Arizona Chickens

[Arizonachicken]

Keep the dog and chickens, think about out sourcing your Husbands daughter/son?
Have you asked WHY? You have to accept an answer unconditionally (that trust thing). Years from now you can get your revenge when he/she has just introduced new special friend, to you can tell the story. .......... Each new boyf/girl friend............ . The kid (young adult). will fear the tail of the egg dinner. OH! Don't forget the grand kids.............. They will love the tall.

I know..... I'm evil

Ha ha! He's only two and all he says is "ish!"
for everything. My 3 year old daughter says she showed him how to get the eggs and doesn't know why. What can you do? As for the dog, I really do want to give him away. Every time I see him lift his leg on one of the kids' trikes, I know I need to get rid of him. I need to simplify my life as much as possible. Blah.

 

[Arizonachicken]

I will email one of our dearest friend in New Mexico.. They love boxers


Will u email me a photo & his info.. I will fwd it to them...

I'll get one tomorrow.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Hey everybody,

So I got my brooder box, have the construction sand, purchased my lamp and housing. But then I started thinking and read on here someone who doesn't keep chicks in their house because they are noisy and messy and her house is really small. Sorry I don't remember who it was. I was going to keep mine in the house, however this time of year we run the evap cooler since highs are still in the mid 90's and it is dry as a bone out there. So my house is usually well into the 60's at all times day and night. We started thinking about keeping them in the garage. It is 88-93 in there depending on the time of day. It will gradually get cooler as the temps slowly drop outside. Perfect temperature for week old chicks and it should fall right along with their age schedule. I only worry about ventilation as the air in there can be pretty stale. I will have them right outside the door to the house so if needed I can open that door and let some of the swamp cooler air flow over them. Another concern is light. I think it will be too hot if I have the lamp on them, but is light from the overhead fluorescents sufficient? Should I leave it on 24 hours? My plan is to coop/run them at about 4 weeks which will be early November when temps are 80's day and 55-ish at night.

I called Pratt's today to find out about chicks. They are getting BO's and Wyandottes, plus BSL's which I have no desire to own. We originally wanted RIR's but the only ones they have of those are already 2 weeks old. They didn't have a shipment last week because they were doing inventory. They get them on Fridays and they are 3 days old. I am planning to pick mine up on Monday the 7th so the RIR's will be 3 weeks old by then. I was wanting to get them very young so we could handle them regularly and they would get accustomed to being held. We want friendly personable birds.

What do you all think of BO's? I know they have a very sweet nature but are prone to getting broody. They are also on the large side and my coop will be just big enough for 4 girls. I also know that larger birds have a harder time in the heat, but BO's are supposed to be somewhat heat hardy, and they have a fluffier build so their feathers are not so close to their body??(something like that! LOL) Pratts did not say which type of Wyandottes they are expecting. I would imagine it would be a variety of colors. I like both the silver and gold laced. How are they as layers? We are stopping by there on Friday and hopefully they will have the shipment in by the time we get there. What would you think of getting 2 BO's and 2 of the dottes? Will the BO's bully the smaller gals? Thoughts on getting RIR's that are already 3 weeks old? But then I wouldn't have the pleasure of cuddling tiny chicks!!

Thanks Twinklin for posting the link to the chicken chicks blog about when to place chicks out in the coop. The pictorial of weekly growth was super helpful!!

Love the photos of the bobcat and her kitten but how scary. We have some friends that live about a mile from us, right in town and they don't back to a wash or anything and a bobcat scaled their wall and attacked their dachshund. She survived but what a shock!

Again, I welcome all your wisdom!

Kristine

 

[kpgoldstar]

I finally ate the silkie/Polish cockerel that I butchered weeks ago, and the RIR roo that was done on Sunday. Crock pot with potatoes, carrots, celery, parsly, onions, garlic, tons of spices, water, and a bit of leftover redwine. Oh, and butter. Lots of butter. So freaking good. My husband said the meat had fallen off the bones in the crock (he got home before me). The silkie mix meat was dark, and some of it was black, but not like, black all the way through. Tastes like chicken, not doubt about it! I didn't eat meat for years and years, so looking at 'weird' streaky meat in my lunch today...it'll take a bit of gumption to get it in my mouth! The RIR meat is fantastic. Pats self on back, Good job butchering!

