Arizona Chickens

[Tonopah Pati]

Good morning Arizona

That Roo is so cool! I love him: I can see why you could not resist getting those babies. I have been thinking about getting a frizzle. I am really getting to like the Blue color, however the white is stunning. Hard to choose. I am still on the hunt for two Bantam Cochin Pullets. Blue or Lavender are my first choice for color. I am open at this point. My Willy Boy needs his own girls, and I like the fact that the pullets go broody. I want my own babies.

 

[WiseChicks]

Brenda -

Hi!

If you are just starting with chickens, you should et at least 2 chicks.... they are very social critters. If you want only a few chicks, go to mypetchicken.com you can order as few as 3 chicks.

Good luck!!

Katie

 

[cap1717]

Well. . . . I have the 7th egg in a row from my Barred Rock, who started laying last week. .. . . and 3 "slackers". . .. these girls are all between 6 & 7 months old now. . . so I'm hoping for a little more "eggcitement" one of these days soon. . .. 2 EE's and a RIR. . . . anyone want to share with me when your EE's and RIR's started laying. . . all but one have really good color on comb and wattles (where present). . . .

 

[LarryPQ]

Good morning-almost afternoon!

Well I was bad. I did adopt that lonely buff brahma pullet. It was a squidge shady, they wanted a re-home fee---which was cool, but I don't remember it being in the ad and we never discussed it. It is likely I missed it in the add. Oh well, I got a whole bag of new feed with her too, so we'll just say I bought a cheap bag of feed, and the pullet was the prize inside. Like a decoder ring.

She seemed glad to be around the other birds, but I can see why her siblings were eaten by the dog. This was the first time I had actually seen a chicken do the "I can't see you, you can't see me" thing. She would hide in the brooder I used to seperate her, but then stick her head outside of it through the bars. I bet she slept like that. I ended up letting her out, and she tried to hide in a cynder block. Not a bright bird. After free-range time, she seemed much calmer hanging with the little chickies. They showed her all the good hiding places.

ANYWAY, there is a ton of work to do in the garden. Has anyone grown radiccio here in the valley? Mine is growing like crazy, but no heads, just big ugly, so-bitter it-is-inedible leaves. I am thinking of tearing it out and using the space for more brussels sprouts.

 

[Brenda Schonig]

Good Morning. I am just starting up with this chicken business and still trying to figure out which ones I want. So I have a question ....What exactly does Broodiness mean? Is there any one locally (I am in Gilbert) that sexes the chicks and sells them? I will probably be thrown out of my neighthood if I get a Roo.

 

[mahalo4]

Quote:
Most feed stores only get pullets in so that is a good place or a hatchery like Ideal but they are not local/I have 2 feed stores by me that both have chicks in right now/B&B feeds and Superstition feeds

sorry broodiness is when a hen or pullet set on their eggs to hatch some little ones.

 

[Brenda Schonig]

Quote:
Most feed stores only get pullets in so that is a good place or a hatchery like Ideal but they are not local/I have 2 feed stores by me that both have chicks in right now/B&B feeds and Superstition feeds

Thank you. I have been checking out Higley Feeds , they get them in every Friday but would yah know it...they did not get an order this week. LOL. I will check out the ones you suggested thank you. I did not know they got mostly pulletts. That takes some relief off my mind.

Brenda

 

[cap1717]

Quote:
Thanks, well, she is well past 20 weeks, more like 25 weeks, and although she has really good "color", she is not yet "squatting". . . . the barred rock, same age, started squatting about a week before starting to lay, so that is the sign I am looking for, but really, all of these girls should start laying soon. The youngest, an EE, does not yet have good comb color, so I expect she will wait awhile, but the other two are just being stubborn, I think! Well. . . I feed peanuts to the Barred Rock every morning, after she lays, so maybe they will "get the idea". . . or not. . . .

 

[budkingston]

Nice to see that AZ, a State normally associated with Gold, Silver, Copper, Gunfights, horses, and VAST expanses of desert has a fairly decent number of chickens!

And a decent number of chicken enthusiasts.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
Most feed stores only get pullets in so that is a good place or a hatchery like Ideal but they are not local/I have 2 feed stores by me that both have chicks in right now/B&B feeds and Superstition feeds

Thank you. I have been checking out Higley Feeds , they get them in every Friday but would yah know it...they did not get an order this week. LOL. I will check out the ones you suggested thank you. I did not know they got mostly pulletts. That takes some relief off my mind.

Brenda

The feed stores in my area also order pullets only, but make sure you ask when you get there - there could be a few exceptions.

Also, make sure you get 1 or 2 more chicks than you need because even though the chicks are sexed and supposed to be pullets, the sexing at that age is only 90% accurate. It's easier to rehome the extras than to add new ones.

The first two times we bought sexed pullets from the feed store - we got a 100% rate -all girls, but the next time, we bought about 8 pullets and two of them ended up being cockerels. Last month, we ordered 25 easter egger pullets from MPC and so far, we've discovered at least 1 roo (comb turned pink at only 3 weeks of age) - don't know yet, if we have anymore, but I'm watching a couple of them. Luckily, the person who came to buy a few pullets from us wanted a roo too, so we were already able to find that baby roo a home.