may have damaged the eyeball itself. Do chickens have a nictating membrane (secondary inner lid) like other animals or only one? I don't know?? I guess just keep treating it and see what happens. If it's any consolation...we have two hens that are one eye blind or nearly so from old injuries and they get along just fine like normal chickens. I hope for the best for her.

 

[ClovisMan]

Hello my fellow Texas Chicken affectionados! Figured I'd check in since a been a week or so. My building is almost complete. Need to door hardware and to get the roll-up doors installed and the shell will be done. I plan to epoxy the floors and have gutters hung to empty into some rain catchment barrels and the shell will be complete. Still have a long way to go to finish out the casita half of the building. Also need more fill and exterior landscaping.

Today my dear labrador retriever Django, went under the knife to remove his manhood. I feel for the guy I really do, but he was starting to hike his leg in the house generally harassing the girls to the point that it was annoying. Hopefully this will calm him down some. He gets to wear the cone of shame for a while. I will post pictures...LOL!

My SLW's are 16 weeks old today they are getting very close to laying. Starting to get excited! Anyone ever have a hen that just didn't lay? I'm afraid I will have to cull any that cannot produce, so hopefully they will be prolific layers.