Texas

[AuntGoose]

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Hello Mommy 2 Wee Ones! I am also in Azle.

I am chickenless right now, but working on getting our land cleared so they can have a home. I am also a newby to this stuff and am studying very hard so I can take the best care of them when we get them.

 

[djennings]

My DH and myself work about 2 minutes from our house. We go check on the chickies at lunch when it is really hot. I bought them a mister for 5.99, going to get a timer to go on it so when we are not home it will go off every so often. Been freezing watermelon rinds also, they love it. We are suppose to be getting rain starting Friday until Sunday, fingers crossed, temperature will go down to about 82 for those days.

 

[Txmarleygirl]

Hey y'all...I need just a touch of advice-I live in Bedias, which is about halfway between Huntsville and Bryan/College Station and south of Madisonville. I'm a newbie, got 2 awesome little chickies this year at Easter, a brown leghorn and a Production Red. My leghorn died in May-she was stepped on. My PR, Goldie, died about a month ago due to the heat. I built her a tractor that was covered on top, etc. but wanted to ask what was a very hardy breed to go with here in central tx where it gets stupid hot in the summer and very cold(to me-20 to 30 degrees)in winter? My Goldie was my pet and I loved her dearly, but she didn't care for being held overly much. I want some girls that will be VERY pet-like and are also awesome egg layers, but they have to be very heat tolerant. I don't want to go through that again. What's y'alls experience with what I'm looking for?

 

[7L Farm]

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Howdy neighbor!! I live in Anderson. I have 26 RIR's & one Dom they have done well in the heat & the cold. I do however give them ice water twice a day.Mine laid good thru the winter & are still laying well in this heat wave. The girls are two different flocks.One flock is the offspring of the other which I hatched they have no roo. They are super friendly. The other flock obviously has a roo I pretty much let the roo take care of his girlfriends.

 

[Vickir73]

Thank you Galanie and The Driver. I'll be tilling the ground maybe this weekend - first, I've gotta fix my coop roof, it's leaking and I know its because the blasted builder didn't use tar to close up the cracks she left in the tin and now that it's rained a few times, it's causing some issues (Psssst, did I mention the builder was me?

This will be my first attempt at a fall garden and I've been looking at seeds that germinate around 60-75 days, so I'm glad to know I was looking at the right stuff.

My girls have taken to standing directly under the sprinkler in the evenings they are so hot. I've got frozen bottles of water I've been putting in their waterers, I guess I'll try putting some in the coop so they can lay on them. Of my 9 layers I'm getting between 3-4 eggs a day. I know they have slacked off because they are probably too hot, but they are trying !!

 

[yinepu]

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it's been 110 here most days.. I did start the beginning of the 100 degree days running a mister in the afternoons.. haven't used it in over a month.. we have had 0 losses from the heat
I have orpingtons.. easter eggers, ameraucanas, silver laced wyandottes, silkies, bantam cochins, milli fleur d uccles, golden lakenvelders, jersey giants, a few brown leghorns, a few white leghorns, barred rocks, white rocks, delawares, polish, and assorted mutts... (don't think I forgot anyone).. all of mine have been doing great with the heat

 

[Malita]

I have been fortunate that my acre in North Texas has so many trees that I have few spots of bright sun. Even still my tiny flock of 2 RI Reds, 1 Production Red, 1 Barred Rock, 2 Sebright, and 1 Mille Fleur hens and my 1 Mille Fleur rooster have been awful hot. So, we put about 1" of water in baby pool, have waterers in multiple places where they hang out and they get cool snacks in the afternoon and evening. Snacks include melon and vegetable scraps that have been refrigerated or frozen. I also cleaned out the freezer of old frozen vegetables. It was so funny watching the hens just standing on the frozen corn & peas to cool their feet!

 

[PaleMelanesian]

Thankfully, I've also had no losses. I free-range, and the coop is shaded from 1pm on. My Orpington has been the most miserable-looking in the heat. The Production Reds, Black Sex Links, Barred Rock and Ameraucana have been the most faithful layers.

 

[galanie]

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First of all, be sure you have plenty of shade and water for them. Make sure it's shady enough that you wouldn't have a heat stroke in there yourself. Like having the tractor not only with it's own roof, but under the shade of a tree as well with lots of air circulation. Even heat tolerant chickens will die in this heat wave. Also a great idea is to flood an area with the hose once a day so they can stand in water and wet ground to cool off. And never have just one, they'll be miserable. Need at least three.

I do these things and even though I have a breed that is not known to be heat tolerant (Orpingtons) they are doing well. They seem no worse off than my Dark Cornish or Polish. You'd probably do well with one of the sex links like Golden comet or production red. Also Rhode island red, Dominique (Dominekers to the old timers), and Barred Rocks are decent choices for good layers. Easter Eggers or Ameracaunas are usually more friendly, and they lay well too. Plus you get cool colored eggs.

You can go to the website of Meyer Hatchery, MyPetChicken.com, and McMurray hatchery. I think they all have a "help me find a breed" section where you fill in what you want in a chicken including heat tolerance and the website will suggest breeds. That might be a great place to start.

 

[lvchicken]

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First of all, be sure you have plenty of shade and water for them. Make sure it's shady enough that you wouldn't have a heat stroke in there yourself. Like having the tractor not only with it's own roof, but under the shade of a tree as well with lots of air circulation. Even heat tolerant chickens will die in this heat wave. Also a great idea is to flood an area with the hose once a day so they can stand in water and wet ground to cool off. And never have just one, they'll be miserable. Need at least three.

I do these things and even though I have a breed that is not known to be heat tolerant (Orpingtons) they are doing well. They seem no worse off than my Dark Cornish or Polish. You'd probably do well with one of the sex links like Golden comet or production red. Also Rhode island red, Dominique (Dominekers to the old timers), and Barred Rocks are decent choices for good layers. Easter Eggers or Ameracaunas are usually more friendly, and they lay well too. Plus you get cool colored eggs.

You can go to the website of Meyer Hatchery, MyPetChicken.com, and McMurray hatchery. I think they all have a "help me find a breed" section where you fill in what you want in a chicken including heat tolerance and the website will suggest breeds. That might be a great place to start.

McMurray also has an iPhone app that has all of their breeds on there. It's two dollars, but it comes with a five dollar coupon, so it pays for itself!

You just select what you want your breed to have in it (ex: broody/non-broody, good/bad egg laying, good in confinement/free-range, etc.). It's fun and helpful!