Arizona Chickens

[Demosthine]

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Oh, and I just found out that all the extra whey can be used for lacto-fermenting your feed, if you are fermenting. Or just plain soaking your grains or legumes in before using them. You can not do this with the whey you brought to 200*F for ricotta because all of the enzymes have been killed in it, but the traditional rennet recipes work really well. Oh, the doors this is opening!

 

[pastrymama]

Hey Gallo - I guess I didn't remember correctly - sux getting old.

I'm not sure of the breeds yet - you know I love those spitzhoubens but they're pretty hard to come by. I'd like to get some spangled varieties this time. May go with a few barred rocks since they seem to be the hardiest/friendliest. I'm going to invite the neighbor over for a chicken pick'n night.

Hey Mikey!!!! Remember ca out in wittman or somewhere out there? She has Spitz, but they are the partridge variety. She had the eggs imported from overseas like she did with the sulmtalers. If you can get a hold of her, I can hatch for you.

And the only thing I vaccinate for here is fowl pox. Decided against having birds vaccinated for Mareks since you can have birds that are carrying it and present with nothing. Basically a typhoid Mary. This way, if I have a bird come down with it, I can just have the fireman use his axe and save the rest of the flock.

If you use McMurrary, you DO need them vaccinated for Mareks or they will drop like flies. Try Ideal to get unvaccinated birds or find what you want in eggs and I can hatch. Plus, I happen to know someone who has a mighty nice cabinet incubator that was just acquired yesterday that lives closer to you than me. I am sure she would love to fill it to capacity. 300+ eggs!

Ready for ducks yet?

 

[LMS]

Soon-to-be-newbie here... (still scheming, er, planning....)

All this coyote talk has me worried that my setup will not work out well for the long haul, or for the chickens... We live near a wash (about a block up the road) and our backyard faces a dead end street that ends at the wash. I've seen lots of coyotes in our neighborhood, and of course many of them en route to and from the wash on that street. Am I asking for trouble putting chickens in that back corner of the yard (our only option) or is it enough to enclose the run in wire mesh and hope the chickens can make it back in there in time? (We were planning a small enclosed run and a fenced-in but open-on-top range area that will be large enough for 8 chickens to range but small enough to provide cover from hawks/owls.)

We have a (very useless indoor) dog who can't stay outside for long and who would be more of a threat to the chickens than a coyote on the other side of the block wall. Our wall is (mostly) 6' cinder block all around -- some places it might be lower if the ground on the other side is higher.

We don't really want another dog right now, and certainly never planned on a large breed outdoor dog, given the logistics of keeping him cool enough in summer. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Demosthine]

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There are coyotes roaming the entire valley, all the way in to Central Phoenix, and they can clear a 6' block fence and never touch it. As crazy as it sounds, I've seen it a great many times over the years. The end of our road dead-ends to the State Trust Land, so they are quite common in our area. They are so agile and fast that it won't matter what part of the yard the coop is in. Enclosing the coop in the wire mesh should be mostly adequate. You can lay a foot or two wide stretch of the wire slightly underground surrounding the entire foundation of it to prevent them from digging underneath. If you have the money to do it, a cement foundation around the edges is a phenominal setup as well. There are a great many options to make your coop predator-proof. Keeping large breed dogs outside is not a challenging problem. They shed their fur in relation to the weather. We've kept a great many short and long haired retrievers outside over the years without problems. Plenty of water and shade are the keys to it, but we've never done anything else with them. The husky we had briefly survived last summer perfectly fine outside as well under the same circumstances. I think people tend to forget that most dogs are just a few steps from wild and have survived in the cold, heat and everything in between for thousands of years. We tend to overthink things and make them too complicated. Use the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and you'll have no problems.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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He does, my asthma won't let me.

 

[pipemum]

I've tried making yogurt a few times, and it's been dismal failure. I even have a yogurt maker! I have scalding milk issues. Many gallons of milk ruined because I burn it, one second of inattention and burn! Next time, I'll try nuking the milk, and avoid the stovetop altogether. I've had a cheese making (ricotta and mozzarella) kit in my Amazon cart for 3 years, but my serious heating milk issues have left it sitting there.

I think Russian orloffs are gorgeous. Probably my favorite looking chicken of all. Easter eggers, ameracaunas, and orloffs, I guess I like puffy cheeks and pea combs.

 

[pipemum]

Oh, this morning I had the chickens out while I was doing my morning chores. Watered the dogs, came back into the garden area, and the chickens were under Big Red (this big red table I have). Something caught my eye, it was a hawk flying out from my palo verde tree--must have been checking out the chickens. I'm pretty sure it was only a cooper's hawk, which seems way too small to be going after a chicken! We have a couple of pairs that hang out around here. Maybe my little bantam Polish/silkie mixes were looking particularly appetizing this morning.

We live off a natural wash, and have tons of coyotes and several bobcats roaming through. So far, no issues with coyotes jumping over the wrought iron fence, but we have seen them staring in. We have 3 big dogs, so that might be a deterrent (we also have 1 small dog, a tasty coyote treat). I've found a couple of small dogs in the wash, partially eaten, so I know it happens. A bobcat will probably be the most likely thing to get my chickens. Their coop and run is predator-proof, but one of these days a bobcat is going to slink in while they are roaming in the garden and snatch one away. I'm out in the yard a lot, but not always, and even so, I've heard many stories of a bobcat getting chickens with the owner mere feet away.

 

[pipemum]

Yes! It is! Of course they couldn't roost at Pratt's and based on their behavior (trying to climb up my arm, flying and perching on the top of the coming home box) we determined a bar was needed. Here they are enjoying it!

RIR chicks are adorable! My daughter's favorite chick was Rosie, our only RIR. Unfortunately, Rosie turned out to be Willie Nelson (have no idea why she named him Willie Nelson) and Willie Nelson ended up in the crock pot.

 

[pipemum]

Finally, I am going to be hatching some chicks out this spring. Is the Hovabator a decent inexpensive incubator? Should I get the egg turner and fan, or just the bare bones basic setup?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Latch or lock the coop door so that the kids can't open it by themselves. You can put in a pop door if you want the birds to have a way in/out all the time. Of course, you need to be able to close and latch it, too.