Arizona Chickens

[Gallo del Cielo]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts......we are hoping to get the squirrel today, although we don't really know where it's living exactly. Our shed is on a concrete slab, so hopefully he isn't burrowed underneath it...

. We can't get to the burrow entrance if that's the case because it would be on the back side in the tiny space where I found the pullet....

The other two young pullets are in a pen and Not Happy about it....keep looking at me and peeping madly with that "why are you torturing me" kind of cry....

That's exactly where you would be most likely to find it. They seem to specialize in digging networks of tunnels under concrete slabs. If they've been there for any time you might also find multiple entrances. Good luck!

 

[MagicChicken]

Round tailed ground squirrel. Found in abundance in AZ. I have personally seen a ground squirrel get hit by a car, then another ground squirrel go over to his downed buddy...and start eating him! Which, ironically, the cannibal squirrel was so in tune with eating the other squirrel, that it didn't run out of the way in time from an oncoming vehicle. Splat! Well...there lay two ground squirrels. A third ground squirrel came over and goes, oh yay! Double foods!

I don't know if they will hunt and kill chicks, but they sure thought cannibalism was great, so I wouldn't put it past them!

X2. Squished ground squirrel seems to be a preferred treat for ground squirrels around here, too. It's a self-perpetuating supply.

I can see a rock squirrel eating a chicken carcass it found, but I'm having trouble believing it would actually KILL a chicken. Unless it was a pretty dumb chicken, or a sick one or something. And even then I'm having trouble picturing a predatory rock squirrel. They seem to be much more opportunistic than predatory. But I could be wrong. Usually am!

 

[pdx2phx]

We got the rock squirrel

and it was a BIG one....with ol' gnarly yellow teeth.....

Size wise it could have easily killed/drug off my little pullet and cockerel (young serama sized), and the more I read about them and think about where I found the pullet the more I am sure it did it. GOOD RIDDANCE! We should have left it to get mauled by the hens for justice, but after seeing those nasty teeth, no way was I letting my girls near it, even half dead.

ETA:

they were both pretty tiny, young, and shall we say, not exactly "street smart." They were incredibly sweet and loving, and preferred laps and snuggles to just about anything else......

I miss them.

 

[itsredcandy]

Picked up some fertile eggs from Trader Joes and tucked them under my broody hen. Hopefully we'll have some little White Leghorn chicks in the next three days. They're marked to enjoy by 9/5. I am hoping they'll be hatching about that day. Those eggs are HUGE.

 

[parentwarrior]

Ours love to eat scorpions, the only issue is when/if they actually get stung by them. We've had our full size, banty and serama chickens get stung and they all seem to react in the same way. The smaller hens were effected by the scorpion sting longer (a couple of days vs 1 day/overnight) for the big girls.

When they get stung (typically in the face) they'll start sneezing, kinda coughing/honking, shaking their head and progressively will have more labored breathing, start staggering like they're drunk and will eventually sit/lay down. They'll lose control in their legs and have spazms, too. They'll have mucus around their beaks and have rattled sounding breathing.

We have had great success with treating with Children's Benadryl (liquid). We keep a bottle on hand with our little chicken med kit (everyone with chickens in the desert should have some IMHO) It's always a bit of a guess on the dosage for us, since we have mostly smaller chickens. Most of the web info on dosing is for full sized hens.

We bring them inside and plan on at least overnight (maybe a day or two) dose them with the Benadryl ASAP in and watch them, you just have to make sure they don't spasm and kick themselves into their water, or into a position where their airway is blocked (laying on their face, for example). We make little towel doughnuts with holes in the middle for their legs to try and keep them from kicking themselves into bad positions. Typically the spasms last about 12 hours (overnight) then after that they're able to at least sit in their pen and rest.

I won't put them back out until they can walk and feed themselves normally, since the others might attack them. We had one who was inside for 3 days...she had a really bad sting and couldn't really eat normally for a few days. She would peck at the air, above her food. I wasn't sure if it was an eyesight/depth perception issue or what, but after another day she was fine and we put her back out. You might have to dip their beak in the water to make sure they get some, since the "air pecking" also goes for drinking too....

Hopefully this helps in case you ever have to deal with a sting!

You brought up a good point. I need a medic kit for my chickens. What goes into one?
Kris

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I know huh? It seems so improbable. I wonder if the pressure to provide for a brood might change their disposition.

We got the rock squirrel

and it was a BIG one....with ol' gnarly yellow teeth.....

Size wise it could have easily killed/drug off my little pullet and cockerel (young serama sized), and the more I read about them and think about where I found the pullet the more I am sure it did it. GOOD RIDDANCE! We should have left it to get mauled by the hens for justice, but after seeing those nasty teeth, no way was I letting my girls near it, even half dead.

ETA:

they were both pretty tiny, young, and shall we say, not exactly "street smart." They were incredibly sweet and loving, and preferred laps and snuggles to just about anything else......

