Arizona Chickens

[MandyFitch]

Okay, seriously?!! First my two Marans started crowing at nine weeks. Now one of my Lavender Ameraucanas is trying to find his voice at 14 weeks. I thought I'd have six months!!!

These are not EE. I got them from RedRocketRooster who got the eggs from a breeder. Anyone interested in one or both? They are kind of joined at the hip! Free to good home (not freezer!)

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Funny story, Gallo. My chickens eat my pomegranates too but I'm disappointed with mine. It's supposed to be a wonderful but the fruit never gets red. I check and check and just when they start to turn a little pink, they all rot. My chickens eat them though so maybe we should just eat them white? Maybe it was mis-labeled at the nursery. Isn't there a white pomegranate?

I've been trimming the trunk to make a short tree/bush. The branches droop so there is still a lot of hang-out space underneath for the chickens. I'm about ready to pull it out and replace it, though. Why have a pom tree if you can't eat the poms?

As a side note, our orange tree is ready now so we've been eating oranges every day. Soon the tangelo will be ready. We have a decent number or oranges this year but I think the tangelo tree got too much water so the tangelos are a little sparse.

 

[Nuclear Chickens]

I am looking for a good egg candler and I was wondering if anyone knew of a place in the Phoenix area that sells them. I have seen several on line but kind of want to do eyes on shopping to get a nice one but not too expensive.

 

[dheltzel]

I made one that works great from one of those 9 LED mini flashlights. Use a piece of duct tape a little longer than the circumference of the light. Fold 1/3 of the width back on itself and use the remain sticky 1/3 to wrap around the lighted end of the flashlight. The folded over duct tape easily seals around the egg and the LED's make this much brighter than a regular flashlight, but won't heat up the egg if you have it on for a while.

It's portable enough to move from egg to egg without even removing them from the incubator.

 

[Demosthine]

Funny story, Gallo. My chickens eat my pomegranates too but I'm disappointed with mine. It's supposed to be a wonderful but the fruit never gets red. I check and check and just when they start to turn a little pink, they all rot. My chickens eat them though so maybe we should just eat them white? Maybe it was mis-labeled at the nursery. Isn't there a white pomegranate?

I've been trimming the trunk to make a short tree/bush. The branches droop so there is still a lot of hang-out space underneath for the chickens. I'm about ready to pull it out and replace it, though. Why have a pom tree if you can't eat the poms?

As a side note, our orange tree is ready now so we've been eating oranges every day. Soon the tangelo will be ready. We have a decent number or oranges this year but I think the tangelo tree got too much water so the tangelos are a little sparse.

Pomegranates can come in several colors. Do any of the ones at this Grow Organic or Ty Ty Nursery page look similar to what you have? There's about a dozen varieties with different colors, shapes and sizes.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
The outside of the pom gets red like the wonderful but the inside stays white. It doesn't even get pink like the ever sweet in the picture at "Grow Organic".
I just called Treeland and they said to fertilize it with a all-purpose fertilizer in February (not compost and chickens like I have been doing). I'll try this year and if it doesn't work, the tree is history.
Gallo, do you fertilize your trees? and if so, what with?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I've never fertilized.

But they are on drip irrigation. All of mine are tasty, but the Wonderful and Angel Red are best. My Kashmir fruits never seem to get that deep red color the other two achieve. The insides are mottled, with most of the seeds being light pink or white. I think they're supposed to be red. So maybe that tree has a similar problem as yours. My trees are situated in the shade of mesquite trees and I don't think it's a coincidence that the tree with the most sun exposure is the tastiest (Angel Red) and the tree in the shadiest takes third place (Kashmir). Some of my fruits this year were huge, many were larger than a softball. Maybe I'll try fertilizing this Feb as they suggest.

Oh, I'd definitely pull a pom that didn't taste good. There are too many out there that are spectacular.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I haven't liked anything I've tried that has pomegranate flavour.

I'm so sorry.

I didn't discover them until the last five years or so and I'm in love with the flavor. We didn't have them growing up in the midwest and it's hard to imagine that I almost went my life without experiencing the joy of a sweet pomegranate.

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
The outside of the pom gets red like the wonderful but the inside stays white. It doesn't even get pink like the ever sweet in the picture at "Grow Organic".
I just called Treeland and they said to fertilize it with a all-purpose fertilizer in February (not compost and chickens like I have been doing). I'll try this year and if it doesn't work, the tree is history.
Gallo, do you fertilize your trees? and if so, what with?

There may not be anything wrong with your tree. There are several varieties of pomegranate that do not get red. I have two Kino Heritage pomegranates and neither one is red. One is pink and the other is white. Yes, I would prefer deep red fruit but my trees were cloned from pomegranates that have been growing around the Tucson area since mission times. I went for the varieties likeliest to survive in my location. If I don't like the fruit the chickens are welcome to them.

Unfortunately, ants keep defoliating the poor trees so the chickens and I haven't gotten much fruit. Sigh.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Mary, my broody, should be hatching just before Christmas Eve. She is in the coop and it is kinda cold for chicks. The coop is high off the ground. Should I fix up a spot on the ground with a heat lamp. Should I help her protect her chicks the first week or 2? Do I have concern for concern? I have 11 raptors, hungry, and looking for a small, helpless, tender, fresh meat.