Do chickens "change" after they start to lay eggs, or is it just human perception? I feel like my EE is so much sweeter now that she's laying, but I think I'm just projecting how happy I am with her now that I'm getting eggs from her. I caught her in the nest box laying this morning and she just looked so cute, content, and motherly. Yeah, I'm definitely projecting.

Yes, fire in the desert scrub is no bueno. Fire in grasslands and forests, muy bueno. I add a bit of fire ash to my compost every now and then. Oh, and I always add some scoops of charcoal from the fire pit into the dog poop trashbag after doing poop patrol. I *think* the charcoal absorbs some of the smell as it sits in the garbage.

It's clear that my summer into fall garden is going nowhere. I had green stuff growing all summer, but hardly any production. Total dud this year. My squash and tomatoes have had a resurgence of flowers, but the ants and their pet aphids are proving impossible to eradicate from the squash, and the tomatoes aren't forming fruit. Sunday, I'm going to rip everything out and get my winter stuff going. I should just ditch summer attempts and stick with cooler weather plants. I always have much better success. Discovered recently that I LOVE pickled beets, so I'm going to try some beets this year. I still have kale and chard growing, and growing well, from January! So more of those, peas, broccoli, lettuce, cilantro, carrots, radishes...yum.

I know it is going to sound weird, but I have been growing a garden in the hottest part of Arizona for over 20 years. I grow my tomatoes over the winter. I start them from seed in the house usually in August. I get them into the ground by mid October. Most winters we don't get a freeze so they are fine, but if one happens to come, I just drape an old sheet over them. I can usually start harvesting around Valentine's Day and can pick all the way up to July 4th. My most prolific year I had 32 tomato plants and harvested nearly 2000 tomatoes! I still have some in the freezer from that year! Amazing you have kale and chard that made it through the summer. I kept butternut squash and all my herbs this summer. I don't have ants though and only find aphids on my hibiscus and roses. I can't remember the last time I saw aphids in the vegetable garden.

Beets grow extremely well here. I am in Havasu, where are you? I grow a ton of them! I think my profile pic has me holding a pile of beets! We always had them growing and my mom pickled jars and jars of them. I do the same. The greens are also delicious! I steam and freeze them so I can enjoy them all season. Your girls probably like the thinnings from your greens too. Just like the rest of your fall/winter garden you can start them now. Two weeks ago I planted spinach, kale, chard, bok choy and chives. This past weekend I tackled beets, lettuce, cucumbers, more butternuts and spaghetti squash.

I had a tragedy a few years back when they put sewer in my whole city. Rule was to crush all septic tanks so homeowner couldn't re-hook up, like who would, right? Most tanks are in the front yard here but my house is older and guess where, yep right underneath my garden. When I first made the plot my son who was about 12 at the time dug our rock-laden sand down about 2 feet and sifted every shovel-full to place back in. We then amended like crazy and I had beautiful soil for many, many years. When the contractors hooked up my sewer and came to my garden to dig up my septic tank so they could crush it I BEGGED them to dig down 2 ft, put that dirt in a pile, then dig the rest of the dirt and put it in another pile, put the rocks back in first, then my good soil back on top. That didn't happen. My entire garden was a big old pile of nothing but rocks. I was absolutely devastated. I lost my spirit. I tried over and over again to start gardening again, but I couldn't find the inspiration. I would plant a few tomatoes and would be crushed when my hard earned seedlings would die from lack of nutrients. I tried some lettuce and beets and they would sprout and die. This went on for about 6 years.

I finally just this last year decided that no one was going to take my passion away from me. I started really small, with a few beets, some herbs and those butternuts. In the tiniest, least rocky part of my garden. I had success! I harvested a nice really big pile of beets over several weeks and pickled and canned to my heart's content! I picked butternuts all through the spring and summer and still have not eaten all of them. I now have 15 tomato seedlings ( I started them later than normal) that will be ready for the ground in mid November. I am hopeful and confident once again.

