Arizona Chickens

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I've seen several Giant anteaters up close and personal in the wild in Central and South America. They are awesome ant and termite eating machines. Apparently, they're pretty dangerous since they can't see well and have tremendous claws with which to defend themselves, so probably not suited to backyard ant-eating duties. I wonder if, historically, there were similar ant eating creatures that roamed the southwest?

We do have the horny toad that eats ants and I would think that some of the other lizards must also but we have so many ants! Wish we had armadillos native to AZ but as this artical shows they are spreading out their territory and maybe will be in our desert in the coming years. Wish people would catch a bunch and put them in our desert!
hide.gif
That might be a no no tho. Anyway I think they are neat!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-banded_armadillo
 
Ugh, this weekend has been completely awful. The A/C conked out, and needs to have a motor replaced. On top of that, the water line to the evaporative cooler got a small leak in it, and damaged the ceiling underneath the leak. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be any mold going on. So we're waiting to hear back from the insurance company to see what, if anything, they will cover, and waiting for the A/C repair guy to get the motor in stock so he can fix the A/C. Thankfully, a friend of ours is putting up Rob and the boys. I'm staying at the house to take care of the house and the animals.

Speaking of animals, I have a fixed male cat who needs to go to a new home as soon as possible. He's a sweet kitty, but we have too many, and need to find a new home for him. I also have a litter of six week old kittens that need to find a new place, as soon as possible. With all the extra expenses we've got going on, I need to downsize my population of non-productive animals.

Especially since my population of productive animals has had a sudden and surprising increase. For almost as long as I've had her, my California White, Emma, has been getting out of the run and wandering around the yard. Twice we'd found a nest of eggs that she'd decided to lay in a hidden spot, but since she always went back to the coop at night, I thought she was just being weird. Especially since California Whites are famous for not going broody. The last, well, 21 days or so, I was starting to get worried, since I wouldn't see her for a few days, but I couldn't figure out where she was roosting, or where she was hiding. She must have found a really good spot, because today, I saw her walking around the yard with three little chicks. Thanks to the fun of color genetics, one of the chicks is yellow with a few dark splotches, like a California White, and the other two are marked like a Barred Rock, although only one has a splotch on its head.
 
I have my first egg!!!!! It is so normal looking too!!!! I am so excited. I saw my Buff Orpington messing with the nest earlier today. She was not happy when I picked it up just now. Gave my the stink eye. When I went up to her she dropped low to the ground and puffed her wings out to hold them away from her body a bit and just stayed that way while I petted her, really odd. She never done that before. Am I missing something? She is the one who loves to sit with me. I have a chair ion the cage. She runs up and sits with me whenever I sit down. Every night I go out and pet each one and tell them tomorrow is going to be a good egg day. I have been doing that for a week or so now...LOL It paid off!!!
 
Last edited:
parentwarrior said:
I have my first egg!!!!! It is so normal looking too!!!! I am so excited. I saw my Buff Orpington messing with the nest earlier today. She was not happy when I picked it up just now. Gave my the stink eye. When I went up to her she dropped low to the ground and puffed her wings out to hold them away from her body a bit and just stayed that way while I petted her, really odd. She never done that before. Am I missing something? She is the one who loves to sit with me. I have a chair ion the cage. She runs up and sits with me whenever I sit down. Every night I go out and pet each one and tell them tomorrow is going to be a good egg day. I have been doing that for a week or so now...LOL It paid off!!!
Click to expand...
Congrats!
 
AZKat said:
Ugh, this weekend has been completely awful. The A/C conked out, and needs to have a motor replaced. On top of that, the water line to the evaporative cooler got a small leak in it, and damaged the ceiling underneath the leak. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be any mold going on. So we're waiting to hear back from the insurance company to see what, if anything, they will cover, and waiting for the A/C repair guy to get the motor in stock so he can fix the A/C. Thankfully, a friend of ours is putting up Rob and the boys. I'm staying at the house to take care of the house and the animals.

Speaking of animals, I have a fixed male cat who needs to go to a new home as soon as possible. He's a sweet kitty, but we have too many, and need to find a new home for him. I also have a litter of six week old kittens that need to find a new place, as soon as possible. With all the extra expenses we've got going on, I need to downsize my population of non-productive animals.

Especially since my population of productive animals has had a sudden and surprising increase. For almost as long as I've had her, my California White, Emma, has been getting out of the run and wandering around the yard. Twice we'd found a nest of eggs that she'd decided to lay in a hidden spot, but since she always went back to the coop at night, I thought she was just being weird. Especially since California Whites are famous for not going broody. The last, well, 21 days or so, I was starting to get worried, since I wouldn't see her for a few days, but I couldn't figure out where she was roosting, or where she was hiding. She must have found a really good spot, because today, I saw her walking around the yard with three little chicks. Thanks to the fun of color genetics, one of the chicks is yellow with a few dark splotches, like a California White, and the other two are marked like a Barred Rock, although only one has a splotch on its head.
Click to expand...

i hope the insurance company comes through for you, thats awful for both to go at the same time.
i came home and told my kids about your crazy hen with chicks, what a funny story and she looks so happy! i could only see the yellow one in the grass. oh then i told my husband we are just going to throw grass seed all around the backyard and see what happens. i love your yard!! so good for chickens - where mine is dirt, and more dirt, with like 1 plant that they always try to kill when they're out of the pen. and more dirt.
mal (is that his name) seems content here, he's separated in the front yard for now. i'll keep you posted.
 
I named him Malcolm (Mal for short). Its funny that you like my yard so much. I hate wasting water on anything that I can't eat, but with an irrigated lot, if your neighbors have grass, you have grass. In the back yard we're hoping to plant enough trees that it kind of gets shaded out.
 

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