Arizona Chickens

[Gallo del Cielo]

just as a thought of optimism, a chicken got caught by the tip of one of the horns on the.little mini goat at my work. I think it had a broken leg. It wouldn't let me catch her. Its surprising how a gimpy chicken is so agile. However, she hobbled around on one leg for a few weeks, and one day after.my weekend off I came back and she was perfectly fine! Hopefully this will be your case too!

I like your optimism! She's a tough old bird and I'm very hopeful for her. Time will tell.

 

[Demosthine]

Well, I can report that supervised free-ranging is not without risk.  I was working in the yard this morning and decided I'd let the chickens out, right about 9:30 am.  At about 10 am I had my back to the chickens and heard a huge commotion, whirled around and right there, less than 15' away from me was a coyote with my BA in it's mouth, shaking it.  I yelled and ran at the thing and it stood its ground for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a second or so and by the time I closed the gap to about 6' it dropped the chicken and hopped the wall.  It stood there on the opposite side of the wall and didn't leave until I sent the dog after it.  Poor Jim is limping something awful, but we couldn't find any visible damage to her beyond the loss of a lot of feathers.  I was so sad to see that she didn't make it onto the roost tonight; I found her in a nest box.  I hope there's not something wrong inside.

I don't know if the coyote just didn't see me prior to the attack or just didn't care.  Just thought I'd share.

I've heard many a story just like that from my nearby Sun City folks about their little yippers. We've taken so much of their territory that they have nowhere else to go but in. It's not the main reason I am always armed, but I will not hesitate to kill any predator I deem a threat that is on my small plot of land. If they become accustomed to feeding off my chickens, what's to say they won't go after my kids? My year old isn't much bigger than my biggest hen...

Hope she is ok soon!

 

[jeepgirl13]

Ya let us know how she does!

 

[AZKat]

Rezia: Its awesome that one of them started up laying already, I hope that you keep being happy with them

Today was a busy, busy day. I got all of the roos that I got from Kev processed. I'm thrilled to have the meat, but ten in one morning is A LOT to do. I'm not sure exactly how they dressed out, I'll weigh them tomorrow as I either package them up for freezing or toss them in a pot to cook.

 

[Demosthine]

Rezia: Its awesome that one of them started up laying already, I hope that you keep being happy with them

Today was a busy, busy day.  I got all of the roos that I got from Kev processed.  I'm thrilled to have the meat, but ten in one morning is A LOT to do.  I'm not sure exactly how they dressed out, I'll weigh them tomorrow as I either package them up for freezing or toss them in a pot to cook. 

If you vacuum seal them and leave them in the fridge for four to six days, they'll end up being more tender. Also, look up "relaxing" the chicken. I forget when you do it, but it's post-rigamordis and also helps with the tenderness.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Coyotes can seam to lose fear of people. To many people are afraid of them, it needs to be the other way around. I will never forget a very frail little old lady, she was discussed with people having problems with coyotes..... She announced .. ' I lived here all my life, they go around my property. There has never been a coyote born I'm a fraud of and they know it. '. I think she has a point. To many are to not afraid enough and I truly think the city coyotes are the most dangerous for that reason.

I wish there was a way to put down a No Trespassing sign for coyotes. I had a problem with raccoons at a house I rented. The last renters feed them and let them in their house. I made serval piles of stones, poured a very fresh yellow liquid on them. The next morning, not one would pass the markers. They all marked on top of my mark and that was that. My new screen on my door remained violated. For a couple of weeks every 3 or 4 days I would freshen it. When I stopped they were out of the habit of coming inside.

 

[MaddBaggins]

Sorry to hear Gallo. Hope your girl is ok. We have a lot of coyotes in my hood. I'm very near the Pantano and Rillito washes and there are a lot of smaller tributaries in my area. The coyotes use those as highways into the neighborhoods. I've seen them many times on the streets late at night.
Because of them, I haven't decided whether I will free range our flock even supervised. I'm sure I will, but it will make me nervous.

