Arizona Chickens

[Demosthine]

can someone teach me not to freak out? i am allergic to bee stings and the littlest one is allergic to EVERYTHING! i would put him in a bubble if i could. really

Part of how I did this with my kids was by finding the small, harmless bugs and forcing them to interact with them. I found milkweed bugs, pill bugs (roly poly bugs), some caterpillars and worms. I would pick them up and put them in the palm of the girls' hands. Oh, they screamed bloody murder for the first dozen times. I had a few neighbors come out at the old house that thought I was beating the daylights out of my girls. When they saw what was going on, they rolled their eyes and walked away. We are finally to the point where they are ok with them all, but it took a good ten or twelve months of working with them. Now, they are absolutely fascinated with the mealworm colony that I have going. They were even helping catch crickets to feed to the girls. It's been a miraculous change and well worth the fighting.

Now, being allergic to everything makes it all that much more important to teach him to be calm and ok with the insects around, especially bees. If you leave them alone, they will not attack you. It's the crazy people that go around swatting at them to get them away that ultimately get stung. He should really be to the point where a bee can land on him without him freaking out. It could very well save his life later.

It might be well worth the time and money to look in to the allergy desensitisation. I have no idea if anyone does it here in Arizona because it's a fairly new treatment, but they expose the patient to small, controlled doses of the allergens over a long period of time. It's just barely enough to cause a minor allergic reaction and then they allow it to wear off. They repeat this, increasing the exposure until the patient no longer reacts. This is a very similar treatment to what is being done when you eat raw, unfiltered honey on a daily basis to cure seasonal allergies, except it bypasses the mucus membranes and does not cause as severe a reaction.

i know you meant no offense, but i honestly DO freak out wether it's a bee, one of those giant shiny green/black bumbles that seem to chase you all over the yard, a mosquito, a flying grasshopper, praying mantis, ladybug(yes, even a ladybug) I DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE ANY TYPE OF INSECT. EVER! my son has these fake plastic bugs all over the house and oh, they give me the heebee jeebees. think i would rather shave my head.

Now that is too funny about the plastic bugs. My younger brother is much the same way and we've used them to play pranks on him and try to desensitize him. He's getting better, slowly, but he was a drug baby before my parents adopted him, so we're working through a LOT of issues with him. If he saw an ant come near him, he use to jump up and down screaming. He even broke down into tears multiple times because one touched his shoes. I'm not sure if it has to do with living in an extremely unsanitary house as an infant or what. I find it sad to see people like that. Insects can be so interesting.

 

[nurseshelly]

Well, beehappy4ever's hubby picked up 11 more Icelandic eggs to put in their incubator (I hope-- I left them at The Feed Barn for him to pick up).

The Icelandics laid another 4 eggs today... the roo has now been gone for a week... how long will the eggs stay fertile?

I have heard up to a month, no harm continuing to try! I could incubate some too if there are people who want the chicks

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
Hey, if you'll incubate, I'll take the chicks! I could deliver the eggs to the hospital on Friday or any day you say......

 

[SherrieT]

Dang, wish you guys were inTucson. Would love to incubate some Icelandics

 

[kevs-chickadees]

I don't hear about that many Africanized Bee attacks at all. I couldn't find any good, reliable statistics, but I think it's a lot more rare than you're thinking. Of course, working in that field, you'd have more incidents there, but that's understandable. Not downplaying the problem, but I think for the mainstream, it comes more from everyone becoming so much more of a city dweller. They have no idea what nature is really about and have forgotten how to live with the animals. The number of people I see scream over a simple bee, spider or snake. It's ridiculous nowadays. One of my coworkers when screaming down the hall at work a few weeks ago because she saw a little field mouse run across the floor. It brought everyone running, thinking she was in trouble.

I've been with my wife and our two daughters (they were four and six when we started dating) for a few years now and that's how they were. A simple little fly or something would go through the house and it was the end of their world. It's taken a lot to desensitize them, but they are finally ok with it. That's how I want my kids to be. If a snake is in the yard, know what it is, how dangerous it is and what to do about it. Scorpions are the current project. Since we didn't have a harsh winter or summer this last year, we had more bugs this season. They didn't know what a scorpion looked like until I caught a few and showed them. I am trying to find some recently, since my Dad bought a black light flashlight. They are all going back in to hiding because of the cooler weather, though.

Of course, my wife had the irrational fear of the chickens for the first six months I was talking about getting them, too. So fear comes in all shapes and sizes.


I will admit, it was quite the adrenaline rush feeling and hearing the buzzing of the 10,000 bees inside that little box that they ship in. You can feel the buzzing in the core of your body. Once you wet them all down and start dumping them into the newly placed hive, though, the change is miraculous. I find the entire process just awe inspiring. Anyone else reading this, if you haven't had the opportunity, I highly encourage it.

I would love the opportunity, I was even looking into beekeeping for all the natural benefits but I think my neighbors would highly discourage it.

