Arizona Chickens

[Brenda Schonig]

I was driving in Fountain Hills on Shea a couple of weeks ago and right along the highway walking was a Coyote. It surprised me but I am quite use to them . My parents live off of Pima and Dixelita and they have coyotes all the time.

I finally rehomed my 5 chickies yesterday. Martin was wonderful and took them in. Martin has the greatest set up out at his place in Apache Junction. My daughter was weepy all morning but once we drove out to Martin's "ranch"? she knew our chicks would be in a good place.

Martin, thank you for your patience in showing Chloe around. BTW...would you please ask your wife what kind of tree, those weeping ones you have in your back yard are? I would like to get one. We can not wait to come back and see how our chicks have grown.. Thank you for that offer too.

Brenda

 

[cap1717]

Quote:
I have lived in a whole bunch of neighborhoods (mostly east central to north central, Phx & Scottsdale, and realize that coyotes are present in the neighborhood, even if you don't see them on a regular basis. They tend to be nocturnal. I think that those who are dilligent about keeping their birds securely cooped at night will have little problem in most neighborhoods, but there are always exceptions. . . a very dry year will leave the predators hungry. . . the closer you are to a mountain preserve, the more likely you are to have them around, etc.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Gosh what is going on? I didn't have a predator thing happen today but I opened my front door for some reason that escapes me then and now and the house across the street was on fire. Not a little fire.....A really big fire. Holy Cow what a day

 

[ArizonaNessa]

The poor couple that lives in that house don't even know yet. They were not home and no one knows how to contact them. They are an elderly chinese couple and don't speak very good english. They have lived there for over 20 years. I feel so bad for them.

 

[samandramey]

Sorry to burst in off subject.... just wondering if anyone wants a beautiful rooster. He was sold as a RIR but i'm sure he's not pure breed or is production variety. I Can only have hens, he started crowing yesterday. He is a gentle, and fairly tame, gorgeous big boy. He's great with the hens, just cant have him in my suburban hood, he was sold to me as a pullet, but grew into a great rooster.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Hi all,
I'm new to chickens. I have 10 almost 4 wk old chicks in my house and we're trying to get the coop/run built to send them outside soon.
We live in Gilbert, AZ so I thought I should check our design with Arizonans to see if you think we have a good "desert design".
It is my understanding that they shouldn't really have an enclosed coop but protection from wetness in the winter is a must.
We are building a 6x10 run with one end (6x4 section) covered on 3 sides and top so one 6' side of the "coop" is completely open to the rest of the run.
It'll be situated under large elm trees (shade in the summer, sun in the winter).
We'll build nest boxes and roosts in the covered part. We're planning to let them out often into the rest of the yard.
Here's a picture so far...

Will this be enough protection?
Would it be better to close off part of the 3rd side in the winter? I definitely don't want them to bake in the summer.
If the chicks are 4 wks now, when can we put them out with or without heat?

Thank you for any information you can share!
I love BYC!


P.S. I have 2 RIR, 2 Red star, 2 BR, 2 light Brahmas, and 2 EEs

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Quote:
I have noticed some people put their roosters in the garage at night and one lady had hers in a box at night that kept him from stretching his neck up to crow in the morning. But, I have no garage and am not sure I am up for the box plan. It would be nice if we could just have them and let them crow!

 

[btrent94]

Garage wouldnt work for me cause mine is full of powertools

has literally no open space... we dont even put our cars in there

AHAH

And then keeping them in a box just seems cruel to me and wouldnt be fair to the rooster if i made its life miserable for my pleasure so i guess ill just have to wait till i can own a farm!

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Quote:
I am not expert, but this looks like a great start to me. If you want to see what others are doing, there is a thread called hot weather coops. Well, I couldn't find that one, but here is the thread showing ArizonaDesertChicks coup:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=111571

I am sure she will comment on her experience with it.

I looked some more and failed to find the hot weather coup thread. I really enjoyed it. It was nice to see so many "relevent" designs.

 

[rufus]

I think the coyotes follow the canals into town. That way they don't get run over.

My brother was having a fit because someone's dog was pooping in his yard. The gardener squished some of it, and promptly pronounced it to be coyote scat. I don't know how he could tell; to me poop is poop.

The good thing about coyotes is that they really thin out the feral cats.

Rufus