Texas

[AmyLM]

I feel so bad for my poor birds now. They are SO miserable!!

I have been spraying down their runs and have high velocity fans pointed into their houses. The large mobile coop birds are in the shade on one side of our house and under a tree but they still get that terrible late afternoon sun. They are ok most of the day but there is about 3 hours where they just get blasted My main coop gets morning sun but the barn has been heating up really badly during the course of the day. I'm about ready to pull all of the birds out of the mobile coop and put them all into the main coop and put air conditioning into the barn just to try to keep the coop cool. The poor birds are SO miserable. All they have been doing is sprawling out across the ground in the dust. Spraying the runs down helps some, and the fans also help... but I think AC will become necessary.

and YES we have crickets/grasshoppers BAD now. They are becoming a real nuisance in my garden. Ive been grabbing as many as I can and have been shoving them into an old lactose free milk carton with a screw on top (... I cant do regular milk but a normal carton would work fine) and I then take the top off and leave it in the middle of the run. The birds knock it around till the crickets/grasshoppers jump out... then... they pounce and do the whole racing around ***MINE! MINE!! MINE!!!!**** squealing run I got the idea from watching my dog play with his kong toy. It works! The chickens figured it out really fast.

 

[Kevin565]

and YES we have crickets/grasshoppers BAD now. They are becoming a real nuisance in my garden. Ive been grabbing as many as I can and have been shoving them into an old lactose free milk carton with a screw on top (... I cant do regular milk but a normal carton would work fine) and I then take the top off and leave it in the middle of the run. The birds knock it around till the crickets/grasshoppers jump out... then... they pounce and do the whole racing around ***MINE! MINE!! MINE!!!!**** squealing run I got the idea from watching my dog play with his kong toy. It works! The chickens figured it out really fast.

That is a GENIUS idea!

. I counted over 75 this morning in the front walkway

 

[LilChickyCoop]

I think the milk jug and the crickets are a great idea, I'm going to try it. Thanks

 

[allen wranch]

Quote:
Racing around chasing crickets is not a good idea in this heat. The birds need to spend most of their energy trying to stay cool. If you can release the crickets early, early, early morning when it is cooler, that would be best. Then put them away until the next morning.

For the mobile coop, can you attach a tarp to the tree or house above the coop (not touching, so there is still a breeze) to shade the coop in the afternoon? I had to do that for one of my hoop coops because the afternoon sun shone directly into the coop part of the day. It really helped.

 

[AmyLM]

Racing around chasing crickets is not a good idea in this heat. The birds need to spend most of their energy trying to stay cool. If you can release the crickets early, early, early morning when it is cooler, that would be best. Then put them away until the next morning.

For the mobile coop, can you attach a tarp to the tree or house above the coop (not touching, so there is still a breeze) to shade the coop in the afternoon? I had to do that for one of my hoop coops because the afternoon sun shone directly into the coop part of the day. It really helped.

your totally right... not letting them run around in the heat should be fairly obvious. What we do is give it to them in the early morning. They seam to love it

 

[orumpoultry]

Texans! I'm trying to sell down on some of my flock because I just don't have the time for these birds anymore. I'm in the middle of trying to relocate, working 80+ hours a week, and only have a few left that I'm willing to sell... I have RSL pullets, one NH hen, one RSL hen, BA POL pullets, EE POL pullets, some yard mixed cockerals and pullets, some SSH's, some Guineas ( all colors ), and a RIR x Game rooster. Also have some American game pullets and cockerals. PLEASE PM me if you may be looking, because I'm desperate to get my flock back down to a managable amount.

 

[AussieGirl]

Texans! I'm trying to sell down on some of my flock because I just don't have the time for these birds anymore. I'm in the middle of trying to relocate, working 80+ hours a week, and only have a few left that I'm willing to sell... I have RSL pullets, one NH hen, one RSL hen, BA POL pullets, EE POL pullets, some yard mixed cockerals and pullets, some SSH's, some Guineas ( all colors ), and a RIR x Game rooster. Also have some American game pullets and cockerals. PLEASE PM me if you may be looking, because I'm desperate to get my flock back down to a managable amount.

What kind of job do you have that makes you work 80+ hours??Im lucky if I even get 15 a week.

 

[hdowden]

would anyone in texas like to come to louisiana for a show/meet/swap one day. at least 2 of us around the deridder/leesville area would like to try to put one together it would be small to start with since its new but if anyone here is interrested please hop on over to our thread and let us know please what yall think and if you have put one on or have ideas can you please come over a maybe help us out a little bit thank you

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/666481/2012-louisiana-chickenstocks-shows-and-meet-ups

 

[joan1708]

It got to 104 in the coop today. And it's in total shade. I had 2 fans and a mister going in the run, I hope that kept the temperature under 100 in the run during the really hot part of the day. I don't have a thermometer that will hold the high and low in the run. I only have 3 silkies, they laid 2 eggs yesterday, none today. They look OK so far. I looked up outdoor air-conditioners on-line. I found one for dog houses for $600.00. Seems like a lot of money for 3 chickens. I hate worrying about them in this heat.

 

[chickletteSarge]

What kind of job do you have that makes you work 80+ hours??Im lucky if I even get 15 a week.

Heck i got a crappy sekuridy (ghetto security) job in houston! I work about 60+ hrs a week sometimes i can manage 80 if i go with 4hrs of sleep like i did back in my old army days!