Arizona Chickens

[parentwarrior]

I am not sure how long after feeding them scratch it affects their metabolism, I just know it raises it. In my opinion if it has been working so far I would stick with it. All in all it sounds like a good idea to me. My coop is a deep litter type coop so I use my grass clipping instead of pine shaving in the coop and they don’t eat much of it, so far no issues. I have never attempted feeding it too them other than when they eat it from free ranging. I would consider grass similar to table scraps, but I have not read anything regarding the similarity or difference. If you find something out let me know.

Are you on http://www.phoenixpermaculture.or this is a great site for things local to phx area. Great resource!

I heard that you need to be careful the pieces of grass are not too long because it can cause problems internally. That is the only thing I have heard about it. It saves me money I figure and is good along with the other stuff. I went to the Mesa Marketplace on Main st and I was able to get cucumbers 8 for a dollar and heads of lettuce 3 for a dollar. Good buys! my guys LOVE cucumbers. They also go wild for pieces of hot dogs as a treat. I buy them at Walmart for 99 cents. I do not let my guys free roam but I would love to find a way to attract more bugs to my cage area...LOL I tried your link, I am not aware of that site but I couldn't get the link to work. I would love to check it out, thanks!

 

[parentwarrior]

I'm not here much, and this visit I'm here to whine, I'm giving you all fair warning.

I have lost 2 hens to this heat. And that's with A/C in both coops. After losing one of my BCMs today, I caught every one of my chickens and closed them inside their coops. Cleared out both waterers of the SCORCHING water inside them, added ice and cold water and electrolytes hoping that will help. If I have to keep them closed up for the rest of the summer, I will. It breaks my heart to lose them and to think they suffered so. In the standards coop I tossed ice packs around the floor. The banty coop seems to stay a few degrees cooler.

I just don't know what else to do for them. Blah!

I am so sorry, even with the AC, amazing! I have discovered that the square shaped 99 cents containers of water stay cold the longest so far. They melt the slowest. I don't have AC but just a mister and a fan in the run. They stay in front of the mister and fan during the hottest part of the day. It is probably 20 degrees cooler there.

 

[pdx2phx]

Thought I'd share this from this evening...some cuteness to take my mind off of the fruitless digging around in my hen's foot for bumblefoot kernels under the scabs. I just can't tell if what's there is "normal" or not and I feel like a giant jerk for causing pain for no reason. I didn't find anything to dig out but am worried I'm just an incompetent chicken surgeon

Anyone want to school me on bumblefoot surgery? I've watched videos, read, etc but I don't know what the kernels should feel like while they're still in the foot...


So here is 5 seconds of cute to cleanse my mind for the night...




Incidentally, the adorable little guy in the foreground is going to need a home at some point. He is about 3 weeks old and is already practicing his squeak crows.....he is a Serama/banty mix. Anyone need a sweet little roo?

 

[fmk602]

[COLOR=DDA0DD]Just for Giggles I want to share with you guys this phone my mother sent to me via email. Its a redneck chicken tractor made from a trampoline frame lol She was making fun of me because I like to recycle things and I used my old swimming pool frame as a tortoise pen shown below. Oh well what can I say ! Shes right I would totally do this lol[/COLOR]

[COLOR=DDA0DD][/COLOR]
 my recycled swimming pool frame below

I love the tortoise pen! They have their own little shade tree, nice.

 

[udubchick]

I heard that you need to be careful the pieces of grass are not too long because it can cause problems internally. That is the only thing I have heard about it. It saves me money I figure and is good along with the other stuff. I went to the Mesa Marketplace on Main st and I was able to get cucumbers 8 for a dollar and heads of lettuce 3 for a dollar. Good buys! my guys LOVE cucumbers. They also go wild for pieces of hot dogs as a treat. I buy them at Walmart for 99 cents. I do not let my guys free roam but I would love to find a way to attract more bugs to my cage area...LOL I tried your link, I am not aware of that site but I couldn't get the link to work. I would love to check it out, thanks!

add a "g" to the end of the link and it should work for you. I found this a few weeks ago following another recommendation on this site. It has a lot of great info!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Good morning Arizona! It's good to be home.

 

[udubchick]

My little 7 week old BO, Claire, is back to normal! I had her in the dog crate yesterday enjoying the AC and put her back with the other babies last night. All I did was put a little DE under her wings in case there was something bothering her I couldn't see. I don't know if that was it or something else, but it didn't take long for her to bounce back!

I'm curious about the body temperature discussion. I've been feeding only fruits and vegis from the table for my girls. The 3 older girls free range and the babies are still in a large enclosed run. They LOVE watermelon. I've also been feeding blueberries and extra salad vegis whenever I have them chopped up. Do these raise their body temp? Does it matter if they're room temp or refrigerated when I give them to the girls?

I don't have AC on their runs, but they have a metal roof and some siding to give areas of shade all day. I've been giving them a frozen water jug and watermelon everyday to help with the heat. I think misters may be coming soon! I also have a box fan I may set-up.

Another question, I don't have an enclosed coop, just chicken wire runs (fully enclosed with door) with a partially shaded area with metal siding for the roost and nest boxes. They seem to be doing ok so far, but we're considering building a new area for them to move them to a different part of the yard. Can we go with the same partially enclosed set-up or should we plan for a coop? We have a window AC unit we can dedicate to them if we build and enclosed coop.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I am not sure how long after feeding them scratch it affects their metabolism, I just know it raises it. In my opinion if it has been working so far I would stick with it. All in all it sounds like a good idea to me. My coop is a deep litter type coop so I use my grass clipping instead of pine shaving in the coop and they don’t eat much of it, so far no issues. I have never attempted feeding it too them other than when they eat it from free ranging. I would consider grass similar to table scraps, but I have not read anything regarding the similarity or difference. If you find something out let me know.

Are you on http://www.phoenixpermaculture.or this is a great site for things local to phx area. Great resource!

Scratch is like candy--not a nutritious diet, but as a treat it sure tastes good to them. FWIW, I never feed scratch, although I do occasionally give specific grains or a high quality pigeon feed (vastly wider and different set of grains than scratch; an excellent quality of pigeon feed costs more per bag than the chicken feed).

Cut grass can impact the crop; when they graze on a lawn or field, they bite off tiny pieces, not eating large chunks as they sometimes do with grass clippings.

 

[itsredcandy]

Thought I'd share this from this evening...some cuteness to take my mind off of the fruitless digging around in my hen's foot for bumblefoot kernels under the scabs. I just can't tell if what's there is "normal" or not and I feel like a giant jerk for causing pain for no reason. I didn't find anything to dig out but am worried I'm just an incompetent chicken surgeon

Anyone want to school me on bumblefoot surgery? I've watched videos, read, etc but I don't know what the kernels should feel like while they're still in the foot...


So here is 5 seconds of cute to cleanse my mind for the night...




Incidentally, the adorable little guy in the foreground is going to need a home at some point. He is about 3 weeks old and is already practicing his squeak crows.....he is a Serama/banty mix. Anyone need a sweet little roo?

Try this site. http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html

 

[Fuzzybird]

Incidentally, the adorable little guy in the foreground is going to need a home at some point. He is about 3 weeks old and is already practicing his squeak crows.....he is a Serama/banty mix. Anyone need a sweet little roo?



Wow that is one cute little guy. How can he have a comb so young? What banty is he mixed with? I really like him.