Arizona Chickens

[Mama Hen Chris]

What a beautiful blue/green colored egg. Just curious...what layed the brown one?

Thank you. My Cuckoo Marans laid the dark brown one and my Black Australorp laid the lighter brown one.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

There seem to be a lot of new, totally chicken naive new members, I just read 2 almost identical new threads in the emergency section.
"What's wrong with my hen. She wont come out of the nesting box, is puffed up, cranky and just growls at me......." I have been giggling for the past 30 minutes. I love it!!! Now that kind of emergency I can help with!!

No offense intended to any new chicken owner.....

I just love those kinds of questions!

My other favorite is, "My chickens went to roost tonight and I noticed one of my hens has a large lump on her chest! I know it wasn't there this morning." You can sense the concern in their questions because they really care for their new birds. It's all part of the excitement of learning about these creatures that worm their way into our hearts so quickly. Without these kinds of questions, the Emergencies section is such a depressing read.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote: The Tucson coup tour was a joint venture between the Food Conspiracy and the Tucson Community Food Bank. It went on hiatus in 2010 when a dog got into the Food Bank's chicken enclosure and killed all their birds. It was on again in 2011 and should also be on for 2012. They usually have it in early December. I talked last year with the organizer at the Food Conspiracy and he said all of the tours were huge hits and sold out tickets within days. The Food Bank is really keen on these events too; they're trying to get as many people raising chickens as they can. I'll post when I hear anything definitive about the next tour. We went on the 2011 tour--it was fun and interesting (and at times a bit depressing).

 

[Tanichca]

Well, with all the coop fixings I've done, Mr. Coyote hasn't made off with any more birds!

Now... for the fun of trying to replace the 12 birds I've lost. Craigslist, here I come!

 

[LMS]

As a newbie-to-be, I hope that y'all will answer all my silly questions and snicker quietly to yourselves (or out loud, it's okay, as long as you answer!) -- I can only imagine how nervous I'm going to be as a new chicken mama!

Mikey D -- I'm sorry about your loss(es). That is one of the reasons I have held off on getting started. I take losses like that very personally.

Gallo del Cielo -- what was depressing about the chicken tour? I'm wondering if it's worth waiting for, or if I should just jump on in this fall and then do the tour and hope I'm not disappointed with my setup. I've been waiting too long already to get started!

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Mama Gretchen decided that she had enough in the "nursery" with the little ones. ( they are 7 weeks old) It was time for the "big house" for her and the kiddos. Everyone got along inside. That was pretty easy. The older gals did keep their distance!





Miss Veronica is always on the sill. Yesterday morning when I let them out she flew on the block wall between us and the back neighbors. Someone may need a wing clipping.

 

[pastrymama]

SEED BOX!!!!!!!! who wants the SEED BOX????????? i will be in CASA GRANDE tomorrow afternoon(friday), also sunday afternoon, tuesday afternoon or early evening. i can meet you at the new Target, just shoot me a pm ASAP.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote: Muscovies don't "QUACK" they hiss. But they can be rather scary looking with their funky carnunkles.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote: I had that question here a couple of months into it.

The asymetric lump on their neck...

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

As a newbie-to-be, I hope that y'all will answer all my silly questions and snicker quietly to yourselves (or out loud, it's okay, as long as you answer!) -- I can only imagine how nervous I'm going to be as a new chicken mama!

Mikey D -- I'm sorry about your loss(es). That is one of the reasons I have held off on getting started. I take losses like that very personally.

Gallo del Cielo -- what was depressing about the chicken tour? I'm wondering if it's worth waiting for, or if I should just jump on in this fall and then do the tour and hope I'm not disappointed with my setup. I've been waiting too long already to get started!

Let me say that the tour as a whole was fantastic. Not that there were any really amazing coops, but it was a great way to see all the different ways people raise chickens in Tucson. There was really only one sad site. I was surprised to see a full chicken wing, minus the body just laying in the chicken yard litter where we (the visitors) were standing. As I looked around I noticed other parts of different chickens strewn about, not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. I asked the guy how many chickens he had and he said he wasn't sure. Something was always coming around and killing them at night and they just got new ones to replace them. As I recall, the chickens had no protection at all. That was disappointing.

Don't wait for the tour to build your coop. Look at the coops of all the members here on the AZ thread, especially those in the hotter parts. Take the best ideas and design what's best for your situation. Build bigger than you think you need. Also, consider that birds here will hang out in the coop less than they would in places with a real winter. It might be better to apportion more of the budget to the run than you might otherwise. My birds only go into the coop to lay eggs and roost at night. Think open coop, three-sided or even less. Heat is the problem here, not our infrequent cold nights. Shade is critical. The more shade your birds can have, the better off they'll be. Water is also critical. Make sure they can be locked up at night where things can't grab at them. If you can work it into the budget, use welded wire or hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Ask lots of questions, we like to be helpful.