Arizona Chickens

[a2ms4chickens]

Thanks CheerfulHeart2, and Tofu.

This morning her belly is back to normal size because it was draining through the night. I took out the wet towel and bedding, and put in dry bedding and gave her some oatmeal, yogurt and hardboiled egg to eat. Hopefully, she'll start gaining back some weight.

She is one of 3 of our first layer hens, and she has been a good layer. I've kinda grown attached to her.

Angie

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Quote:
When my husband builds coops we use all hardware cloth. The stuff is quite expensive and if you choose to use it I would recommend that you don't get the plastic coated kind. It will do bad things in the heat and break off for the chickens to eat and potentially cause problems. Now since I don't have a predator issue here we use stucco wire for our personal stuff. In my opinion chicken wire and stucco wire is basically the same thing except stucco is cheaper. Some people refer to hardware cloth as welded wire and it comes in several different sizes. We use the 1/4" in our brooders and 1/2" in grow out pens and on coops that we build for sale.

Please remember that if you have any type of predator problem chicken wire or stucco wire is worthless. It does nothing but keep the chickens in. It will not keep out things like squirrels, gophers, raccoons, much less coyotes. Also I might add that in this Arizona sunshine and dry air the plastic netting is in my opinion a waste of money.

Trust me when I say that no one ever thinks that anything bad is going to happen to their beloved chickens and quite a few people will go the cheaper route only to regret it later. You do NOT want to have to experience the feeling of waking up to having a yard full of feathers and parts. Yes I have been through it but it was not a wild predator. It was a neighbors dogs. It was years ago and it is still hard for me to talk about. Save yourself the grief.

I am sure that other Arizona people here will have some other suggestions as well.

 

[budkingston]

Quote:
I bought Stucco netting at either Home Depot or lowes, 150ft long and 3 feet wide for about $48. Poultry netting is the same but it is 4' wide and the same price for 50 feet... I figured that the chickens couldn't tell the difference if I shortchanged them...

 

[LizFM]

Maricopa County Home Show this weekend.

We were given a couple of free tickets by a friend and I was looking at the schedule online.

There is a Backyard Chicken talk

given by Carolyn Hills (is that someone on here?) for the Master Gardener Seminars in teh Garden Pavilion at 3:30 Sunday afternoon!

More info, including an option to get a 1/2 price coupon (entry fee is $5), is available online

http://www.maricopacountyhomeshows.com/

 

[LarryPQ]

Good morning all!

Sommer updated her page with new pics of the Aloha chicks. Some are turning out very nicely. So, just for your morning coffee time, I present:

http://alohachickens.webs.com/january2010.htm

 

[Tonopah Pati]

Good morning Arizona. Welcome Tofu. You landed at a good place. BYC is where it's at.

I got about 15 min. of rain and 25 min. of wind last night. That was the end of the storm. I was hoping for more rain (always). I will take what I get and be thankful.

The Aloha project, really looks interesting. I learned quit a bit about color on his site.

My neighbor ordered a nylon type, stretchable, black bird netting from a farm supply store . He gave me a left over piece. I found the little birds could get in. He has had the stuff up on the top of his pens for 3+ years. It looks the same. It is some really tough material. He said it was the best price he could find. Hardware cloth around the bottom about 3' tall and chicken wire above that over the top. The netting is over the top of that. It does look good. He has Ducks, Ginny hens , chickens, Rabbits, Goats and Pigs.
I bought a 4' wide 50' long roll of some gray 1" plastic poultry fencing. I am adding it to the inside top of my Atrium pen. I will be adding a army surplus camo cargo net. for shade for summer. I have one that has been up 2years over my big chickens pen. That was why I ordered another one. It is really tough. Sun or wind did not hurt it.

Those baby chicks are so cute.

Have a great day all.

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Patti - did you see this thread? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=227712&p=1 I didn't read all of it, so you may have even posted to it, but just in case, I didn't want you to miss the playhouse coop picture.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
Love it. The new breed of chicken developed in Phoenix, AZ... the "Alohas"

 

[Enjaytoo]

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How is your hen doing today Angie? Hope she is still on the mend!

 

[vegaschick]

Okay, I gotta admit I'm not in AZ but I graduated high school there and I live in Vegas so I really appreciate being able to get the advice of fellow desert dwellin' chicken people...especially come summer. So ... I'm gonna stalk ya for info.

You've been warned!