Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

I've always prided myself on my ability to resist chicken math.  I went the Pima County Fair this past weekend to see the birds and started feeling a bit crazy with all the eye candy.  Then I saw DesertMarcy's amazing Imperial Ringlet Barred Rocks and snapped.  I had to have them!  She wasn't selling her BR eggs for hatching so I wasn't able to add them under my broody hen.  The good thing was that she had newly hatched BR chicks available just about 72 hours after my chicks hatched.  So, yesterday I picked up three BR chicks and brought them to my broody hen.  As I approached her with the peeping BR chicks she became agitated at the sound which I took to be a good sign.  She was quite happy when I placed them with her clutch and they stopped crying out.  I was glad to see that the chicks nearly immediately responded to the broody's come-eat-this-it's-good vocalizations.  The thing was, they didn't associate the momma with heat.  I had to leave them unattended for a couple of hours and nearly had a disaster.  The momma and other chicks had moved back into the nest for the night and the poor tiny BR chicks were just standing outside the nest box.  It was good it was so warm yesterday.  I put them under the hen then and checked on them a few more times over the night.  After a few hours they seemed to have figured out how nice and cozy momma can be.  

I'd like to give a big thanks to DesertMarcy for putting up with my pestering and for her devotion to her heritage breeds.  I would highly encourage anyone in the Tucson area that is thinking of adding to their flock or just getting started with chickens to check out her birds.    

Thank you for the great advice.. I do think it will all work out..

 

[City farm]

I'm not holding out a lot of hope for Button right now. He limp looks worse, yet I can't find anything wrong. Now she just sits around mostly because moving is difficult.  Last night, my wife said she couldn't make it up the ramp to the coop so my daughter picked her up and placed her inside. She can't roost at all, not even on the 14" high roost I added for her.
I already told the wife I won't be taking any chickens to a vet. If they go south, I'm gonna cull them. I'll watch Button for another week and decide then.

Yes we have the same idea about their longevity for a ailment that would eventually get them either pecked to death or egg bound..
Something that is enevitable that can not be treated with antibiotic & what not.. You are a good pet owner.. We all have to all go
threw it eventually.. We need names for our new flock.. We will be naming one button.. Love it..

 

[City farm]

19 is a lot...if you have most of them hatch, it will be a lot for the hen to look after. When I had a broody, I gave her 5 chicks. I let them free range with the other hens. She kept the chicks away from the rest of the flock and attacked any hen that ventured too near. She even attacked one of our dogs! The other hens learned (within minutes) to leave her and the chicks alone and I never had a problem. I would recommend moving her (if your coop is on the smaller side) if it was earlier on. Being this far into it, just be extra vigilant. It might upset her too much to move her now. I moved my broody a day or two into sitting on eggs. She was sitting on nothing before that. I moved her at dusk and she was frantic to get back to the coop...wouldn't sit on her eggs. But as it got darker, she settled in and has been committed to her nest since.

we have homes for the ones she is on now.. I just want to switch out the 2 week old new flock with the babies as soon as I can..
It sounds easy in theory but reality is different. I do think it will work out..
She is in the middle of the chicken run.. I do think she would be able to move around once all of them have hatched..
I just got back from the hardware store.. We are working on building a small 7 feet by 3 feet movable tractor.. That will be ready if We need
to move her..

 

[MagicChicken]

I'm not holding out a lot of hope for Button right now. He limp looks worse, yet I can't find anything wrong. Now she just sits around mostly because moving is difficult. Last night, my wife said she couldn't make it up the ramp to the coop so my daughter picked her up and placed her inside. She can't roost at all, not even on the 14" high roost I added for her.
I already told the wife I won't be taking any chickens to a vet. If they go south, I'm gonna cull them. I'll watch Button for another week and decide then.

You've already given her several days to improve and it sounds like she's getting worse, not better. If she can't get up the ramp and can't roost, and she just sits around because moving is difficult, why make her suffer for another week? If it were my bird I would cull her now. I realize there are more factors involved that I am not seeing and your call may be different.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I am wondering?

From what I have observed over the years of wanting chickens, when I would watch a hen with chicks, and if there was a rooster, he would be circling them watching. One more then one occasion I would see him chase other hens away if they got close. I went to YouTub, and found a number of videos of roo's protecting. Is this in the roo's job description? Also I noted that when there was many roosters, each had between 1 and 3 lady's. when able to free range is this the normal ratio of Roos to hens? I never thought I would have them myself, so when I saw them in a field or yard I took as much time as I could to just watch.

Of my free-rangeres there has never been any specific pattern other than the birds that they have been cooped with are those they wander with, but left to range, that can change. I remember one small ranging flock of five: three roosters and two hens--all adults. I've had others with one rooster and several hens, pairs of rooster/hen, rooster/rooser, hen/hen; and ones that prefer to be a loner.

 

[countrygirl74]

MaddBaggins - If you decide to try to help her for one more week with the supplements suggested, I forgot to mention one that someone brought up on another thread and I had completely forgotten about it, but if you can, also get her some chopped raw liver.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

The Emergency/Diseases/Injuries/Cures section here can be pretty helpful in figuring out what is wrong with your birds, and how to treat them. One reason to take to the vet is when it is something that affects the entire flock vs a single animal. Chickens tend to be quite resilient to injury, less so to disease. We are fortunate in that many over the counter antibiotics and parasite (including coccidia) treatments are readily available, and most are not excessively expensive.

Sometimes a bird will not make it regardless of what you do, but by the same token I have seen people pull the plug way to early for what really are minor ailments, not realizing that the birds are almost certain to completely recover. A large part of the difference is experience--while I do take birds to the vet, it is not nearly as often as it was when I first got chickens and knew very little about their health issues--when I go now, it is usually because I know I need prescription-only meds.

 

[Demosthine]

I'm not holding out a lot of hope for Button right now. He limp looks worse, yet I can't find anything wrong. Now she just sits around mostly because moving is difficult. Last night, my wife said she couldn't make it up the ramp to the coop so my daughter picked her up and placed her inside. She can't roost at all, not even on the 14" high roost I added for her.
I already told the wife I won't be taking any chickens to a vet. If they go south, I'm gonna cull them. I'll watch Button for another week and decide then.

I'm sorry about Button. From the sounds of it, though, she's suffering an awful lot. I would cull her now, rather than waiting another week. It's only been two or three days and she's gone downhill pretty significantly. It's never easy making that decision, especially after putting the loving time into them, but it's her time. Let her move on to happier times.

 

[Fuzzybird]

I am worried about Blue Bell. I love that old girl. I am worried she is on the way out.

She hasn't looked or acted right for awhile. I got her a mate, Banner and have seen them breed several times the past 2 months but no eggs yet. She eats but doesn't seem to have that good appetite she has had. She has survived of 3 eye infections and 2 dog maulings. I worry that maybe the last mauling hurt her inside and something is wrong? This year she doesn't love the baby turklets but Banner is taking care of them and it is so cute! Blue Bell is about 5 years old. I didn't think that was old for a turkey?Any of you turkey people have a opinion?

 

[flower]

I don't think moringa trees handle freezing very well. If you're in a warm spot and can protect the trees they might work. They would have died in my yard last winter. My African sumac and my Australian acacia both froze back almost to the ground. It's the third time in six years that my Australian acacia tree has frozen like that. I'm on the southwest side of Tucson.

For fast growing trees that tolerate COLD try Mullberry seedless or with seeds that bare fruit. Mullberries are a wonderful fruit full of nurtition. The trees grow in the NE cold and the heat of the south west. I have one started in my yeard here in Northern AZ and when I lived in PA I made juice from the berries. yumm