Summer in Texas. Anyone who has grown up in the great state understands that this means time for lakes and vacations. When you live on a farm and have multiple lives depending on you to keep them alive summer in Texas brings on a new meaning. For farmers of small livestock like chicken and rabbits it can be challenging to keep them cool in the 100+ temperatures and the high humidity. You devise ways of cooling their areas and keeping the temperature manageable.
For our rabbits that means frozen water bottles to lay on, misting systems, and large floor fans that run 24/7. For the chickens, we make sure they have access to plenty of shade, sand and fresh cool water.
We have chosen to raise Californian rabbits and Naked Neck chickens, which both tolerate heat better than others of their species. We do find that egg production drops off some with the heat of summer, and rabbits are not bred with the high temperatures.
Summer heat also affects our Great Pyrenees livestock guardians and our goats. There is decidedly less activity during the heat of the day and appetites are decreased.
We tend to be lazier in the summer as well, limiting our outside time to later in the evenings. Chores are focused more inside during the hotter hours of the day, and with the longer evenings we try to get our outside chores done then.
Although the summertime heat is hard on everyone, it is still our preferred time of the year. Spring and fall are nice, however, in East Texas area spring is usually wetter than we like (think years' worth of rain in a few months) and fall is hardly here to enjoy.
Wintertime is something to prepare for, and usually we can manage that in September and October, knowing that our true winter won't arrive until January.
So, until next time, we bid you a happy summer staying cool.
Nikole Thompson
Owner, Royall Acres Farm
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