Arizona Chickens

[itsredcandy]

Unhappy to report that I caught this going on this morning. Frizz and Frazz may need to be separated.

Yesterday there was an owl trying to get at my chicks at 5am before the sun came up, then this. Not a good chicken week for me. However, everyone is safe.

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Happy Halloween..Hazel (RIP) made it for worday chicken pic.

 

[itsredcandy]

Happy Halloween..Hazel (RIP) made it for worday chicken pic.

Great caption and a pretty girl. Hazel RIP

 

[QCZoo]

Hi!
I have been on BYC for a few weeks now, but only just thought to look for a desert chickens thread...so many folks seemed to be back east, some of their processed and eneds didn't match ours here in AZ.
So, we are in Queen Creek, and we have ...a bunch of chickens. i lost count;-) I think we are at 24. Some are being raised and trained for 4-H. but most are large fowl-egg layers.

With winter coming on, I'm curious what people do differently here. It's pretty chilly at night, and as far out as we are, temps drop into the freezing range come December-February. My chickens are currently in an open yard with a mesquite tree that they sleep in. They have a half dozen nesting boxes, and most of the time they do lay their eggs in them.

my 6 chicks spend days outside in a separate cage inside the yard, and the smallest 3 come inside at night. The odler 3 are fully feathered, so they stay out at night too.

I am thinking about building them an actual coop, but leaving the tree as a roost...by surrounding the tree with plywood walls and leaving the top open so the tree still gets light and air, and the chickens can be both in the coop and in the tree at night.. Thoughts on this? Mostly just for protection from wind and some rain. Mesquite trees are not heavy leaved trees, so rain would still be an issue but at least they could get off the ground.

Anyways, glad to meet fellow Arizonans!
We hope to eventually breed Bantam Buff Brahmas, and French Black Copper Marans...and maybe something else once I decide which breed I like best. The other two are my daughters' 4-H projects.

 

[itsredcandy]

Hi!
I have been on BYC for a few weeks now, but only just thought to look for a desert chickens thread...so many folks seemed to be back east, some of their processed and eneds didn't match ours here in AZ.
So, we are in Queen Creek, and we have ...a bunch of chickens. i lost count;-) I think we are at 24. Some are being raised and trained for 4-H. but most are large fowl-egg layers.

With winter coming on, I'm curious what people do differently here. It's pretty chilly at night, and as far out as we are, temps drop into the freezing range come December-February. My chickens are currently in an open yard with a mesquite tree that they sleep in. They have a half dozen nesting boxes, and most of the time they do lay their eggs in them.

my 6 chicks spend days outside in a separate cage inside the yard, and the smallest 3 come inside at night. The odler 3 are fully feathered, so they stay out at night too.

I am thinking about building them an actual coop, but leaving the tree as a roost...by surrounding the tree with plywood walls and leaving the top open so the tree still gets light and air, and the chickens can be both in the coop and in the tree at night.. Thoughts on this? Mostly just for protection from wind and some rain. Mesquite trees are not heavy leaved trees, so rain would still be an issue but at least they could get off the ground.

Anyways, glad to meet fellow Arizonans!
We hope to eventually breed Bantam Buff Brahmas, and French Black Copper Marans...and maybe something else once I decide which breed I like best. The other two are my daughters' 4-H projects.

Welcome to the Arizona Forum. I live in far east Mesa. We have a heat lamp in our coop for our hens and a few roosts in the run for them to excape the 'heat' if they choose. I have 9 hens, 2 frizzles (ones a roo, not sure of the other yet), and seven 6 week old chicks. I put the heat on now for the chicks and find most of the hens in the run by morning. Not sure if it the heat or they are anxious to go bug hunting. We have bushes in our yard, no trees yet. When it's windy or rains the girls tend to go under the coop for better protection that under a bush. Might be useful to build them a 2-3 sided coop with a roost that can protect them from wind and chill.

