Arizona Chickens

[ChrystalGail]

Just wait until you see their cute little fuzzy butts! You will fall in love! They are sooo cute when they are little. You are going to have so much fun! Do you know what kind you are going to get? How many?

I, too, keep mine inside for the first 2 weeks. They are so social when you do that. I keep mine in the laundry room, so they aren't getting anything except in there dusty. Mine do tend to be a little dusty, but if you put a nice screen over their brooder it should be kept to a minium.

Make sure you post pics of your new babies!!!

 

[phoenixmama]

Quote:
I'm in Gilbert, and my most recent flock of chicks I got 2 weeks ago. There's 50 of them and they are in a 4X10 movable pen in the backyard. For the first week, I put two heat lamps in since it's getting down to the 70s at night. Since them they've been fine without a heat lamp. Granted, these are meat birds so they grow faster than egg layers would. If they were egg layers, I'd probably still keep the heat lamp out. At least until they had a fair amount of feathers in. Hope that helps!

 

[phoenixmama]

ChrystalGail,

Be wary and watch your chickens when feeding them scorpions. Bark scorpions love our house and yard as much as we do. To give you an idea of how many we have, my husband goes out every night with a black light to hunt for them. He kills at least 10 a night...most nights it's 20-30. When it's breeding season for them, he'll get over a 100.

Anyway, my point about the chickens is that many people say that chickens are somehow immune to their stings. That isn't necessarily the case. I've had over 10 incidences of chickens getting stung by scorpions. And those were only the ones that I witnessed. Chickens are just like people, some seem to be more sensitive to their stings. My poor Flower goes down after only 2-3 minutes after getting stung. Charlie seems to be immune to their stings. And the others are all somewhere in the middle. During the heat of summer, I was having to check on them many times throughout the day. The one time I found Flower, had I waited any longer...she would have been dead and I would have assumed it was the heat that killed her. You'll know a chicken is sensitive to their stings if you see this:

Pretty much in this order...
1) shaking their head and scratching at their face
2) gaping beak, difficulty swallowing
3) shaking, difficulty standing, falls over easily, lays around
4) flat as a pancake, nasal discharge pouring out

If you see this, it's important to get them Benadryl right away if you want to save them. When I find them like this, I put them in their own box in a quiet spot...and in a place I can easily keep an eye on them to make sure their head stays in an upright position. Take a 25 mg Benadryl tablet and dissolve it in 1 T. warm water with a little bit of corn syrup. I use one of those syringes used to give liquid medicine to kids. I give about 2 mL of the suspension. That seems to be enough to stop the allergic reaction and calm them down, but not enough to cause them to go to sleep. You will likely have to keep the one away from the other chickens for a minimum of a few days. Flower (my most sensitive) took over a week before she was able to walk. It was nearly two weeks before I felt comfortable putting her back in with the others. Hopefully none of yours are sensitive...just be aware that the old timers that say chickens are immune to scorpion stings aren't giving you the whole story.

Good luck!

Edited to add: I wasn't referring to any of you on BYC as "old timers". Rather, I was thinking of this old guy that came to our place to fix something and mentioned that chickens are good to have around if you have scorpions and how they aren't hurt from their stings. Anyway...

 

[Tonopah Pati]

Alan B, just feed them Crumbles. I give mine treats of greens, fruit, Yogurt. Things like that. There is a treat thread you can look at. It is very helpful.

Good morning Arizona. We sure had a hot one yesterday. I had 110. I hope the 100's are over.

Everyone have a great day.

 

[Enjaytoo]

Good Morning! Good info to know, phoenixmama, about the Benadryl...

Tonopah Pati, yes, (pheasants) are fun to raise...if you are going to do meat birds you'd probably want the Jumbo Ringnecks or Melanistics (I prefer the latter-they are sooooo pretty) I just have ornamentals (Lady Amhersts and Goldens) now, I previously had both but the Ringnecks can get flighty and need more room. I'll have to take some pictures of my pens (my new chickies are next to them but not with

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
If you are only going to get 3 chicks to start, you won't have much dust or smell from them. I think you could just keep them in the house - once they start trying to get out, place a screen over the top and you can keep them in the house at nights until they are 6 weeks old. You can keep them outside in the daytimes - that will cut down on the smell in your house.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Even if you purchase your chicks as pullets, you won't know 100% that they are all girls till they are at least 6 weeks old (most places that sell sexed chicks have a 90% accuracy rate). You may want to order 4-5 chicks and then sell the extra one or two on craigslist once you figure out their sexes. It would be quite a disappointment for you, if you purchased 3 chicks and then discovered one was a roo.





edited for spelling

 

[Mahonri]

Vanessa...

Still waiting for those girls I bought from you (hatch 4/27) to start laying... Maybe next month.

The Ancona is really getting a comb but the other 5 (Dellie, BO, EEs, CQ)... NOTHING... the CQ really grew at first, now she's quit growing and her comb is still tiny...

Maybe I need to change feed.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Mahonri~ Some other people that bought from that hatch are laying so it should be soon. The EEs that I have left (2) have not started. The anconas scared the you know what outta me til I got to looking around. Their combs do the same as leghorns. If it starts crowing let me know and I will fix it

My personal CQs don't have much in the way of combs so I don't think that is much to worry about. How is that partridge roo doing? Keep me posted and if you need anything don't hesitate to find me. The dels are 5/28 hatch.

 

[DM]

Got a question. Don't know what is best. After the rooster was taken to my friends place I have wanted to put a hen or two in with the two I now have. Do I buy younger than these, the same age. Have had the two for about 5 months( no eggs yet). One is a Buff orpington and I think I would like 2 more of that bread. The other is brown not sure which it is, the rooster was from the same group as her and had black in its tale and neck. Any way I know that new chickens add stress so does any one know the best way to pull this off.