Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

I'm sure I would electrocute myself. The only predator we've had trouble with is my elderly greyhound. Go figure. Although I've seen coyotes elsewhere in the neighborhood (as well as a bobcat), we've never had anything enter the fenced in yard that I've seen. We don't have any hawks that roost nearby. Maybe it's the three dogs ...

There are plenty of predators you never see, even in central Tucson. Go back thru the last few months of posts and check it out. I will make a bet that Oro Valley will be quite a bit worse. Many people lose chickens to local dogs, a particularly bad pit bull was put down in Marana last month, this guy was responsible for over 150 chicken dinners. An even bigger problem is urban coyotes, and suburban bobcats seem to be on the rise.
A dog can wipe out your entire flock in minutes. At least the semi-wild coyotes and bobcats will usually only grab what they can run with, but they just learned where an easy meal is, they will be back for more.

X2!:
, irresponsible dog owners.. They don't even know if they are loose.. We have chased out 2 from our yard, with just a bat.. Never came back..

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

Raised AQHA and paint horses for years.  Showed halter - stock seat equitation and hunt seat equitation.  Was a show judge and the AZ Paint Horse Assoc. Secretary for several years.  Don't do that any more but we do draft and half-draft horse rescue and rehabilitation. Teach horsemanship, riding and proper horse care and volunteer as a teacher for Horses With Heart Organization that uses horses to rehab children with physical and mental limitations here in Chino Valley. Took over the job of draft/half-draft rescue from Dream Works because they moved their operation to Oregon. Collect animals - chickens, cats, rabbit, horses, etc. and my husband keeps waiting for the elephant to arrive.

My ex husband always tried to control me and my animals. I got to the point where I stopped asking and just did what wanted. Lol. I have my two mares and 2 kitties and 3 Italian Greyhounds. And 13, soon to be many more chickens. Bwhaha. Going this weekend to get more more more.
I used to do some horse rescue up north. I just cannot afford it at the moment. We have several rescue groups around here that keep their horses in worse shape than many accused abusers and it chaps my hide.... grrrr

 

[carnivore]

Now there's some good ol'' chicken food..

Those suckers are big enough that I would fear for the chickens. That is a quarter next to them in the pic.

 

[mom-to-5]

Those suckers are big enough that I would fear for the chickens. That is a quarter next to them in the pic.

I don't think the water made them swell though. We got them all the time when we lived in Southern CA...and they got huge! One year my son, being an experimenting homeschooled kid, kept a smaller one in a container, fed it leaves from the tomato plant to see how fast it grew. It ate tons and grew tons just over night. They are bad, bad critters for your tomato plant!

 

[mom-to-5]

I know this is a silly question as most peoples chickens have slowed down and all with the heat....but, anyone have extra eggs I could buy and live near Mesa?
My 6 laying hens are leaving us only 2-4 a day right now and the 7 pullets are only 13 weeks. That's not cutting it for my family of 7. Before I go buy store bought eggs I was hoping that just maybe someone else had way more than they could use that I could buy from them. Let me know if you have extra!

 

[K9Dave]

I know this is a silly question as most peoples chickens have slowed down and all with the heat....but, anyone have extra eggs I could buy and live near Mesa?
My 6 laying hens are leaving us only 2-4 a day right now and the 7 pullets are only 13 weeks. That's not cutting it for my family of 7. Before I go buy store bought eggs I was hoping that just maybe someone else had way more than they could use that I could buy from them. Let me know if you have extra!

@K9Dave this pic is just for you....

It's not silly. Some people even have enough to Rub it In by posting pics. Lol

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Augghg     I'll never catch up on all these posts. 

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

@jackiezim Go with the velcro - costs less & works better. I bought the collar & my roo took it off in 2 minutes. I kept putting it on him & he ended up getting faster taking it off. Took him 2 seconds the last time I tried it. Went to Joanns & bought 1/2 yd of 2" wide velcro & it works! I have it on him because he has the most annoying crow - sounds like a woman screaming while being strangled. My other roos have pleasant crows & they don't have collars on them.

What about the pitch? Can you record and post?

Can't find post about colors for crowing. Please PM me with it. Just got 24 hr access to internet. Was out of communication for about 7 weeks. Thank you

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

I know this is a silly question as most peoples chickens have slowed down and all with the heat....but, anyone have extra eggs I could buy and live near Mesa?
My 6 laying hens are leaving us only 2-4 a day right now and the 7 pullets are only 13 weeks. That's not cutting it for my family of 7. Before I go buy store bought eggs I was hoping that just maybe someone else had way more than they could use that I could buy from them. Let me know if you have extra!

What are you doing for heat stress? What breeds are they?
Heat tolerance breads lay better to start with. I had a number of heavy-duel purpose girls that did purely in the heat. I learned lighter girls lay better, again more heat tolerant. Mine layer well most of the year. Molting was the primary time they stopped and rested. I used fans, shade, misters, water bowls for feet, and ice jars.

. One of my girls cooling off.

Also. Feed will help. Cool feed, not hot feed in summer in AZ. No corn and scratch. Oyster shell and fermented food worked best, with a spoon of DE every few weeks add to their fermented feed. For treats, greens and not so fresh fruit, yogurt, small amount of cottage cheese, kefir, and other then left-overs. No onions or garlic (will come out in the eggs), it also upsets their digestion. Some chickens just eat to much no mater what, get fat and stop eating. If glutinous chicken, they will stop laying, Sadly, these girls will expire from being to fat and heat stress, but they make wonderful roasted chicken or soup, unless a pet. If a pet it is difficult to put one on a diet. Never tried it. I had to learn the hard way about AZ summers and keeping your girls alive, healthy and happy. I still have a lot to learn about healthy.

 

[K9Dave]

Chickens are so stupid.

So I have a parts bin from Ace Hardware. They're about 2.5 ft x 18 in. I put their fermented feed bowl in the middle and and filled it with maybe 1" of water. Trying to get them to use other water pans instead of my dogs water pan. Lol. Well they roosted on the Pans side and ate. Then when the food level got too low to where they couldn't reach without putting their feet in the water, they quit eating. I waited it out and they acted like they were starving at their next feeding time and wouldn't go near it. I removed the bowl after a bit and they dived in like they'd been starved. Dumb Chicken or dumb me cause they had me remove the bowl? Lol

"Whatcha lookin at?"