Arizona Chickens

[Arizonachicken]

Ok, guys and gals, I need your expert advise. Is this little olive egger a roo? What do you all think? He/she is almost 13 weeks old, no crowing, but the saddle feathers have me questioning. Thank you in advance!

 

[itsredcandy]

I had thought the same way. Get silkies first. They look like they have fluffy hair and not feathers and they are loving. Mine can be held and the girls would love to cuddle them I am sure.
Also agree don't buy from a hatchery there is lots of breeds to choose from locally with our members.
Try not for awhile to get roosters for if your wife has a fear she is hiding they may well scare her if they get randy. On one note tho. The Silkies are always sweet even the roosters. At least that is my experience. I including a couple of others have baby silkies right now.

You folks that are from Oregon I must say I LOVE it there. Les and I moved here is 95 from Omaha. In Aug 2010 we moved up to Vancouver, WA. Stayed there until Aug 2011 when Les' health made us come back to Phoenix area to get back to our old doctor to get him healthy again. He is diabetic and for some reason the Doc there couldn't get him on the insulin he needed. Well Our wonderful Doc got him back in good control in one week. Loved Vancouver! The smells the green but the constant drizzle made us nuts!

We do plan on going back in a couple of years but to Roseburg, Oregon. Does any of you know if Roseburg is really less rainy as the stats say? We have been to Roseburg and like it. We should have stopped there in stead of going all the way to Vancouver but at the time Les was hoping to get work. He now has his disability so doesn't matter where we end up. We also hope we have a motor home, a small one, to go back in and live in various places before we decide where we want to settle.

I do believe that Roseburg gets less rain, but they get more snow. I don't miss the rain at all. Yesterdays rain was great, you know it's going to be gone within 24 hours. Up there, you didn't know when you'd see the sun again. I love it here. Looking forward to visiting Portland in a few weeks.

 

[Novaleigh]

I sent you an email via craiglist! Please check your email

FYI....


http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/grd/3117686404.html

 

[itsredcandy]

Mikey D, I may be a noob, but how did I know that you'd not only be the first to answer my question (helpfully, as always) but also that you'd be encouraging the chick route instead of jumping right to pullets!

Sadly, I do not have an extra bath tub.

I used a large dog kennel with a heat lamp and pine shavings for the floor for my chicks and kept them there, in the house for 5 weeks. My house was covered in dust and getting quit smelly. When the coop was done (mid Feb) , I moved them out to the coop with a heat lamp and they did just fine. They are all nearly laying now and are very healthy.

 

[itsredcandy]

Hello everyone!
I just wanted to introduce myself finally. I've been lurking for about 6 months learning a tremendous amount! So thank you everyone.
I live in what I guess I guess is NW Phx , near DV ( going to check out that feed store). I am a native and this place has grown way too fast for me. I am an urban gardener ( I like to think farmer) and thought chickens would enhance that. Their pooh does, but thought better of the unsupervised free range when they started to defoliate my blueberry bushes, lol! Lucky girls still get garden bugs tossed to them and quite a bit of veggies! My sweetheart constantly complains that I keep giving them his portion of our garden. And you should of seen the look on his face when I fed them his Greek yogurt ;-). Actually he is totally on board with my gang of thugs! I am the idea person and he runs around trying to build them, poor guy. We live in a neighborhood with no HOA and one of my back door neighbors already has chickens. The others said they don't mind which is good considering my Wyandotte ( Dot) cleared a 5 foot block fence into their yard when she stared to lay! The other home is a rental, with transient renters. I realize the best we can do is we are always be at the mercy of our neighbors goodwill. The reality is, at any time they can withdraw their verbal agreement. So we do our best at being clean. Unfortunately hens can be very noisy! I do hope that as they get into the laying groove, they will settle down a bit.
We got chicks in beginning and end of Jan. With one death and one roo we have ended up with 6 pullets. All are laying now. They started mid May and the last one started 2 weeks ago. I love it! We raised them in the house until they got their feathers ( actually longer because The Builder needed more time with the coop). I really enjoyed that, and was able to have more physical interaction. And then I had to clean the room after we put them in the coop. OMG! Horrible. I had to break down the room to remove all the dust! Everywhere!
We have already experienced problems with bullying and separating birds. Lived with that bird in the house ( in a dog kennel). It was a fairly successful venture. Still have the bird. Great layer, but not a favorite. They formed a gang and went after the poor cat, and pecked the h**l out of my dogs ( pitbull) nose through the fencing. Trying to get someone to care for them when you go on vacation is a challenge. We have wormed, and watched those beautiful eggs pile up Luckily no illnesses so far! I am knocking on wood right now!
This IS work, but it is enjoyable work! Chickens are dirty! But like any animal they are as dirty as you allow their surrounding to be. There is a slight odor, but nothing like cats or dogs ( or people, trust me I work in a " service" industry). Any living thing can be filthy and dirty, but it is our responsibility to keep them clean, which is work.
This forum has been a great place of information. Again, thanks to everyone!