Thanks for letting me tell my story. I really just wanted to let you know you can grow tomatoes in Arizona! HA!
Kristine

 

[kpgoldstar]

Ill try to repost this again.

The girls enjoying their frozen water bottle to stay cool.

Awww, that was what I was looking for! What are they laying on? I am planning to use sand for my coop and run bedding.
Kristine

 

[nwebber]

They are actual

Awww, that was what I was looking for! What are they laying on? I am planning to use sand for my coop and run bedding.
Kristine

they are actually on our porch under a bench laying on our outdoor carpet. Their coop is dirt and grass bottomed. They free range more then being cooped up.

They just LOVE frozen bottles though.

 

[flower]

kpgoldstar I enjoyed reading your story. Two comment about the septic tank. In my opinion all grey water except toilet should be drained to a cistern to be used in the yard. If not on the vegetable at least for the flowers and trees. I drain my washing machine water out into the yard to water the evergreens. Second not all of AZ is good for tomatoe growing. Here above the RIM, the growing season is shorter and some years there is a cold snap in the spring which requires replanting the garden. If I had a semi type green house enviroment gardening would be less of a challenge but I do not see that in my future.


QUERY I am looking for ideas on pressure cookers. I used to have one and grew up in a house where one or two were used every canning season. I know there are new ones on the market so I am asking for peoples experiences.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

flower, I just LOVE my All American Canners (I have two). They're made in WI and are virtually indestructible. The only downside to them is their expense. Interestingly, their price varies with the price of aluminum (which can frequently change). By waiting for just the right moment, you can pay significantly less, it just takes some monitoring. They really hold their value too. Old used ones are almost as expensive as a new one. --I just realized that the price of the 921 is about as low as I've ever seen it right now.

kpgoldstar, what a heartbreaking story about the septic tank fiasco. We always said that if we moved from here, we'd take our 12' X 40' (3' deep) garden with us. So much work goes into perfecting the soil. We are huge beet-top fans! They make the very best greens. Your perseverance at gardening is inspiring, which we all appreciate around here. Also, I had two BOs, one lived to 2.5 years before she died of some internal issues and the other lived to 3.5 years before being killed by a coyote. They were the sweetest birds I've owned and never once went broody. Your results may vary.

pipemum, if you haven't already, plant beets today!

 

[MaddBaggins]

Good Morning people! Just checking in.

Blondie, the girl who has decided that roosting outside is better than in the coop, has now been joined by Petunia the last couple nights. It's pure comedy watching them decide how and when to get off the roost in the morning. Twice, in the last week, I've found a broken egg on the ground under that roost early in the morning when I go out to change water and give treats.

Our egg productions has slowed. Don't know why. During the hot months we were getting 7-8 eggs every day. Now we only get 4-6. Other than temp and daylight hours, nothing has changed.

I've noticed that they prefer baked, crushed egg shell over the oyster shell calcium I get from the store. Unfortunately, I don't have enough egg shell to keep them supplied with that. We only eat about a dozen a week. The rest get sold to neighbors.

Hope everyone is good!

 

[pipemum]

That was me that doesn't like chicks in her house. 2 chicks were fine. 9 chicks were not! But everyone has different tolerances--I don't seem to have much tolerance for inside chicks. I'll have to have a bit more tolerance with my new chicks (tomorrow!) since it's colder than it was in May.

kpgoldstar, I was wondering what you were holding in your avatar! Thanks for the gardening tips. This was certainly the worst summer garden I've had! Oh, yeah, I'm in Tucson. I live right off a wash, so I do get quite a few freezes over the winter.

I canned for the first time this past weekend. Apple pie filling with the apples we got in Willcox. Just water bath in a stock pot. Interested in getting a pressure canner, but that'll have to be a xmas present because $$$!



Oh, hey, Tucson people--any chance any of y'all will be running in the Old Tucson obstacle race on Saturday? I'll be there, and I'd love to meet some chicken people. Send me a pm, and maybe we can meet there!