Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

Did not get to read the whole article but ya gotta love this kind of undertaking..

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/06/n...y-no-flapping-required-to-find-new-lives.html

 

[Billiam]

Now this is a broody hen!

That's too funny!!!

 

[MagicChicken]

Thanks everyone for the condolences. We are fairly new to chickens, only had them for two years. In all that time we did not so much as see a stray cat around our neighborhood (now I know why!!!) and thought the wall might, at the least deter some coyotes. Boy were we wrong! There has been a spike in coyote sightings around our area in the last month or so.

We plan to get more, but not until after Christmas, as we are going back east to visit family for the holidays, and thought it would be less of a hassle to start over after we return. Hopefully during this time we can come up with a design that will keep everyone safe in the future. Any suggestions would be most helpful design wise and budget wise! The real bizarre thing is we didn't hear so much as a peep (no pun intended), and none of our neighbors did either...We are all lamenting the fact we will have to purchase eggs for the next couple months. They had become quite the little neighborhood mascots.
Quote:

Ivytwilight, I'm so sorry about your chickens. I have a broody sitting on eggs that may or may not hatch in a week, and I plan on hatching chicks on and off through January. Let me know if you want some of them after the holidays. I'm near Bopp/San Joaquin, which isn't far from you.

 

[MarmotMommy]

Hi all, I'm a new member of BYC from Tempe (Phoenix). As far as I can tell, this is the right place to post for advice about AZ chickens? Anyway, I don't have any yet, but we're looking to get started. We're currently in S Tempe with a rocky (but shaded) backyard, but hope to move closer to the univ within a year or so, and we'll have more shade and grass there. I'm thinking of a small flock (4 or so birds) and like the idea of the garden-topped coops I've seen designs for online. I have a few questions, though, and wonder if some AZ chicken enthusiasts could weigh in:

1) What breeds are going to be best for handling the AZ heat?
2) Do I need to plan on anything beyond shade, misters, lots of ventilation, and perhaps some wet sand or shallow pans of water with ice in them to keep the birds cool in the summer?
3) Should chickens have the run of a (fenced) yard during the day and be cooped only at night, or are they pretty much cooped all the time? If the former, what stops them from flying away?
4) Within the confines of the answer to #1 (hot weather birds), any recommendations for birds that will be really friendly and social if hand-raised? I have a preschooler who would get a kick out of "pet" chickens.

Anything else I forgot to ask that you want to answer for me? I'm totally newbie/clueless, so I'll take all the help I can get!

Thanks!!!

 

[Twinklin]

Hi all, I'm a new member of BYC from Tempe (Phoenix). As far as I can tell, this is the right place to post for advice about AZ chickens? Anyway, I don't have any yet, but we're looking to get started. We're currently in S Tempe with a rocky (but shaded) backyard, but hope to move closer to the univ within a year or so, and we'll have more shade and grass there. I'm thinking of a small flock (4 or so birds) and like the idea of the garden-topped coops I've seen designs for online. I have a few questions, though, and wonder if some AZ chicken enthusiasts could weigh in:

1) What breeds are going to be best for handling the AZ heat?
2) Do I need to plan on anything beyond shade, misters, lots of ventilation, and perhaps some wet sand or shallow pans of water with ice in them to keep the birds cool in the summer?
3) Should chickens have the run of a (fenced) yard during the day and be cooped only at night, or are they pretty much cooped all the time? If the former, what stops them from flying away?
4) Within the confines of the answer to #1 (hot weather birds), any recommendations for birds that will be really friendly and social if hand-raised? I have a preschooler who would get a kick out of "pet" chickens.

Anything else I forgot to ask that you want to answer for me? I'm totally newbie/clueless, so I'll take all the help I can get!

Thanks!!!

Welcome.

1) Most breeds seem to do well in the heat if you do the steps you listed like using misters and having plenty of water. I hear bantams do especially well in heat. Not sure if you're familiar with them but they are like mini chickens. I have 4 feed store standard large foul breeds and all did great in the heat.
2) All of the things you mentioned are what I did over the summer. If possible having a dust bathing area that's in the shade seems to be a popular place for the chickens to hang out as the ground is cooler when they dig down into their dust hole. But I had a single mister on any day over 95 degrees and just made sure they had shade and water.
3) Most people have a coop and a run. Coop for large foul (not the smaller bantam breeds) should be approx 4sq ft of floor space per chicken. Then for most of the day they should be able to get out for fresh air either in a run or free ranged. A run should have approx 10 sq ft per chicken if they are going to be confined to the run all day. Bantams take up less space so you can probably do 3sq ft in the coop and 7 sq ft in the run for them. If they will free range you can get away with less space in the run. The run should be covered in hardware cloth, not chicken wire, The smaller the holes in the hardware cloth the better. Having the top enclosed and a buried skirt of hardware cloth along the bottom helps prevent critters from digging in from under or swooping in from above. You can get an automatic door opener for the door between the coop and run so it opens at a set time during the day. Or you can go out in the morning and open up the coop to let them out into the run. "Most" chickens don't fly very well. If you have very flighty breeds they can fly out but you can also clip their wing. I still recommend a hardware cloth top to the run though if only to prevent hawks from swooping in.
4) I don't have one yet but hope to get a silkie. Kids love them because they're balls of fluff, they do well in heat, they're a bantam so they are small. Lots of people around here have silkies who can give you better insight into them than I can, but I hear they're great children birds. All my standard feed store girls are nice, none particularly like to be handled but if you do hold them they're not mean about it. Once they start laying they squat when approached and become much easier to catch. Even though you hand feed them, love them, give them all sorts of attention, they may come running to you when you go outside but they may also run away when you try to pick them up for the first 5-6 months. I have heard of individual chickens who love attention, will hop up on people's laps etc. I have yet to have a bird like that even though I spent every waking second with them for 5 months.

