Arizona Chickens

[ChicksOfHazzard]

So, after all that... hope I didn't ramble on too much, I think they would be fine at night with your temps right now. I personally (as a coddler

) would provide food and water overnight for for a little while, but I don't think it will take them long to come down for it - might just be a few days!

Thanks so much CountryGirl! I appreciate the details and advice. They seem way better tonight. Last night I gave up around 9:00 pm and brought them back into their brooder box because they were upset and just not settling down. Tonight, when it got dark, they did the same thing as last night... just sat down below huddled together crying. So I moved them up to the roosting area and almost immediately this time, they just started settling down. They are still awake right now, but they seem happy and content. They are just scratching away at the bottom of the roosting tray. And I did put food and water up there again and they ate and drank right away.

I did also add some pine shavings to the roosting area. I've got some in the nesting boxes too, but they seem to want to stay close to the light, so I just put some in the middle of the roosting area. They've scratched around in the shavings and moved it around a little. But I'm hoping they'll eventually settle down and go to sleep. They've done basically the same thing in the brooding box every night. They spend a while kicking around the shavings before finally settling down. So I'm hoping it'll be the same. I keep checking on them though and they seem happy tonight. Thank you again, I really appreciate the help.

And I know several people have commented objecting to having a light in the coop. It really seems like a personal preference to me though. Because on other threads, I've noticed that people do both. A lot of people have no lights, but a lot of people do have lights. I asked my husband because he grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and they had a lot of chickens. He said there was a light on in their coop (which is much larger than mine, it was part of an out building). But he said that light was left on all night. So as far as I'm concerned, if the chickens like it, and it doesn't hurt them, then I don't have a problem with it. I doubt farmers would do it if it negatively impacted health or production. But I know everyone has strong opinions about the way they care for their chickens, so I appreciate you sharing.

Fingers crossed though they are able to make it through the night!! It would be great if I wasn't having to shuffle them back and forth every morning and evening, and they're really just too big for their brooder box now.

 

[Phottoman]

@ ChicksOgHazzard, I have a little story to tell of my son, nearly 45 years ago. He was one of those kids that absolutely insisted on staying up at night, he was two years old, and if we tried to put him in bed before he was tired enough to go to sleep he would cry his eyes out. When we went into his room to 'comfort' (or yell at) him for making so much noise, he would be standing at the foot of the bed/crib, mouth wide open and just crying to beat the band. We'd stop what we were doing and pick him up, comfort him and take him out to the living room and let him stay up, normally this lasted until midnight or later. It was a real strain on all of us, since both my wife and I worked and had to get up in the morning.

He had an appointment with the doctor one day and his Mom couldn't get the time off work so it was up to me to take him. She reminded me that I was to ask what we could do about his crying, so I asked.

The doctor's answer was shocking. He stated ... "You're not going to like what I tell you. Buy some cotton balls and stuff them in your ears."

WHAT?

Stuff your ears so you don't hear him, let him cry out out.

When I got home, my wife said we would try it and see what happened.

What happened almost ruined our marriage.

When we put him to bed that night he immediately started crying. He cried so hard and shook the bed/crib so hard that there was a hole in the wall.

After nearly an hour, I looked at her and there were tears falling from her eyes. She told me I was the most cruel and inhuman person in the world, but we let him cry. It took nearly three hours that night, and started an argument between us that lasted for a long time.

The second night he cried again, for over an hour, and when we checked in on him, he was still sniffling and sobbing, but he was laying down.

The third night he cried for ... maybe ... five minutes?

And after that he never cried again.

What I came to recognize at that time is ... parents train their offspring, or they are trained BY their offspring, and in your case, you "train" the chickens .... or they train you.

Skip

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Lice always live on the bird; some mites live in cracks and crevasses and come out at night. Algthough they certainly CAN carry disease, it it the loss of blood as the bugs feed on them that is the main problem.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Mikey built his coop with an exterior wall of his house forming one of the walls of the coop, and there is a window on that wall looking directly into the coop. I have a number of cages/pens on my back porch where I can look out to see the birds, and I know of a few people who have or have had chicken cams in their coops.

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

What I came to recognize at that time is ... parents train their offspring, or they are trained BY their offspring, and in your case, you "train" the chickens .... or they train you.

Phottoman, great story! I know it's serious, but hopefully in hind sight a little funny too. And you're absolutely right, we have three dogs and it's the same with them. I guess with never having chickens before, I'm just unsure of myself. And I don't want to make a mistake that ends up literally killing one of them. Know what I mean? I don't know if they can get so stressed out they'll just keel over. Or how tolerant they are to certain temperatures at their particular age. So I've been erring on the side of safety, but I know these chickens have been working me over too!!

So this is how it went down last night. I put them up in their roosting box when it got dark. They stayed out there contently and quietly until about 9:00 pm. They hadn't settled down, they had just been scratching around in the pine shavings, eating and drinking, playing a little. But it's like then they got bored. And right at 9 (which is when I broke down and took them in the night before) they started getting upset and crying, making lots of noise. So I thought to myself, well, I just leave them out there a little bit longer and take them in around 11 when I go to bed. Of course I was dreading the follow-up of... would I have to take them in at 1 am the next night?!

By 9:45 they had quieted down again, much to my surprise! I quietly tip-toed over to the coop and peeked through the window to see them snuggled down cuddling together. My heart jumped!! So I still checked on them a couple more times before I went to bed, they were totally fine. But still I was just unsure about the temperatures and their age, so I was hoping to find them alive this morning. I went out at the first sign on light. And there they were, both standing on the edge of the ramp contemplating coming down for the day.

So they've done it! I've done it! I am so excited to clean and put away my brooder box! And I do think they'll be a lot happier out there with so much more room.

