Arizona Chickens

[Fuzzybird]

Quote: You could try but the first time it rolls out the pellet poop it would be a give away!

He is a real cutie, Thanks!

 

[Fuzzybird]

I sent this picture to Work Day Chicken and they liked it! Don't know yet when it will be used. Let you guys know when I do.

 

[GrannysRoost]

I sent this picture to Work Day Chicken and they liked it! Don't know yet when it will be used. Let you guys know when I do.

Congrats and great picture Fuzzybird, now how do you keep that chicken that white!

 

[squeakyballs]

Thank you for the advice, Silkie!

We built the frame today... it is now 5'3 tall (the 2x4's bumped up the 5' pieces). I can stand up in it with a little room to spare!

The coop is kind of a combo run/coop ... like the Garden Coops. The walled-in area is only 3' tall and 5' wide on one side, and 3 tall and 4 long (we made it smaller than in the drawing) on the other. The back side is against a brick wall so I'm not even going to wall that side in. The rest is all hardware cloth.

It seems like a lot of the garden coops use old wood paneling, or salvaged wood from picket fences for the sides of the house portion of it. I wish I could find some for cheap!

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

I went out in the yard and saw lots of black feathers under the tree where the chicken waterer is.
My first thought was that a something got a chicken. When I got closer I saw that the red I thought was blood, was red feathers and it was obviously the remnants of a red-wing black bird.
I figured the dogs or chickens must have caught it but I hadn't seen any in the yard. About then, I saw a black feather float down from the tree so I looked up. Yuck. There were a couple of bird legs dangling from branches and a couple bunches of feathers. So now I'm thinking a hawk (hopefully a small one) caught the bird and ate it in the tree above the chickens. I wonder if the chickens had enough sense to hide and I'm hoping it sticks to small birds. I'll have to keep an extra close eye on the 9 wk olds when I let them out for play time.

 

[pdx2phx]

Yo AZ folks!

I thought I would say 'Hi' as I haven't been on in a while! I did my move to Georgia, but still have DH and chickies in AZ.

I hope we're all reunited soon but for now I just get to come back and visit every month or so. I miss them all so much!

I'm sure I've missed tons....losses and sadness and new faces, chickies and adventures!

I hope all my AZ peeps have a great Thanksgiving and I will be thankful to have my DH and feathered family all in one place! It's just too quiet out in GA....I'm missing out on all of the daily chicken drama!

 

[Demosthine]

We had a close call yesterday morning with our dog. For those that have followed, you know I have a Husky and a Shepherd, both about a year and a half old. I've been letting the pullets out to free-range every morning when I get home at about 0730 Hours and put them back at about Noon. Yesterday, my wife was up and I had gone to bed for a nap, since I work nights. We let the dogs out in to the backyard for awhile and I told my wife just to keep an eye on them. They've been doing very, very well when I've been watching the and letting them mingle. The Husky, Yasha, is a lot more interested in them. The Shepherd, Judge, couldn't care less at this point. Well, Yasha decided to go after one of the girls and got a mouth full of feathers. Thankfully, that was all she got, feathers. The girls scrambled, my wife yells at me to get down there and she goes charging out the doors. Yasha goes a running away, Judge has to be all up in everyone's business because he wants to know what the commotion is. I'm running out the back door in my just my boxers to make sure everything is OK. Whew, a close call.

Needless to say, the dogs ended up in the kennel again while the girls finished ranging. The girls turned around and went on foraging like nothing had ever happened. As best as I can tell, all the hens are injury free. I'll definitely have to work with the dogs more before they get that close again. It was definitely a sight to see when the whole house went to hell in a handbasket.


On a much more positive note, I've been feeding the fermented grow feed to the girls all week. They devour it rather quickly. This morning, they came a runnin' as soon as I put out the bowl. When I open the coop door, they'll go flying off in to the yard and make themselves all comfortable inside again when they're done. They are almost too perfect in their behavior... Now comes the two month wait for the eggs, since the girls are only about nine weeks old.

 

[squeakyballs]

Yo AZ folks!

I thought I would say 'Hi' as I haven't been on in a while! I did my move to Georgia, but still have DH and chickies in AZ.

I hope we're all reunited soon but for now I just get to come back and visit every month or so. I miss them all so much!

I'm sure I've missed tons....losses and sadness and new faces, chickies and adventures!

I hope all my AZ peeps have a great Thanksgiving and I will be thankful to have my DH and feathered family all in one place! It's just too quiet out in GA....I'm missing out on all of the daily chicken drama!

Hi! I haven't seen you here in ages. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! Georgia must be beautiful, I hope your husband and chickies can join you there soon!

 

[Rezia]

Going to start coop construction tomorrow.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/bluegrass-coop Going to copy this one with a few modifications.

No interior wall to the "house" portion of it to allow for ventilation. Solid roof.

The breakdown:

That's my exact coop plan! Mines 6 feet tall, though.

 

[Rezia]

Door's in the middle, too...