Texas

[ChicKat]

Chickens do sometimes die for reasons that we cannot fathom. Sorry for your loss. The only real way to know 'cause of death' is to have a Necropsy done. Tehy cost quite a bit. There are TXC A&M diagnostic labs in Gonzales and Center and College Station I think. Here is the link:
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/

Your chicken with the beak problem. I think that perhaps a beak continues to grow - If it isn't too bad, perhaps she will eventually regrow her beak. In the meantime, I would keep her away from the other chickens -- make her a pet if that suits your style, her own little playpen/outdoor run and a pet carrier at night or a rabbit hutch or something. Basically I would keep her away from the flock so they don't beat up on her. (Chickens will kill off the 'weak ones'.

It will be a challenge to reintroduce her -- however, if you do it gradually with one other flock member in a buddy stystem, you should be able to accomplish it. JMO

Good luck!

 

[newchickjess]

Chickens do sometimes die for reasons that we cannot fathom. Sorry for your loss. The only real way to know 'cause of death' is to have a Necropsy done. Tehy cost quite a bit. There are TXC A&M diagnostic labs in Gonzales and Center and College Station I think. Here is the link:
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/

Your chicken with the beak problem. I think that perhaps a beak continues to grow - If it isn't too bad, perhaps she will eventually regrow her beak. In the meantime, I would keep her away from the other chickens -- make her a pet if that suits your style, her own little playpen/outdoor run and a pet carrier at night or a rabbit hutch or something. Basically I would keep her away from the flock so they don't beat up on her. (Chickens will kill off the 'weak ones'.

It will be a challenge to reintroduce her -- however, if you do it gradually with one other flock member in a buddy stystem, you should be able to accomplish it. JMO

Good luck!

Thank you for your condolences on our Tillie. It was hard to accept but we gave her a proper burial.
Thanks for the advice! Honestly ALL of our hens are pets to us so we may just do that for her. I'm keeping a close eye on her and have been mixing a little pumpkin puree with her food to make a soft mash and she loves it!

 

[ChicKat]

Thank you for your condolences on our Tillie. It was hard to accept but we gave her a proper burial.
Thanks for the advice! Honestly ALL of our hens are pets to us so we may just do that for her. I'm keeping a close eye on her and have been mixing a little pumpkin puree with her food to make a soft mash and she loves it!

Sounds like she is in good hands! Perhaps on BYC or the internet there is something about beak regrowth. A friend of mine used glue on a rooster beak - and the rooster did go on to live for some time after the 'operation'.

 

[JMoriarty111012]

I need your help. I've heard that to sell coturnix quail and their eggs, I have to have my flock PT tested. Is this correct? How do I go about doing that?

 

[Kiki]

From my understanding these are the people who do the testing in Texas.
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/testing/texas-pullorum-typhoid-program/

 

[Hbohm74]

Hey Y'all!

Does anyone have luck in Central Texas planting nutritious grasses or grains for their chickens to pasture in? If so, what type? Is your area complete sun or does it also have shade?

I want to plant some in my backyard for when I let me chickens free range for an hour each day. My backyard gets a good amount of shade, especially in the summer when the trees have their leaves. Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

-Hannah

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Hey Y'all!

Does anyone have luck in Central Texas planting nutritious grasses or grains for their chickens to pasture in? If so, what type? Is your area complete sun or does it also have shade?

I want to plant some in my backyard for when I let me chickens free range for an hour each day. My backyard gets a good amount of shade, especially in the summer when the trees have their leaves. Thanks in advance for the suggestions!

-Hannah

Interesting that you should ask this - I am redoing my paddocks and doing some replanting this year, and just last week I made a trip to my local seed merchant (Douglass King Seeds in San Antonio) and had a long discussion with them. We settled on a short native grass mix (expensive, but perennial), combined with smaller proportions of clover and millet. (The millet will be an annual)

- Ant Farm

 

[Kiki]

Interesting that you should ask this - I am redoing my paddocks and doing some replanting this year, and just last week I made a trip to my local seed merchant (Douglass King Seeds in San Antonio) and had a long discussion with them. We settled on a short native grass mix (expensive, but perennial), combined with smaller proportions of clover and millet. (The millet will be an annual)

- Ant Farm

Do you know which type of clover?
Ive been reading about clover and there are so many types...
I thought the wood sorrel in my yard WAS clover til recently.
I currently have white clover growing.

 

[ChicKat]

Do you know which type of clover?
Ive been reading about clover and there are so many types...
I thought the wood sorrel in my yard WAS clover til recently.
I currently have white clover growing.

Last year I just got some wood sorrel, I love the stuff. It was in a friends yard and I asked for some, so he dug up a couple of pots for me. I put it in the base of some of my potted trees, and planted some in the ground. I do tear off handfulls and throw that in the pens.

Although it is expensive, I have been buying mini clover - on Amazon -- One reason is because it tops out at 6" I think. so 6" and I wouldn't bother to even mow that. When I move portable "tractors" (actually Eglus with runs) around the yard, I seed the bare spot left behind with mini clover. For even MORE money one could buy micro clover which I think tops out at 4" or so. It is more mounded than golf-links grass growth pattern, which is fine with me.

Your white clover is probably a really good solution.
Sometmes I ask myself when I am seeding it out -- how smart to put down such expensive seed for chickens to destroy in a future rotation..... but I just started this process -- so I don't know how it will end.

 

[Msbrickann]

Hi, i'm Brick Ann Wilburn outside Stockdale. New here. Love the site.