 

[Fuzzybird]

Quote: To bad. Yup this standard poodles pups will be about 50-55#

 

[maryhysong]

I am thinking about building them an actual coop, but leaving the tree as a roost...by surrounding the tree with plywood walls and leaving the top open so the tree still gets light and air, and the chickens can be both in the coop and in the tree at night.. Thoughts on this? Mostly just for protection from wind and some rain. Mesquite trees are not heavy leaved trees, so rain would still be an issue but at least they could get off the ground.

chickens do not need heat once feathered. They live quite well up north where winters are much much worse than anything we see anywhere in this state. If you give them heat in the winter and a cooler in the summer you are not doing them any favors. They will not be able to acclimate to actual outdoor temps and if your electric is off a few hours they will then die because they are not used to the temps. They do need a safe, dry, draft free area at night and during bad storms. That doesn't mean a closed up she tho, Before modern industrial agriculture many millions of chickens were raised in open fronted coops, even in the northern states. The coops were deep enough that the roosts were set along the back wall out of the wind. Yes, chickens with big combs would have them frostbitten, but that was about the worst thing that happened. Keeping them in closed buildings allows moisture and ammonia to build up, both of these cause a great deal of respiratory problems and sickness in chickens.

Take a cue from the old timers, plenty of ventilation, roosts out of the wind. The only thing wrong with building around the tree like that is 1) during heavy rainstorms they will not be protected from the wind and water. 2) unless you completely enclose the tree with mesh your birds are still open to predation. That is the biggest advantage that a coop gives a chicken, besides protection from wind. A secure coop keeps them safe at night from predators and gives them a safe place to run into during the day if a hawk comes along.

 

[pimachickens]

Unhappy to report that I caught this going on this morning. Frizz and Frazz may need to be separated.

Yesterday there was an owl trying to get at my chicks at 5am before the sun came up, then this. Not a good chicken week for me. However, everyone is safe.

I'm so glad you were able to spot the owl and keep your chicks safe.

 

[MagicChicken]

Hi!
I have been on BYC for a few weeks now, but only just thought to look for a desert chickens thread...so many folks seemed to be back east, some of their processed and eneds didn't match ours here in AZ.
So, we are in Queen Creek, and we have ...a bunch of chickens. i lost count;-) I think we are at 24. Some are being raised and trained for 4-H. but most are large fowl-egg layers.

With winter coming on, I'm curious what people do differently here. It's pretty chilly at night, and as far out as we are, temps drop into the freezing range come December-February. My chickens are currently in an open yard with a mesquite tree that they sleep in. They have a half dozen nesting boxes, and most of the time they do lay their eggs in them.

my 6 chicks spend days outside in a separate cage inside the yard, and the smallest 3 come inside at night. The odler 3 are fully feathered, so they stay out at night too.

I am thinking about building them an actual coop, but leaving the tree as a roost...by surrounding the tree with plywood walls and leaving the top open so the tree still gets light and air, and the chickens can be both in the coop and in the tree at night.. Thoughts on this? Mostly just for protection from wind and some rain. Mesquite trees are not heavy leaved trees, so rain would still be an issue but at least they could get off the ground.

Anyways, glad to meet fellow Arizonans!
We hope to eventually breed Bantam Buff Brahmas, and French Black Copper Marans...and maybe something else once I decide which breed I like best. The other two are my daughters' 4-H projects.

Sounds like your birds are doing fine. Unless you've got some truly foo-foo chickens they should be fine in the tree. Probably safe from dogs and coyotes in the tree. And in the tree they can get AWAY from other predators in any direction, unlike birds trapped in a coop. You might want to give them a more sheltered option somewhere else in the yard, and give them the choice of whether or not they want to use it, but if it were me I wouldn't build anything around the tree they've been sleeping in. Native birds don't have any better protection from wind and rain, usually, and they do just fine. Properly acclimated chickens should be fine, too.

 

[AZKat]

Last Sunday, I picked up the Olive Egger chicks that notinoz hatched for me, and they are so cute. I've got a light on them, since they aren't totally feathered out yet. Sadly, on the first night, I lost one of them, when I went out in the morning it was stuck in the bars of the dog kennel like it had been trying to get out and had gotten stuck and died of exposure. Poor little thing. Its ironic, too, I was only going to go home with five, because one of the six Olive Eggers had to be put down because of a severe crossbeak, so notinoz replaced that chick with a probable pullet who had washed out Aloha Project. I guess I was meant to be raising six chicks :/