Arizona Chickens

[roostereggs]

I spoke too soon today. Brainless was out and about and her two eggs were cold.

Good thing I have a Brinsea ordered...should be here any day now.

Does anyone here in the Phoenix vicinity have fertilized dark brown/chocolate eggs and blue eggs that I could purchase? I am about to order some, but I keep reading that hatch rates aren't very good after shipping. I would like some Cream Legbars and Maran's specifically, but mostly we just want a more colorful egg basket and friendly birds for our second flock. Some olive and cream layers would be great as well. Mutts are ok, but no banties, please!

I am also willing to trade eggs if you are interested in more variety as well...we have mostly large light brown/some speckled eggs and some mint green. We have 3 that have laid daily all through November even though we don't light our coop/run.

Please PM me if you are interested. I am willing to drive a few hours from the East Valley. Next weekend we will be driving to and from the Four Corners area, as well.

 

[roostereggs]

Timskins, that is amazing! Can you tell me what you did to prepare the dirt for planting? We have dirt just like that in a second run and I want to turn it into what you have! How long did it take to grow? My chickens would be so happy!

 

[maryhysong]

Home from the Tucson show. Had a great time and learned a lot watching, listening and talking to a judge and other breeders. Grats to desertmarcy for her Black Copper Marans cockerel that won Best Continental and I beleive it was her Naragansett Tom that won Best Turkey.

My Buff Plymouth Rock cockerels were 1st & 3rd with desertmarcy's taking 2nd. My pullet went was 3rd, desertmarcy's was 2nd and cbnovik's took 1st. Cindy's pretty Buff Orpington pullet was 2nd in her class with loads of comments from the judge and others that her color was stunning. ;-)

I brought home the Buff Rock pullet from Cindy to join her hatchmates here along with 4 young silkies that I won in a raffle.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

My 2 ¢. A skunk or possum could easily do a 4" opening, but is that big enough for your meats? How old were they again, not half grown? Skunks are smart and I could picture two on the hunt bringing it home. I am always amazed at just how quite these killers can be and the determination to bring home dinner.

I do not think we have possums in AZ, and all the Weasels in Arizona are domestic ferrets. The Black Footed Ferret i do not think live in this state at all, don't know for sure a question I never asked. Minks will get blood lust and kill everything. Don't know much more.

Looked it up, the Long Tail Wessel is the only Wessel in Arizona.
"Weasels in Arizona are largely restricted to high elevation wooded areas such as the Kaibab Plateau, Mogollon Rim, Chuska-Lukachukai mountains, and southern Arizona’s sky-islands."
I think we are safe from weasels.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Dose anyone have a twin bed, bed frame they do not want. Please PM me. I need one. Thanks

 

[Timskins]

Timskins, that is amazing! Can you tell me what you did to prepare the dirt for planting? We have dirt just like that in a second run and I want to turn it into what you have! How long did it take to grow? My chickens would be so happy!

My dirt is silt, not sure if that is good or bad. Since silt doesn't hold water I mixed compost and peat moss into that area and it seemed to do well. I tried a couple other soil mixtures in planting containers and the one in the ground did the best. That was about 3 weeks of growth, maybe closer to 4. I planted it later than I wanted so I think it would have come in better if I had planted it when it was a little warmer. Theres a few others of us who have planted this as well so I'm interested to see how theirs is doing.

Tim

 

[chisandchicks]

Well first, WELCOME TO LOVING CHICKENS IN ARIZONA!!! Lol.
I have been loving chickens for a year now - here in the desert - and I am just having a ball!
My hubby put up a mister - not a big one either just long enough to go across the length of a 2 x 4 that is across the main yard (in front of their coop). I turn that on around 11 a.m. in the summer. I also have 2 small perennial water-ers inside the coop and big one in the yard, along with a dog ater bowl - the size or a German Shepherd - lol! They also have a large square tub (like you soak your feet in...) to play in. (Chickens do much better in our weather if they can keep their feet cool.)
Shade is important, of course, so I put up a couple of tarps (I located them in such a way as to keep the mister water from being blown away by the winds we have) and made some lean-tos out of some pallets I found that have a solid top.
Our coop is their main shade and it is screened around the top edge about 3 or 4 inches to allow or the air to circulate and the door is always open in the summer!
We built all of our stuff ourselves and believe me we don't have a lot of $, so we got creative! lol.
Our nesting boxes are small and medium dog kennels (a large one or the babies to grow up in) - I'm a dog groomer and I take care of people's dogs for them to, so I had a bunch of extra kennels (I found most of them at yard sales for pretty cheap.) For a shade area and a broody hen box we took an old table and enclosed it with throw- away pieces of plywood and voila'! It is really nice! lol. The girls seem pretty happy anyway...
My hubby got some straw at a feed store for $7/bail and it lasts a long time! That's or insulation (hot or cold!)
Well, that's all I've got for you for now... I hope it helps.
It is my prayer or you that you will do well with your girls and truly enjoy them.
God bless you and yours.
"Chisandchicks" (in Casa Grande, Az.)