 

[Rezia]

Rezia: Its awesome that one of them started up laying already, I hope that you keep being happy with them

Today was a busy, busy day. I got all of the roos that I got from Kev processed. I'm thrilled to have the meat, but ten in one morning is A LOT to do. I'm not sure exactly how they dressed out, I'll weigh them tomorrow as I either package them up for freezing or toss them in a pot to cook.

Rosie (the RSL) is a sweet girl! She loves being cuddled! At first, she would squawk and run if I even came in the coop, but now she is amazingly tame! Rosie laid a huuuuge brown, slightly speckled egg yesterday. Thankfully, she laid it in the sawdust, so it is intact.

Maizee laid another egg! It is slightly larger than her other one, but still smaller than Rosie's.

My dad wanted to give Rosie back at first, but I wouldn't let him! She's just establishing a pecking order. (literally)

Thanks again for the hens!
Rezia

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

Hey guys,

So I'm pretty new to having chickens. I adopted two chicks just over 2 weeks ago from the feed store. I just wanted to ask if the chicks at the feed store can be slightly different ages? Basically, I was desperately trying to find chicks and Superstition Feed was out, Shoppers was out, so I drove all the way to the Pet Club in Queen Creek and they had three chicks left. They all look basically the same, so I grabbed two.

Their names are Rosco and Boss Hogg, and I totally love them. I'm hoping they are both girls, and my understanding is that like 99% of the chicks from the feed store are females. I also think they are red sexlinks, so I'm assuming the fact that they are red is a good sign that they are female? They were a buff color with brown stripes on their back when I first got them. However, one of my coworkers who is also a chicken enthusiast said that roos will grow faster than pullets. So I've always been a little paranoid because Rosco has always been a little ahead of Boss Hogg on growing. When I got them, Rosco already had more wing feathers. The picture I am posting is from about a week ago. And now Rosco has a full body of read feathers. Boss Hogg has the equivalent of what Rosco looks like in this picture, and Boss Hogg seems to be more of a brown and white now as opposed to red. But today, I just noticed that Rosco is definitely noticeably bigger than Boss Hogg. (S)he's filled out a lot more.

Anyway, so I know that of course the chicks can be from entirely different parents. But can the chicks be slightly different ages too? I'm hoping that Rosco is just a few days older than Boss Hogg (and not a roo). What do you guys think?

I am really excited though. We've got the coop and they've been spending their days in the coop that last 2 weeks since it's warm, and then into their brooding box at night with the heat lamp. We're building an enclosure soon. And even though we live in an HOA, chickens are allowed as long as they are pets, and the neighbors have been really supportive about them. So I'm just really excited! It's fun to see them growing so quickly!! Thanks all!


Rosco is on the left, Boss Hogg on the right (pic taken about a week ago)

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Well, I can report that supervised free-ranging is not without risk. I was working in the yard this morning and decided I'd let the chickens out, right about 9:30 am. At about 10 am I had my back to the chickens and heard a huge commotion, whirled around and right there, less than 15' away from me was a coyote with my BA in it's mouth, shaking it. I yelled and ran at the thing and it stood its ground for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a second or so and by the time I closed the gap to about 6' it dropped the chicken and hopped the wall. It stood there on the opposite side of the wall and didn't leave until I sent the dog after it. Poor Jim is limping something awful, but we couldn't find any visible damage to her beyond the loss of a lot of feathers. I was so sad to see that she didn't make it onto the roost tonight; I found her in a nest box. I hope there's not something wrong inside.

I don't know if the coyote just didn't see me prior to the attack or just didn't care. Just thought I'd share.

Oh no! Stupid coyotes! Let us know how she's doing.
My sister had a RIR attacked awhile ago and almost put her down it was so bad. She decided to clean her up and see what happened. The hen is still alive today. You can hardly tell she was mangled at one point. I hope your Jim is as lucky.