 

[maryhysong]

I am considering selling off my trio of white/silver Muscovy ducks. They are about 5 months old and should begin laying in spring. I have just decided that I like the black and blue colors better and I need to thin out some birds. Asking $125 for the three. If any are interested I'll try and get out and take some updated pics this afternoon.

 

[Billiam]

You're lucky you made it a whole year! Boy, they can really put a dent in the feed, can't they? While I love my treadle feeders, I would point out that there are cheaper and easier alternatives. While I don't have any experience with them, the trigger/lever activated bucket feeders are well reviewed and can be seen in this thread. Also see post #10 & #13 in this thread for a very cleaver auto-feeder design. Of course, like a treadle feeder, the success of these types of feeders also depends on training the chickens to use them.

I'm about to go thermo-nuclear on the European House Sparrows in my yard. After returning home this weekend, I discovered that they had completely denuded my snow pea vines. Now they're trying to do the same with the cauliflower and broccoli plants. I built a diabolical sparrow trap last year, tested it and then released the captives after going a bit soft. I think they've finally pushed me over the edge now.

I finally got around to looking at the links you suggested. That trigger is amazing and they sale them online now. £8.30 GBP works out to about $14 so not too bad for such a simple solution. The golf idea is ingenious as well. Thanks for sharing! I went out this morning and as usual the run was full of little birds. They all scattered as I let the girls out. I get back to my back door and turn about and the run is full of birdies again.

Tossed a few little pebbles their direction and they left. I'm sure they are back out there laughing at the stupid human. definitely going to do something about this soon.

 

[MagicChicken]

I went out this morning and as usual the run was full of little birds. They all scattered as I let the girls out. I get back to my back door and turn about and the run is full of birdies again.

Tossed a few little pebbles their direction and they left. I'm sure they are back out there laughing at the stupid human. definitely going to do something about this soon.

That's why I covered my run with 1/2" hardware cloth. Keeps the small birds out.

 

[Phottoman]

I have a question that is bothering me.

I just acquired a rooster, about two years old as I am told.

The owners told me he is clean and free of any problems, but safety first is always a good idea, so he is segregated from the rest of the two flocks in a cage all to himself for 30 days. Gosh, that's got to be hard on him, looking out at all these young vibrant gals running around and teasing him all day. I have looked him over very closely and see no problems, but he is still in quarantine for that 30 days, just to make sure.

(Oh, I forgot to mention, they had two roosters and they fought ALL the time, so one had to go, and I am the lucky person that re-homed him.)

Anyway, the only place I have available for him is a cage that is about four feet cubed, long, tall and wide, but it is metal on four sides the way I have it set up, and solid metal on two sides adjoining, so that is the roof and the south side, plus I have the metal covered so heat doesn't build up. As a way of protecting his feet from the metal, I put straw (hay actually) on the floor of this cage, but that stops him from getting to the ground. I even though of elevating the cage, but we won't be getting any rain soon, so that is really unnecessary.

He has plenty of water, and food, but I am concerned about digestion, there is no way for him to get to Mother Earth, so no pebbles or tiny rocks for his craw.

Is there a way to get these or are they needed? He just went in there three days ago, and he IS beautiful, and I think he'll be a great asset to my flocks.

Skip

(edited to correct spelling and add info)

 

[perchie.girl]

I have a question that is bothering me.

I just acquired a rooster, about two years old as I am told.

The owners told me he is clean and free of any problems, but safety first is always a good idea, so he is segregated from the rest of the two flocks in a cage all to himself for 30 days. Gosh, that's got to be hard on him, looking out at all these young vibrant gals running around and teasing him all day. I have looked him over very closely and see no problems, but he is still in quarantine for that 30 days, just to make sure.

(Oh, I forgot to mention, they had two roosters and they fought ALL the time, so one had to go, and I am the lucky person that re-homed him.)

Anyway, the only place I have available for him is a cage that is about four feet cubed, long, tall and wide, but it is metal on four sides the way I have it set up, and solid metal on two sides adjoining, so that is the roof and the south side, plus I have the metal covered so heat doesn't build up. As a way of protecting his feet from the metal, I put straw (hay actually) on the floor of this cage, but that stops him from getting to the ground. I even though of elevating the cage, but we won't be getting any rain soon, so that is really unnecessary.

He has plenty of water, and food, but I am concerned about digestion, there is no way for him to get to Mother Earth, so no pebbles or tiny rocks for his craw.

Is there a way to get these or are they needed? He just went in there three days ago, and he IS beautiful, and I think he'll be a great asset to my flocks.

Skip

(edited to correct spelling and add info)

Hi Phottoman and Welcome to BYC

from San Diego County.... Ya yanked your post on the other thread before I could answer.... LOL.

Just put some grit or dirt in a dish so he can pick and choose. If you can tie it to the side of the cage even better so he doesn't step in it and flip it over. A One liter sota bottle with a chicken head sized oval cut in the side would work, fill it with about a cup or two of grit. Tie some wire or cord at the top under the rib under the cap and tie it to the side of the cage. Id put it in a corner to help keep it from swinging.

edited to add a photo



Just make sure the hole is big enough for his comb and wattles so he doesnt scrape anything.

deb