Texas

[silkeysandra]

urban excapee, try this site. It's where we identified our Rat Snake--a beneficial snake. Don't kill a snake unless you are sure it is poisonous. Even good snakes can and might eat eggs and young chicks, so do predator control for them.
here's the site: http://www.texassnakes.net/pictures.html
you may have to copy/paste for it to work. pretty snake. I have the feeling you might be right. nice snake.

 

[galanie]

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So glad you're being careful! Yes, I would isolate the ones from that lady for more than 30 days. Can't be too careful when it comes to that!

 

[galanie]

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I can tell you that I have a coop with the entire south side open (wire on it for protection, of course) and large windows in both the east and west walls. I built a run attached to it and covered the run with a tarp for shade. When my original four were little, I used a portable run with netting on top that was 4x8 and made of pvc with chicken wire. I put them in this every day and moved it here and there throughout the back yard. But I'm home all day and don't have many daytime predator issues other than a hawk or two so chicken wire was good enough so long as the top was covered too. A lightweight portable run for 3-4 chickens seems to work great but of course you'd have to have a lot of shade around or cover it with a tarp. I've found shade cloth is not useful, it only seems to make it hotter because it restricts air flow yet still lets the heat of the sun through.

 

[GayleInTexas]

We were thinking about moving the 3 week olds out of their brooder (in the house) to their outside coop/run this weekend, but the forecast of 104-105 degree temperatures next week have made us think twice about that. There is plenty of shade, ventilation and water out there, but they are babies, and 105 degrees is brutal! There is still at least another 2+ months of summer heat ahead of us, so unless there is some drastic change in the heat and drought pattern, we're looking at them possibly being inside till October?! Are we nuts?

We have 5 Easter Eggers that will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. Their 'brooder' inside is 4'x4'x18 inches tall. 1/3 has a cover with their heat lamp at 88 degrees right now and the rest is a screen top for ventilation. I don't know about lowering the temperature even more, will that make them too used to air conditioning? Should we warm it back up to get them more acclimated to the temps outside so they can go outside sooner? Or do we plan for a larger inside housing to accommodate them until the weather cools down a little?

TIA
Gayle

 

[chicksntexas]

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Hi Gayle!

I started taking my little ones out for 3 - 4 hours in the morning in an enclosed run, then bring them back in before noon. They pant a little, but they have good shade & lots of water. They do fine. My older 'babies' are a little over 2 months and went into the coop first of July. They stay in the run most of the day and pant like crazy! I froze water bottles and set them around in their favorite spot and they snuggle right up to them & love it! Extra waterers around too and sometimes I spray the run down with a hose (we have sand in the run) & they like that too. I picked up a small fan at walmart that I am going to put in the coop. But, at this point, it will just blow around the hot air! Temps in the coop fall to around 85 or so after dark. So far, they have done fine, but I still bring the little ones in. The heat is brutal, so I worry too.

 

[Chicken_Girl75495]

Our chicken yard is about 2500 sf and mostly shady, but it is still hot!! The girls (and the two roos) have one source of water that is on a drip, so it is always full and always clean. Believe it or not, we still have two to four broody hens hunkered down in the far corner of the coop, burrowed into their common nest in the hay. I pick them up to get the eggs, and it is even hotter and more humid underneath them!! None of my birds seems to pant, but they are not running around as much as usual.

I try to give them fruit and vegetables out of the fridge, which they seem to enjoy. Otherwise, I figure, they are built for this. Us, not so much!

 

[texasgal]

Bought a game cam last night ... this morning there were 29 hits .. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! I'm skeeeeered. Can't wait to look at the pics tonight!

 

[galanie]

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wow! Post the good ones so we can see, too!

 

[Spoiled1_629]

So... I am a new chick mother. I am super excited! I got a few chicks from my mother in law. They are all black and she ordered a mix, so we are not sure what they are at this point. I am thinking Australorps? I don't have enough posts to post pics yet, but I will. I also have a few Guinea keets.

Just wanted to say hello to all my fellow Texans!!!!

 

[texasgal]

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