Arizona Chickens

[MagicChicken]

MagicChicken, how exciting with the broody! I think watching a broody with her chicks is one of the most fascinating and fun aspects of raising chickens. Their vocalizations and interactions are so interesting; it's amazing how all that pre-programmed behavior is revealed. The stepping on them problem seems to only get worse as they get more active.

I learned to shuffle my feet around them rather than stepping. What breed of chickens are they?

They are black javas. This is a random test hatch. I don't know who the mothers are. They all have the same father. He is my only yellow-soled bird, and absence of yellow in the sole is a disqualification for showing in this breed. Since I had a broody I gathered eggs for a few days and set them under her. Figure if the chicks aren't yellow-soled they will at least be carrying a yellow-sole gene. Trying not to lose that gene from the flock. Which was a strong possibility if something happened to the one yellow-soled bird.

Several of the new chicks have yellow soles. Looks like most or all of the hens are at least split for that trait. Which is a relief. Breeding pens are under construction. Soon I will be able to set up specific pairings so I can focus more on body type and vigor.

I'm sure getting spoiled with the broody taking care of incubating and chick raising. Artificial incubating and brooding don't seem so exciting any more. Hmmm....

Just wanted to share my amazing score yesterday--I got two used (from 2007) 800 gallon galvanized cisterns (4' dia X 6' tall) for $150. The best part is they have metal bottoms so they can be moved from location to location. They also had the lids and all the extra pieces to make it work. We had to get them out of where they were located, which was an adventure, but totally worth it at $0.11 per gallon of water storage. I'm very excited about watering my herb garden with rainwater.

Wow! I would say that's a great deal, except for the part about having to get them out of their original location. They must weigh a ton. How did you move them?

 

[City farm]

Just wanted to share my amazing score yesterday--I got two used (from 2007) 800 gallon galvanized cisterns (4' dia X 6' tall) for $150.  The best part is they have metal bottoms so they can be moved from location to location.  They also had the lids and all the extra pieces to make it work.  We had to get them out of where they were located, which was an adventure, but totally worth it at $0.11 per gallon of water storage.  I'm very excited about watering my herb garden with rainwater. 

Dude, you totally scored!!

 

[City farm]

 

I'm very excited about watering my herb garden with rainwater. 

What is this "rainwater" you speak of? Is it tears of the gods or something, because it sounds devine! And how do we find such "rainwater" in our desert? Surely, it is just a myth...


:: Laughing ::

  I have faith that, eventually, it will come.  Eventually.  I hope.  

God said he will always provide...

 

[City farm]

I bet the PARTY People are sleeping in ?

Girl you know it... Buy the way I love Molly she follows me round all the time..
I can pick her up, love on her.. She is a sweety.. Thank you..

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

My little Basil, the Black Cooper Maran, is a roster! And even worse Angle may be a rooster as well. Would any one out there like a couple of roosters?
I'm looking for a good home for ether of them. They will have to go to camp freezer some day otherwise.

 

[City farm]

I ordered a bunch of Moringa seeds and am in the process of planting them in 4" pots. I plan to plant them in various places around my property, hoping at least some of them thrive. I want to use them to supplement my poultry feed since it is so hard to get enough greens into them, especially in the summer, here in the desert since I can't free range and not much to range on anyway. They will probably die back in the winter here, but are said to grow very rapidly from the roots even if they do. In the Phoenix area, you folks should have no problem with that. They like the heat and are high in protein and all sorts of other good nutrients. Good for people, too. Wish me luck this is not just another "high hopes" project

Oh man great thing for you if they make it!!! I have tried like5-7 times.. With no luck.
1 from the exotic nursery in East Mesa $37.00 plus gas & time.. Died a few months later..
Then 3 week old starters from a friend.. 3 plants.. Ugh!!!
THEN seeds from D.H. He got them from his friend, that got them from his family in Dominican Republic..
Out of 3; 1 started.. I was so upset... I left tem out for some selfish chicken... By accident... So pease
don't let me bring you dwn.. I just, for some reason can not get them to make it to a year.. If I did I would
share all the seeds with just about every single one of our neighbors.. Plus I would go & trim their tree for harvest..
That is just a drem as of now... Please keep us posted..

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
X2!!! Just made 1dozen hard boiled for macaroni salad.. Gotta get one
I want one of those too. No problem peeling fresh eggs eh?

Not for me. I poke the eggs with the little pin-poker that came with it and when I take them out of the cooker I submerge them in tap water for a few minutes to cool them down. I can peel them when warm or cold after that.
I do the pin hole, oil,ice.. But for some unknown reason I still can not get the shell off easily...

Do you use an egg cooker that steams the eggs?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Oh yes, keep us posted on how this turns out. It seems that they need to be protected well from the cold here in our climate, at least when starting out. A LOT of us here on the AZ thread have tried to grow them over the years and, as far as I know, only mclevinson from Gilbert had any luck at getting the trees started and surviving a winter. She did well enough though that she sent seeds around to all of us from one end of the state to the other. I really want to try again and I think I would try getting it as close to the house as I could to help moderate the cold temps.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

My little Basil, the Black Cooper Maran, is a roster! And even worse Angle may be a rooster as well. Would any one out there like a couple of roosters?
I'm looking for a good home for ether of them. They will have to go to camp freezer some day otherwise.

That's a real bummer. I could tell you were especially fond of Basil.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
They are probably somewhere around 250+ lbs each. We had to get one from the far side of the house which meant navigating over several short rock walls around narrow pathways. We found that tilting them to one edge and rolling them was easiest (which was terrifying when we went down hill). We had four adults helping, two of which were trauma nurses. I thought for sure we'd need 'em too. The top edge of the cisterns was very sharp and I was in constant fear of someone losing fingers or a limb or being crushed. They were very ungainly to move. The other one was behind a waist high block wall that proved to be impossible to cross over with the cistern, so we ended up taking out a 5' section of it in the middle to pass it through. We started at 8am and were home before noon, so while some work was involved, it wasn't too bad.

That's great that you're now setting full steam ahead on the breeding program. I'm going to have to read up on Black Javas now.