Texas

[winteree]

Well after several weeks of crap from my parents I finally got to the home depot and got my materials to put a next box on my anaconda duck coop. It not pretty right now but after I paint every thing and add the siding it will look awesome

Out side look

Outside again

Inside again

 

[ChicKat]

Anyone with the broody experience? Im thinking of using the bait and switch, where I just stick a chick under her at night...
She's sitting on absolutely nothing. Lol. And no rooster so the eggs aren't fertilized anyway..
I dont want to spend too much on eggs..since I dont have room for many more, and this is both of our first times.

Yes, I have taken an incubator hatched chick and placed it under a broody hen. The hen had sat for 21 days or had hatched a few of her own due on that same day -- and at night the switch went smoothly.


It can be tricky though. -- Someplace the theory that the hen changes hormones during the length of incubation - and is ready to care for chicks after 21 days.

A lot depends upon the particular hen.

 

[RustedOak]

Are there any Central Texas peeps here that are gardeners? I'm an absolute newbie about to start building raised beds with sheet mulching and was wondering if it's too late to get a fall planting in? If not, what are good veggies to get planted for our climate? If I'm too late, I guess the beds will be ready for Spring...

 

[needlessjunk]

Are there any Central Texas peeps here that are gardeners? I'm an absolute newbie about to start building raised beds with sheet mulching and was wondering if it's too late to get a fall planting in? If not, what are good veggies to get planted for our climate? If I'm too late, I guess the beds will be ready for Spring...

I have a garden but I'm still getting spring produce so I decided to not try a fall garden. You could always try a few plants and see how they do. I have also learned to start small and next year I will expand. This was my first year and I made a few mistakes.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Anyone with the broody experience? Im thinking of using the bait and switch, where I just stick a chick under her at night...
She's sitting on absolutely nothing. Lol. And no rooster so the eggs aren't fertilized anyway..
I dont want to spend too much on eggs..since I dont have room for many more, and this is both of our first times.

I have slipped 1 to 3 day old chicks under 3 different broody hens and was successful each time. I wait about an hour after they have gone to roost. My broody hens always sleep on the nest. Good luck. I put 2 chicks with the first two hens and then the last hen got 3.

 

[ChicKat]

Are there any Central Texas peeps here that are gardeners? I'm an absolute newbie about to start building raised beds with sheet mulching and was wondering if it's too late to get a fall planting in? If not, what are good veggies to get planted for our climate? If I'm too late, I guess the beds will be ready for Spring...

East TX here -- and new to the game..but I think you could sure try some cold-weather crops - like cabbage, brocolli, and chard. If you can find Bok Choi and you like stir-fry -- You may even get Spinach. Strangely the seed packets Sept to Feb. as planting times for most of the seeds I have sitting here --- and I always think of them in spring - so they go back on the shelf. LOL -- WalMart, Lowe's have plants out now - so some folks are sure planting up winter gardens. IF you have a good garden store nearby - drop in and ask and grab a six- or 8-pack of something - You will be glad you did...and they can give advice. IN San Antonio-- there is a garden center Fanick's -- great people, family business and they have Choi..... '

for everyone reading this--- plant your Wildflower seeds - between September and Thanksgiving - now is a good time -- to see a spring bloom - !!

 

[RustedOak]

I have 4 BR's that were housed in an a-frame chicken tractor and I decided to double my flock with 2 SLW's and 2 EE's I found on CL. I housed the new girls in a make shift run while I was building a sizable open air hoop coop. I integrated the two flocks into their new home at dusk one evening. The BR's and SLW's worked out their pecking order fairly quickly. However, my EE's have been absolutely terrorized since the move. Poor babies have spent their days snatching crumbs and running away from the bigger girls. They're all close in age but the EE's are small framed while the rest are heavy bodied birds. They just didnt have a fighting chance. I thought it was typical pecking order stuff but three weeks later, they're still getting bullied. The lowest girl has scabs on her comb and almost no saddle feathers. I finally broke down yesterday and moved the 2 EE's into the tractor that used to house the BR's. There is plenty of room in coop/run, ample food and water. I just don't get it.... Worse part is, after the move, we haven't gotten a single egg. Uuuugh

 

[Bazy]

Quote:
Dallas area here, and YES, YES, YES!! Plant it full, every square inch. Leaf lettuce, you can harvest individual leaves as it matures and then whole plants when it's larger. It will grow most of the winter and sometimes unitl spring if it doesn't get too cold. will survive light freezes..sometimes moderate. The light green leafy stuff is best for us because the darker tends to be bitter. Onion sets. start them too close together and pull up the shoots for green onions when there are five leaves or so..leave the rest in the ground. (plant them about three inches deep or more for the best bulbs) Plant two rows and you will wish you planted four. Broccoli..will survive mild freezes, and can survive hard freezes with minimal protection. (hard freezes for north texas anyway) Cilantro, yes, cilantro will THRIVE in cold weather, and even survive freezing temperatures. Garlic will grow all winter and be ready to harvest late spring. Look up online how to dry your onions and garlic for months of use... Brussels sprouts. If you like them, you could live off them all winter. Very cold hardy. Cabbage, Cauliflower, These are just what I grow and like, I'm sure there are more. The problem with winter gardens is they are often neglected. The cold here is so mean! Wind that goes to your bones...but if you can pull weeds and throw a little water and fertilizer on it, you will NOT be sorry!

 

[Bazy]

Quote:
I had to separate them like that, but my cure wont work for everybody. I introduced a rooster and now if a hen cries because she is being picked on, the rooster breaks it up. It's a sight to see! I imagine the move has all the chickens on edge. That's why they are not laying, I'll bet. If it were my problem, I would keep them apart until all wounds are healed,and the big girls are laying again and in the meantime, spoil the EE to build their confidence. If that still didn't work, I would separate the queen and her princess (top hen and hen #2) into the old coop and let the EE out until there is peace in the big yard, then let top hen one and two back out.

 

[RustedOak]

Quote: Thanks. I thought I had missed the boat! I'll start on my beds this afternoon!