Welcome. Glad you joined us.

 

[itsredcandy]

I posted this in emergencies/cures....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/685048/lame-modern-game-hen-tendon-knee-remedies

one of our Modern Game hens has a bum leg, and I'm looking for advice on what we can do to help her. I also posted a video to see if that helps....

Have a Happy & Safe 4th everyone!!

I could be way off here, but have you checked her for bumble foot? Does the bottom of her foot look normal? I would thing the pain from bumble foot could make it appear to be a lame leg.

 

[itsredcandy]

Hi, I am new to the forum but have been lurking around here for the past few months and have leared an absolute ton here! Thanks for all the info. I have been pondering getting some chickens, mainly for the hormone free eggs, and also to be pets for my 2 boys. I started building the coop about 2 weeks ago and am getting so excited to bring on the chicks! Can somone direct me to a thread link that may help me decide what kind of chicks to get that will be productive, good pets, and survive in the Gilbert heat? Also, where is a good place to buy organic, non-GMO feed preferably in the east valley? Thanks for any input and I am sure I will have a fewmore questions along the way. Here is a picture of the progress on my coop, Have a happy 4th of July!

-Scott

Welcome, the coop looks nice. I live in east mesa and have 1 Jersey Giant, 2 Plymouth barred rocks, 1 New Hampshire Red, 1 Rhode Island Red, 2 Ideal 236 white leghorns, 1 Black Australorp, and 2 Easter Eggers (Americans). They all have done very well in the heat. I used misters on part of the run area and they hide under the coop during the height of the heat. The misters keep it to around 89 tops under the coop from the wet ground. I don't keep the misters on all the times as I have leaks that need to be dealt with that will flood the yard unnecessarily. There is a organic group feed order put in every couple of months where you can get feed at a discounted rate. http://www.facebook.com/BackyardChickenFarmersUnite/info

 

[itsredcandy]

Wahoo!

FMK - you must be good luck!

Look at what I found in the nest box this afternoon!



Now who could it be?

GSL?
Wellsummer?
Cochin/silkie cross

Who would lay a quail size light speckled egg?

Congrats. I think my Black Australorp laid her first egg yesterday. She's not squatting but I don't think she will as she hangs with that wild Ideal 236s, that are the flightiest birds.

 

[itsredcandy]

Hi,

I am new to this forum and since I live in Tempe, I feel that chicken owners in AZ have different issues than elsewhere in the country, especially our heat. for the past week my year old Dominique has been acting listless and sleeping a lot. She isn't eating, drinking or very active at all. She seems a bit out of balance and even steps on her own toes. None of is is her normal behavior. the other three hens are fine. She is the sweetest chick and we would hate to lose her. Anyone ever had experience with these symptoms? I do also have a good avian vet if you need one. He saved my Speckled Sussex after she swallowed a live scorpion which stung her on the esophagus on the way down. She had an immediate reaction...paralysis, liquids running out he rear and mouth. I took her right in to the avian vet who knew immediately what was wrong, as by that time she was twitching. He gave her an intervenious anti-venum, and kept her four hours giving her fluids etc. She lived, and was herself after three days. Usually our hens have no problems with scorpions, but this was unique. Just thought i would pass that along.
My husband wanted me to have something to nurture but said a dog would be to costly with food and vet bills...ha, our girls eat a can of corn per day, orzo pasta mixed with 1/2 can of cat food, collard greens, dried mealworms and we have racked up over $600 in vet bills in less than a year on chicks that cost $3-4 a peice. What do others feed their chicks for treats?

Fifth Chick

Sounds like your bird may have heat stroke. Can you put her in a cool place for a few days to observe her and see if she recovers on her own?

My chickens get veggie scraps, meal worms (that I have raised), apples, tomatoes, watermelon rhines, discounted produce, black oil sunflower seeds and scratch as snacks.

 

[itsredcandy]

Oooh.....bumblefoot.....I have read a lot on how to treat it, am sure at some point I'll have to deal with it, but happily so far haven't had to.....
Yikes!

Best of luck to you! I just read a thread on treating double bumblefoot this morning in the Emergencies/Cures section......let us know how it goes!!! I will edit and post if I find the link again...

-edit-

Well, I can't find the one that I was thinking of, but found this one which looks good, too....pics and how-to's......
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/236649/bumblefoot-surgery-with-pics-and-how-to

Didn't read this yet, before I posted my comment.