 

[heidisue]

Ivytwilight, so sorry to hear about your flock.  How devastating. 

Re: the bodysuits. I'm looking for one!  I can't find them on the Target website.  I'll be visiting a Target later this week--I really want to find one for $15.00.  Can't spend much more than that. I found some on Amazon but they are stretching the budget. 

Leaf cutter control, I'm cutting and pasting info as I find it below, various online sources:

Other suggestions online include boric acid, DE, boiling water, orange oil.  The ants in the wash, I'm going to treat with boiling water.  Apparently Texas has a big problem with leaf cutters, with huge colonies--the area they excavate to for their fungi garden can be huge enough where a collapse can cause cracks in house foundations, livestock can fall in, etc.  I'm going to use Amdro Block on the outside of my fence line, and with my neighbor's okay, along his wall too.  Next spring when they start to emerge, I'm going to have less hand-wringing and more action right away. 

I tried boiling water - tons! It didn't work, slowed them by a day or so and killed hundreds, but they came back in full

 

[heidisue]

Heidisue, you aren't too terribly far from us. We are in the Ajo/Kinney area. If you want it, it is yours to have! I will PM you and if that doesn't work you can always email me at [email protected].

Hi all, I'm a new member of BYC from Tempe (Phoenix). As far as I can tell, this is the right place to post for advice about AZ chickens? Anyway, I don't have any yet, but we're looking to get started. We're currently in S Tempe with a rocky (but shaded) backyard, but hope to move closer to the univ within a year or so, and we'll have more shade and grass there. I'm thinking of a small flock (4 or so birds) and like the idea of the garden-topped coops I've seen designs for online. I have a few questions, though, and wonder if some AZ chicken enthusiasts could weigh in:

1) What breeds are going to be best for handling the AZ heat?
2) Do I need to plan on anything beyond shade, misters, lots of ventilation, and perhaps some wet sand or shallow pans of water with ice in them to keep the birds cool in the summer?
3) Should chickens have the run of a (fenced) yard during the day and be cooped only at night, or are they pretty much cooped all the time? If the former, what stops them from flying away?
4) Within the confines of the answer to #1 (hot weather birds), any recommendations for birds that will be really friendly and social if hand-raised? I have a preschooler who would get a kick out of "pet" chickens.

Anything else I forgot to ask that you want to answer for me? I'm totally newbie/clueless, so I'll take all the help I can get!

Thanks!!!

That is so sweet of you ivytwilight - ill send you a message, that's not too far from me.

Welcome marmotmommy
1) I have bantams, their small size equips them better for the heat. Lots of people have standards though, including my neighbor, so if that is what you want they will be fine.
2) I didn't even need the mister - my coop has a crazy amount of ventilation and they always have shade. They liked frozen treats, corn, watermelon, etc.
3) mine have a fully enclosed run so they can stay in there, but they usually get run of the yard at least a few hours a day. They don't fly - if you get a breed that does you can clip the wings.
4) I have all silkies and they are so sweet. Perfect for my 3 year old. They lay 4-5 eggs a week, so not as good as other breeds, but it was a good mix between pet and chicken for us. Down the line i will probably get a few other breeds to mix up the flock, but I'm fairly certain I will stick with bantams.

 

[City farm]

Wheat Grass "butts" from the juice cafe. They actually called me to let me know they had some. I love my little chicken community!

Ahwee, I love your chicken community too..

 

[City farm]

Yeah, the fermented feed helped out immensely with the poop.  It is much more stable now and there seems to be a separation between pooping and peeing.  Sometimes it comes out complete liquid and other times, they drop a nice hard glob.  The quantity went down and it all breaks down in to the yard much, much faster and nicer.  The smell is dramatically decreased, too.

Still no eggs yet, since they are all still moulting.  Boy, we've gotta stock up for next year's moult.  This is crazy!  But hey, with winter coming up, they should be egg laying machines again!


On a side note, we are picking up four roosters this afternoon for the crock pot.  I don't know what breeds or anything, but the photos looked reasonably large.  If you're interested in one for breeding purposes or for the flock, message me and let me know.  Otherwise, they'll go to Camp Freezer on Saturday or Sunday.

Well my girlfriend has the partridge silkie.. She is in Mesa.. Will you
coming this way for pick up? P.M. Me and I will give you her number.
Their Internet is down.. That is why I am posting for them..

 

[City farm]

Yeah, the fermented feed helped out immensely with the poop.  It is much more stable now and there seems to be a separation between pooping and peeing.  Sometimes it comes out complete liquid and other times, they drop a nice hard glob.  The quantity went down and it all breaks down in to the yard much, much faster and nicer.  The smell is dramatically decreased, too.

Still no eggs yet, since they are all still moulting.  Boy, we've gotta stock up for next year's moult.  This is crazy!  But hey, with winter coming up, they should be egg laying machines again!


On a side note, we are picking up four roosters this afternoon for the crock pot.  I don't know what breeds or anything, but the photos looked reasonably large.  If you're interested in one for breeding purposes or for the flock, message me and let me know.  Otherwise, they'll go to Camp Freezer on Saturday or Sunday.

Well my girlfriend has the partridge silkie.. She is in Mesa.. Will you
coming this way for pick up? P.M. Me and I will give you her number.
Their Internet is down.. That is why I am posting for them..