Arizona Chickens - Page 233

Well, practice makes perfect I hear   Hopefully the trimming will be enough.....

Roy!  I don't know of anyone personally but I'm sure someone on here will Good Luck in your search!

At this point in time, yeah, you'd probably do best getting the hovabator or ask MaryAnn where she got the dimmer switch.

  Thank you for the report on you chickens and heat.  Good luck finding your bird.

Wow this thread moves real quick!
Thanks for the warm welcome and advice, I really appreciate it.

I do have a few questions about nest boxes though, I think we are only going to have three hens so how many boxes would be best? three?
But don't the nest boxes become hot in the summer? Have you had hens laying eggs out of them because of that?

In an open air coop how many sides you close off?

Oh wow~ Thanks you so much! I've been looking at his coops and been wondering if they are any good or not.
Did she buy this one or another one like it?

For three hens you really only need one nest box.  1 box to 4 hens usually. They will either take turns or dog pile.  Since they are only in there a little while (to lay the egg) the summer heat shouldn't be an issue: but maybe make sure it is in the shade?

In an open air coop how many sides you close off?

Some people don't do any.  Some look like bus stops or aviaries.  Mine has 2 walls, and I hang shower curtains  when it is cold (windbreaks and to stop horizontal rain).  Unfortunately my coop is between the wall and the house, with a drive in-between.  So I get a "wind tunnel" effect during storms.  Poor chooks get blown right off the roost-but they refuse to go in the eggplant.

I have 4 nest boxes and only one is used... I heard a story last week where there were 20 birds, 6 boxes and they LITERALLY all lined up to use the same box.  So you're going to be just fine with one box

In an open air coop how many sides you close off?

I have a coop made of 100% repurposed pallets and materials, so I had to get creative.  I will post pics later today but here is the general idea - I have two 6 foot pallets set upright for the side walls, then standard sized pallets for the back wall.  Then I have 2 sheets of corrugated aluminum roofing on top and that's pretty much it structurally.  It is on the north side of the wall, so it is in the shade all the time.  My nest boxes will never see the sun since they are low enough to be in the shade, even in summer.

Thanks for that Cluckin and Laree!
I can't imagine 20 birds and 6 boxes! That's really funny actually, would make for a good video. Haha.

I really like like the shower curtain idea, seems like a cheap method to help keep the rain from the mess but also keep the heat in. Very smart!

Right now Im trying to pick out possible spots, I think I have to move the coop pending the season and that curtain idea would work great.
One of the spots im thinking of is actually on the between the side of the house and a brick wall.
It would be great during storms and winter but during the summer I have no idea if there will be airflow however the tons of shade may be a plus. Hmmm!
Would it be any use if I took photos and details down and asked you guys?
Is there anyway to accurately measure the temperature and humidity outside? Could I place two hydrometers and thermometers in each spot and compare?

I gotta laugh at the nest boxes thing.

In one of my chicken areas, I have 14 nest boxes. There are 5 layers in there. They used to only use 1, then two and every now and then, I will find an egg in another nest box. They are ALL in the top row and adjacent.

If I had 3 chickens, I would have 1 nest box.

Once I connect the run and the coop, I will have 25-30 chickens and 22 nest boxes. Way overkill

She bought that one and moved it down to Tucson.
She wanted a coop fast and didn't have a lot of building skills.
She's supposed to send me a picture of how it turned out.  I'll press her for the picture and add it here when I get it.

Good morning Arizona, Looks like another sunny day today. I just started letting my Frizzle Flock out to free range in the morning. I then let my big kids out from noon until bed time. There is lots of grass coming up all over the yard. All the chickens are having a treat. My little Sultan Roo, is still living in a large parrot cage. He seems to be handling it OK. I let him out for a while yesterday and my Frizzle Roo, Bat Man chased him across the yard. I tried again when the big chickens were out. Willy Boy, (Bantam Cochin Rooster), went after him. Poor little guy. No one likes him. I will just have to keep on trying. All the big girls hang around his cage, they don't peck at him in the cage. However as soon as I let him out, they peck him.  Does any one have any ideas on what I can do?

Have a great day everyone!