 

[pipemum]

The broilers weren't full grown, but 2 were about 6lbs each, and the other 6 probably ranged from 3-5lbs each. Whatever it was got quite a bit of meat. And carried them all neatly away. There is literally not a single white feather in my yard. I searched the wash behind my yard and only found 2 areas of a few scattered feathers. No entrails, nada. Of course, the wash has a lot of cover and is large enough that I could have missed quite a bit, and with the weather, the flies were around to notify me of something nasty about. I have some live traps that I can set...I'm not sure I want to catch a skunk! Live cams would be cool, maybe I can look into that. I'm sure I'd catch photos of a million packrats swarming my garden and trying to get into the chicken feed (which is secure in a metal can, but I'm sloppy so there are tidbits for them to feast on)!

I'm still upset about the death of my broilers, but I will say....their absence made my morning routine quite a bit easier. Not late to work today. One bleak positive.

I have 5-days off starting on Wed. I plan on shoring up the broiler pen in that time, and I'll have to decide if I'm going to try again. I had a great experience with the broilers till the depredation. And the 2 I actually got to eat were fantastic!

Oh, LKD, opposums are expanding their range into AZ! I think they are awesome, and can't wait to see one in real life....as long as it's beady little eyes aren't in my coop.

Timskins, your coop and run are really nice!!!!

Congrats on the show, Mary!

And same to DesertMarcy and cbnovik!

 

[pipemum]

pipemum, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I have the same problem way too often since my birds are free ranging most of the time. I don't know what would have crawled through a 4 inch hole, or used a trellis to get in though. Kind of like Gallo said... If you have it secured now, and are wanting to replace your meaties, I bought 25 from McMurray a month or so ago, if you are interested I could part with however many you want. The sickening dead weight in the pit of your stomach when you find just a few feathers left from your flock doesn't get any easier each time it happens. My heart goes out to you.

Thank you so much for the offer. I will have to pass for now, but I really appreciate it!

 

[FeatherPugs]

Well first, WELCOME TO LOVING CHICKENS IN ARIZONA!!! Lol.
I have been loving chickens for a year now - here in the desert - and I am just having a ball!
My hubby put up a mister - not a big one either just long enough to go across the length of a 2 x 4 that is across the main yard (in front of their coop). I turn that on around 11 a.m. in the summer. I also have 2 small perennial water-ers inside the coop and big one in the yard, along with a dog ater bowl - the size or a German Shepherd - lol! They also have a large square tub (like you soak your feet in...) to play in. (Chickens do much better in our weather if they can keep their feet cool.)
Shade is important, of course, so I put up a couple of tarps (I located them in such a way as to keep the mister water from being blown away by the winds we have) and made some lean-tos out of some pallets I found that have a solid top.
Our coop is their main shade and it is screened around the top edge about 3 or 4 inches to allow or the air to circulate and the door is always open in the summer!
We built all of our stuff ourselves and believe me we don't have a lot of $, so we got creative! lol.
Our nesting boxes are small and medium dog kennels (a large one or the babies to grow up in) - I'm a dog groomer and I take care of people's dogs for them to, so I had a bunch of extra kennels (I found most of them at yard sales for pretty cheap.) For a shade area and a broody hen box we took an old table and enclosed it with throw- away pieces of plywood and voila'! It is really nice! lol. The girls seem pretty happy anyway...
My hubby got some straw at a feed store for $7/bail and it lasts a long time! That's or insulation (hot or cold!)
Well, that's all I've got for you for now... I hope it helps.
It is my prayer or you that you will do well with your girls and truly enjoy them.
God bless you and yours.
"Chisandchicks" (in Casa Grande, Az.)

Very nice! BTW I'm just outside CG - pm me and we'll get together to talk "chicken"
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