Texas

[winteree]

I plan on putting up clear plastic shower curtains on the West side of my coop and one over the open top of the nest boxes. They can handle the Texas cold, just need to keep the wind off of them.

yeah i was going to put removeable ply wood walls over the chicken wire in the end of the coop here their roosting poles are

 

[henless]

Hello everyone, my name is Kyle. I'm new to keeping chickens, got my girls about 15 weeks ago. 2 of each, BB,BO, and NHR. Added a trio if LB about 6 weeks ago. Not sure of the age of the LB. 9 birds 1 too. My 6 are in a 9×14 ft. coop with a 10×10 covered run. My LB trio are in a 4×6 ft. coop with a 6×12 ft. covered run. We live on almost 5 acres about a hour north of Houston.

Welcome to byc!

This is my first year with chickens, and I'm loving it!

Miss Priss loves her dirt baths.

I love to watch them take a bath. They look like they are having spasms!



Seems like I've had a round of fowl pox go through my flock. That is what it looks like at least. Black scabs on the combs/waddles. Some have it more than others. None have covered their eyes or gone down their throat so far. Laying is off a bit, I get 7 to 10 eggs a day now.

I do NOT like the time change. By the time I get home it's almost dark and no time for them to eat their scratch before roost time. I've switched the scratch to morning time, to give them time to find it all.

 

[hensfortherapy]

Rainy days the girls love the back porch.

 

[magpiesing]

Hello fellow peeper keepers Welcme to all the new folks. Greywolf...we are nearly neighbors. We are 4 miles north of Willis. Good looking birds you have!
Been crazy busy...putting in new cupboards where our old fire place was. DH has been rebuilding the engine in our little Toyota truck...it died a couple of weeks ago...281K miles on it. No major damage just alot of wear and grundge in it.

Processed our first two birds Saturday. The two worst of our roos...still have seven more. Going to take two or three more next week after the rain is over. DH dispatched them and I did the rest. Kinda proud of myself...didn't get squimish at all. Took me almost an hour to do each one. But then by the time we did the deed it was more about keeping peace and relief for my hens than missing the bully boys. Been alot quieter in the henhouse too.
It was the last straw when they tried to gang jump my little bantam hens. They are my best brooders. It got so bad that the 4 bantams and two of my big girls wouldn't even go out in the yard. I had to take them and put them in my garden just so they could have some outside time.

Going to keep the SLW roo, Pharaoh, since we have 3 SLW hens for him. Of course will keep Abraham. He was first and came with his ladies. He may be a stinker to me but is a really protective roo. Issac, the brown leghorn will stay for now unless he gets too rough. He is so handsome and DH likes him. Have an Aussie roo...was suppose to be a hen...oh well.
He can stay with his hen...for now.
Got the plastic up over the wire for winter...still rolling it up when it's nice. Looking into getting a propane heater or wood burning stove for the chicken house for when it's really cold.
Still getting some eggs...between the moult and stress from too many roos...not getting but 4-6 a day from 18 hens. I think they are laying every few days because the eggs are always different...
BTW...what color are SLW eggs? Getting several medium size white eggs...only have two hens that would lay smaller white eggs...
Anyway...y'all take care and get ready...they say winter is gonna be a bit rough this year. Magpie

 

[magpiesing]

That is Lance and his two girls. I'm hoping they will give us some chicks in the spring. I'm going ng to add one hen to his coop.

Beautiful birds...what are they???
We have alot of different birds but none like those...can't let my hubby see them or he would want some for sure!

 

[magpiesing]

I plan on putting up clear plastic shower curtains on the West side of my coop and one over the open top of the nest boxes. They can handle the Texas cold, just need to keep the wind off of them.

That's a great idea...we just put up visqueen poly...it does the job but it's opaque white...would be nice to have clear so everybody could see out (and we could see in) and it would be heavy enough plastic plus it has gromets to hang it with! Thanks lady!

 

[henless]

Processed our first two birds Saturday. The two worst of our roos...still have seven more. Going to take two or three more next week after the rain is over. DH dispatched them and I did the rest. Kinda proud of myself...didn't get squimish at all. Took me almost an hour to do each one. But then by the time we did the deed it was more about keeping peace and relief for my hens than missing the bully boys. Been alot quieter in the henhouse too.
It was the last straw when they tried to gang jump my little bantam hens. They are my best brooders. It got so bad that the 4 bantams and two of my big girls wouldn't even go out in the yard. I had to take them and put them in my garden just so they could have some outside time.


BTW...what color are SLW eggs? Getting several medium size white eggs...only have two hens that would lay smaller white eggs...
Anyway...y'all take care and get ready...they say winter is gonna be a bit rough this year. Magpie

SLW lay brown eggs. Some of mine are speckled at times, but I think that is just too much pigment coming out on the eggs at once.

That's a great idea...we just put up visqueen poly...it does the job but it's opaque white...would be nice to have clear so everybody could see out (and we could see in) and it would be heavy enough plastic plus it has gromets to hang it with! Thanks lady!

I haven't gotten mine put up yet. Still waiting for it to get more wintery, lol. I do plan on using screws and washers to put it up though, to help keep it from tearing. I got the heavy duty shower curtains. I would like to use tarps, but I don't know if/where you can get clear ones.

My hens got left over chili tonight for their treat. They seem to like getting their scratch in the mornings, gives them more time to dig up the coop looking for the grain. I know I won't feed mine fish any more. I fed them canned mackerel one time, and the other day some left over baked catfish. Talk about some nasty eggs!

I thought I was going to hurl!!! The first time the eggs tasted just like mackerel, and the second time I could swear I could taste the lemon pepper seasoning I had on the catfish.

 

[needlessjunk]

SLW lay brown eggs. Some of mine are speckled at times, but I think that is just too much pigment coming out on the eggs at once. 

I haven't gotten mine put up yet. Still waiting for it to get more wintery, lol. I do plan on using screws and washers to put it up though, to help keep it from tearing. I got the heavy duty shower curtains. I would like to use tarps, but I don't know if/where you can get clear ones. 

My hens got left over chili tonight for their treat. They seem to like getting their scratch in the  mornings, gives them more time to dig up the coop looking for the grain. I know I won't feed mine fish any more. I fed them canned mackerel one time, and the other day some left over baked catfish. Talk about some nasty eggs!        I thought I was going to hurl!!! The first time the eggs tasted just like mackerel, and the second time I could swear I could taste the lemon pepper seasoning I had on the catfish. 

Yuck! I will keep that in mind... I wonder if it's true for ducks too? I feed mine feeder fish a few times a month. I did give my guys some leftover chicken and they wouldn't touch it. Go figure.

 

[wday]

Ok my texas chicken family. I have been searching for some jubilee orps with not much success on a local source. I'm in cleveland,tx. Anyone who knows anyone close to me with any they are wanting to sell or trade plz let me know. Thank you

 

[Bazy]

Ok my texas chicken family. I have been searching for some jubilee orps with not much success on a local source. I'm in cleveland,tx. Anyone who knows anyone close to me with any they are wanting to sell or trade plz let me know. Thank you

I know a lady in Simms that sells jubilee hatching eggs. NPIP, and beautiful birds, beautiful farm. I got mottles from her and 8 of 9 hatched. She does not sell birds though. PM me if you want her contact info. there are people who will hatch eggs for you if you are interested in going that route. Pickup is best, but she does ship too.