Thank you all again for all your help (and helping to calm my fears!). Thanks guys.

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

Mikey built his coop with an exterior wall of his house forming one of the walls of the coop, and there is a window on that wall looking directly into the coop. I have a number of cages/pens on my back porch where I can look out to see the birds, and I know of a few people who have or have had chicken cams in their coops.

It's funny you mention this!! Just last night, I realized I have some CCTV cameras that are infrared too. They even have audio. By the time I remembered last night, the chickens were already sleeping so I didn't want to disturb them. But I'm definitely going to put two cameras out there today, one in the roosting box, one to observe the rest of the coop. High tech chickens!

 

[Demosthine]

Mikey built his coop with an exterior wall of his house forming one of the walls of the coop, and there is a window on that wall looking directly into the coop. I have a number of cages/pens on my back porch where I can look out to see the birds, and I know of a few people who have or have had chicken cams in their coops.

Oh good, I don't feel quite like the weirdo that I had before.


On an accidental note, I forgot to turn the water sprinklers off in the backyard last night. I have standing water everywhere. It doesn't seem to affect the chickens' interest in the yard one bit, although I'm not entirely sure if the yard is healthy enough for it to be bringing all the bugs to the surface.

​

And my wife's Silkie roo is getting louder every day. I can faintly hear him a house away, but it seems like he's screaming in our back yard. He didn't start in until I let him out of the coop this morning and it didn't last very long, but I'll have to talk to the neighbors today and find out if they can hear him. We fortunate to have the twenty-foot oleanders and a two story house to muffle the sound a bit. Hopefully, it'll be enough. Manda and I still have to talk about what the plan is if we have to get rid of him.

Happy April Fool's Day everyone. There's already a massive amount of stories out there to get your goad today.

 

[City farm]

This my first time with a link, I hope it works.  Thought some of you would be interested.  The star of the video refers to American chicken (production) as rubbish.  I have to agree.   One of the reasons I hope some day to move to ware I can have meat chickens,  ofcourse my pet egg layers will be safe.  Other then the joy just seeing happy animals, in my cases, there is a bonus, eggs.   Our eggs are the way they are suppose to be like.  The chicken livers and hearts in the store are inlarged and often have exsisive fat, there is a yellow color to the liver.  If you found this in a necropsy, you would say it was sick and contributed to its death.  Our chicken meat has no flavor, on the other side, because it has no flavor it lenders itself to many dishes, kind of like Tofu.  

Love it girl.... Thank you for sharing...

 

[City farm]

I had a light in the coop for the transition, 250 W, next week 150 W, third week 60 W, then a 2.5 W. . I left it, didn't bother to take it out. A month ago they were making a lot of noise going to coop. In and out, I too have a street light on both sides of my yard, it gets dark but you can still see. I turned off the light, they went in and stayed in quitly, almost. Just the normal, "ha! Watch ware you are stepping", "move over", and "don't crowd me". It was in Jan/Feb. that I put them out. By mid Feb right after that cold snap is when the lights went out. Next time, depending on the time of year 2.5 W for a week, then lights out. When I build my coop I plan on making it a dueplex, with a 1/2"x1/2" screen divider. New girls on one side, established on the other. If it works, I hope the new girls will be comforted by the older/established girls. I may make it so I could side a curtain in . . . Just incase. i will be starting next week, a little every month, by October I should have it done. Dose any one know about paint and stains and chickens? I want to stain the wood RedWood, then seal it. I guess I will have to paint it every few years with the Arizona Sun? Has any one with experience? I want to stain and seal the pieces before I put wire mess on it. I want it for winter and summer. I wish to be able to remove part of the walls for additional ventilation. Something like this, because I like the looks. I do not think the girls care much. I have the first 8' section of the coop pin done. Pit is 5'ht X 8' wide. I will have a 12" wall at the bottom and 12" around the top, for a 7' high coop. 4x4 nailer, 2x4 top rail, 6x2 bass (12"), top I am working on idea's. thinking of possibly putting plexiglass panels in on the East side. I will post a sketch.

 

[City farm]

I had a light in the coop for the transition, 250 W, next week 150 W, third week 60 W, then a 2.5 W. . I left it, didn't bother to take it out. A month ago they were making a lot of noise going to coop. In and out, I too have a street light on both sides of my yard, it gets dark but you can still see. I turned off the light, they went in and stayed in quitly, almost. Just the normal, "ha! Watch ware you are stepping", "move over", and "don't crowd me". It was in Jan/Feb. that I put them out. By mid Feb right after that cold snap is when the lights went out. Next time, depending on the time of year 2.5 W for a week, then lights out. When I build my coop I plan on making it a dueplex, with a 1/2"x1/2" screen divider. New girls on one side, established on the other. If it works, I hope the new girls will be comforted by the older/established girls. I may make it so I could side a curtain in . . . Just incase. i will be starting next week, a little every month, by October I should have it done. Dose any one know about paint and stains and chickens? I want to stain the wood RedWood, then seal it. I guess I will have to paint it every few years with the Arizona Sun? Has any one with experience? I want to stain and seal the pieces before I put wire mess on it. I want it for winter and summer. I wish to be able to remove part of the walls for additional ventilation. Something like this, because I like the looks. I do not think the girls care much. I have the first 8' section of the coop pin done. Pit is 5'ht X 8' wide. I will have a 12" wall at the bottom and 12" around the top, for a 7' high coop. 4x4 nailer, 2x4 top rail, 6x2 bass (12"), top I am working on idea's. thinking of possibly putting plexiglass panels in on the East side. I will post a sketch.

Oops again I hit the wrong button, Yikes... Sensitive iPad.... Your place looks great... Love the caption of what the flock would say...