I miss them.

Excellent! Did you happen to check if it was male or female? Lactating?

 

[pdx2phx]

Quote:
I can give my .02 but hope that others with a lot more experience will chime in too! Some of it probably needs some explaining....

we have:

dog nail trimmers (for overgrown beaks/nails)
good scissors (for cutting compress pads and vetwrap)
compress pads
stiptic pencil (sp?) to stop minor bleeding, broken pinfeathers although sometimes these are best just pulled out.
10% iodine
Terramycin ointment for eye infections
vetwrap
x-acto knife and blades (I had this for bumblefoot)
needle nose tweezers
Blu-kote for covering red sores so they don't get pecked
polysporin
Vetericyn gel antibiotic spray for wounds, bumblefoot
Children's Benadryl
Wazine (for worms, although we haven't used it)
Batril injectable antibiotic (to give orally)
lots of small CC syringes for oral meds
q-tips

Oxine (for disinfecting and also for respiratory problems we will use a Crane humidifier with Oxine as a fogger)
Crane humidifier (this has been so handy!! we also used it around our hatching chicks, who started hatching under broodies but due to crazy dangerous broody behavior we brought them inside and hatched them under a heat lamp, with the humidifier. We don't have an incubator, and this definitely isn't the recommended way to hatch chicks!!! (although it worked for us)

a large 35mL syringe and tube feeder tip

Enfamil (actually the costco version now) powder, the type you add only water to which needs some explainin' **

**we are kinda crazy, and have had 1 of our original 3 chickens, a NH, get a virus (I'm guessing) twice over the past 12 mos. No one else has had an issue. She loses appetite, gets rail thin, and then slowly recovers over a period of weeks. We have tube fed her a ratio of 3 scoops Enfamil powder/2 scoops water (per the chicken vet) at a minimum of 3x per day to keep her going during the time when she has no appetite. This most recent time we did this only a few times, and both kind of decided to let her do what she needed to do and she recovered anyway.....she is Not Fond of tube feeding, and neither are we, frankly!

What about other folks?? What do you all have in your kits? I'm sure there are things I should have in mine that I don't. I haven't ever given an injection, so should probably learn how for vaccinations, etc. I don't have any needles.

 

[pdx2phx]

Quote:
I know huh? It seems so improbable. I wonder if the pressure to provide for a brood might change their disposition.

We got the rock squirrel

and it was a BIG one....with ol' gnarly yellow teeth.....

Size wise it could have easily killed/drug off my little pullet and cockerel (young serama sized), and the more I read about them and think about where I found the pullet the more I am sure it did it. GOOD RIDDANCE! We should have left it to get mauled by the hens for justice, but after seeing those nasty teeth, no way was I letting my girls near it, even half dead.

ETA:

they were both pretty tiny, young, and shall we say, not exactly "street smart." They were incredibly sweet and loving, and preferred laps and snuggles to just about anything else......

I miss them.

Excellent! Did you happen to check if it was male or female? Lactating?
I did look, but honestly I wasn't sure what was going on down there!

I didn't see nipples I guess. Shoot, now I'm really wondering! I remember seeing "parts" that looked reminiscent of a female dog, but also saw something in the middle of the belly that was reminiscent of a male goat or sheep. (yeah, I know, totally wrong animal family...lol) but that's why I was confused. But it was a squirrel!!!!!

 

[Handmadens]

I was told by Animal Control today that a neighbor doesn't like my chickens so I have 2 months to get rid of them. I have a Black Copper Maran Rooster that is 21 weeks old, 2 Australorps, 2 Easter Eggers, 2 Rhode Island Reds 1 Barred Rock that are all 1 year old and laying great. I also have older hens Speckled Sussex, Silver Laced Wyandotte, barred rocks,rhode islands, golden sex link, Delaware. A couple of them are molting so may not look the prettiest right now but still good hens. I really need to find god homes for them. I would like to get $15.00 for each of the hens and $10.00 for the rooster. You can email me or text me at (480) 516-1306

 

[pdx2phx]

I was told by Animal Control today that a neighbor doesn't like my chickens so I have 2 months to get rid of them. I have a Black Copper Maran Rooster that is 21 weeks old, 2 Australorps, 2 Easter Eggers, 2 Rhode Island Reds 1 Barred Rock that are all 1 year old and laying great. I also have older hens Speckled Sussex, Silver Laced Wyandotte, barred rocks,rhode islands, golden sex link, Delaware. A couple of them are molting so may not look the prettiest right now but still good hens. I really need to find god homes for them. I would like to get $15.00 for each of the hens and $10.00 for the rooster. You can email me or text me at (480) 516-1306

wow I am so sorry.....is it a totally done deal or do you have any appeal rights? Have you read the statutes/code to see what it says for Mesa? Can you keep your hens (or some of them) and find a home for your roo?