Arizona Chickens

[Mama Hen Chris]

He does crow occasionally, not often, and not very loudly.

He is gorgeous. Would love to have him, but no roosters allowed here.

 

[Demosthine]

I just wanted to give a big

to City Farm for inviting us out to her house last night for a little get together. We met some great people, had good food and an even better time. It's great to be able to socialize, especially with people who are just as crazy as you are. My wife loves the Silkies even more than she did in the pictures, so that may be part of our next batch. I always had plans for four to six hens. We have room for three more. Two Silkies and a Black Copper Maran perhaps? Yup, sounds good to me.

In the meantime, the coop is coming along nicely. I made the Feed Hopper and installed it today. The girls are eating out of it just fine already, so that's wonderful. It holds about 3 1/2 pounds of Start & Grow. I designed it to run up the side of the coop and will go through the roof when I add that. There is a sewer cleanout end cap on it, so I can securely close it and easily refill it. The best part is that it is two-inch pipe, which is the perfect size to use a standard canning funnel when I'm topping it off. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Night everyone.

 

[notinoz2007]

the chicks turned 2 weeks old on saturday - its hard to believe they're that old already. they went to the outdoor brooder yesterday, it was about time too since they were hopping out of the one in the guest room. now i have to get the carpet cleaned in there! the brats... they're so cute tho and its fun to watch them discover new things. like wind, and grass, lol. i will try to post pictures this week.

 

[Mahonri]

My ornamental layer collection will be arriving on February 4th. When I figure out which ones I don't want to keep, I'll let y'all know.

 

[Billiam]

After a whole year, the neighborhood birds have finally discovered the chicken feed. Adding the treadle feed to my to-do list.

 

[City farm]

the chicks turned 2 weeks old on saturday - its hard to believe they're that old already. they went to the outdoor brooder yesterday, it was about time too since they were hopping out of the one in the guest room. now i have to get the carpet cleaned in there! the brats... they're so cute tho and its fun to watch them discover new things. like wind, and grass, lol. i will try to post pictures this week.

 

It is the best entertainment!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

We went to Flagstaff over the weekend rock climbing at Priest Draw with our daughter's climbing team. As a parent, it was at once terrifying and awe inspiring.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

After a whole year, the neighborhood birds have finally discovered the chicken feed. Adding the treadle feed to my to-do list.

You're lucky you made it a whole year! Boy, they can really put a dent in the feed, can't they? While I love my treadle feeders, I would point out that there are cheaper and easier alternatives. While I don't have any experience with them, the trigger/lever activated bucket feeders are well reviewed and can be seen in this thread. Also see post #10 & #13 in this thread for a very cleaver auto-feeder design. Of course, like a treadle feeder, the success of these types of feeders also depends on training the chickens to use them.

I'm about to go thermo-nuclear on the European House Sparrows in my yard. After returning home this weekend, I discovered that they had completely denuded my snow pea vines. Now they're trying to do the same with the cauliflower and broccoli plants. I built a diabolical sparrow trap last year, tested it and then released the captives after going a bit soft. I think they've finally pushed me over the edge now.

 

[Billiam]

You're lucky you made it a whole year! Boy, they can really put a dent in the feed, can't they? While I love my treadle feeders, I would point out that there are cheaper and easier alternatives. While I don't have any experience with them, the trigger/lever activated bucket feeders are well reviewed and can be seen in this thread. Also see post #10 & #13 in this thread for a very cleaver auto-feeder design. Of course, like a treadle feeder, the success of these types of feeders also depends on training the chickens to use them.

I'm about to go thermo-nuclear on the European House Sparrows in my yard. After returning home this weekend, I discovered that they had completely denuded my snow pea vines. Now they're trying to do the same with the cauliflower and broccoli plants. I built a diabolical sparrow trap last year, tested it and then released the captives after going a bit soft. I think they've finally pushed me over the edge now.

I think those are the same birds that are getting a free lunch from me. I thought they were coming in and out of a whole towards the top of one of my walls, but this morning I saw one fly right through the chicken wire. Tiny little thing fit right through it. Maybe I need to put an out wire fence around the whole thing and plug it into the power. Mwahahahahah!

 

[Demosthine]

I think those are the same birds that are getting a free lunch from me. I thought they were coming in and out of a whole towards the top of one of my walls, but this morning I saw one fly right through the chicken wire. Tiny little thing fit right through it. Maybe I need to put an out wire fence around the whole thing and plug it into the power. Mwahahahahah!

The birds fit through the chicken wire? Or is it hardware cloth? Because I haven't seen any birds remotely close to small enough to fit through chicken wire in my area. About the only thing close are hummingbirds, and since they aren't interested in the feed, there's no worries there. Can you get some pictures up close to compare? The ones online look mostly too large to fit through the chicken wire. Those suckers are small to squeeze through!