Arizona Chickens

[LindaMurphy]

I'm sorry. We have experienced several losses last couple months. It is never easy watching them cross the rainbow bridge. Big Hugs!

 

[maryhysong]

Thanks! I built it (mostly) from materials I got at Home Depot. The ribs are galvanized top-rail fencing pipes bent with a hoop bender. It's held together with metal screws, radiator hose clamps and band-straps made for chain link fencing. They're quite easy to make and much less expensive than a kit. I found the vintage aluminum screen door at a salvage yard. The ventilation and coverings (poly for the winter, aluminet shade cloth for summer) were purchased at Greenhouse Megastore (I highly recommend them for stuff like this).

Thanks for the bender link; I"ll have to look into them. I have one of the smaller ones to bend 10' conduit into 4x4 hoops for row covers. Would love to have a metal frame greenhouse; my hoop coop is PVC but I figure at some point it's going to deteriorate and need replaced

 

[jubilation]

Within the last 3 1/2 months I've lost my beautiful and sweet rooster, Henry and one of my hens who laid jumbo eggs all the time. Then one evening, while sitting on the couch, my beautiful full blooded collie of 7 years just fell over dead. What a shock and great despair. He was such a gentle soul. Even the chickens were not afraid of him. Just couldn't believe it. I tried CPR but it was too late. He died in an instant. Unknown why. No medical problems except a little arthritis in his back but nothing life threatening. Very, very sad. Miss him terribly. Henry, my rooster is the one on my avatar.

 

[Demosthine]

I'm only to here (way behind in posts), but my unfortunate and repeated experience with coyotes is that plentiful food, high wall, big dogs, living in a cookie-cutter subdivision is NOT even one small bit of a deterrent to a coyote.  A secure coop is, but I have doubts about the all-hallowed hardware cloth and a determined animal now. 

I'll have to figure out where the photo is, but I saw something  on Facebook that might prevent coyote from clambering over a wall--it was a pvc pipe set up to roll to prevent a dog (or coyote) from getting purchase over the fence. A roll bar.  Genius.  However, an electrified wire strand might be just as cheap and less "ugly"--I haven't done the pricing yet. 


I've been working on securing the meat coop yet again, and can see no way any animal can chew or dig in. But of course, I thought that the first 2 times.  I dunno. 

The predator deterent you mentioned is called the "Coyote Roller" and is a huge gimmick given the name. A coyote can easily clear a six to eight foot fence, with a small dog in it's mouth, and never touch the fence. The end of our street didn State Trust Land and the 'yotes have a prime rib meal with all the yippy dogs here in Sun City. I say an eight foot fence because I have personally watched them jump from the bottom of a drainage ditch up over the six foot block fence. They are amazing to watch, although it scared the brown trout out of me when they landed in the road in front of my motorcycle.

Now, for other predators like a domestic dog, they may very well work. It would prevent aerial predators from landing there, too, but if your place is like mine, they have a huge option for perches. For me, the cost wouldn't be justified for the false sense of security. There are many other options that make more sense.

There is a product called NightGuard that is a solar powered light. It is supposed to be mounted at predator level and flashes red, like an animal blinking. The theory is that it looks like a predator's eyes at night and will keep away other predators. There were very mixed reviews on them, though. Being solar powered allows for remote placement, though.

You can also try the Scarecrow. It is a motion activated, high intensity sprinkler that will spray a three second burst up to 35 feet. The theory here is that the sudden noise, movement and burst of water will discourage any predators. As an activate deterrent, I would expect a better result versus the NightGuard. This way, there is a very negative feedback. A smart and aggressive predator might ignore the eyes, plus it's a directional deterrent. But the sprinkler covers a wider area.

Just a few ideas...

 

[chicksurreal]

Within the last 3 1/2 months I've lost my beautiful and sweet rooster, Henry and one of my hens who laid jumbo eggs all the time. Then one evening, while sitting on the couch, my beautiful full blooded collie of 7 years just fell over dead. What a shock and great despair. He was such a gentle soul. Even the chickens were not afraid of him. Just couldn't believe it. I tried CPR but it was too late. He died in an instant. Unknown why. No medical problems except a little arthritis in his back but nothing life threatening. Very, very sad. Miss him terribly. Henry, my rooster is the one on my avatar.

I'm so sorry you've had so many losses in such a short period of time, it's hard no matter how spread out and much harder when they happen together. We lost two of our beautiful roos to a bobcat within 3 weeks and I am still so sad about it.

 

[ChickTucson]

I would absolutely love to!

 

[ChickTucson]

There is a lot of coyote chat going on!

I've lived in downtown Tucson, mid-town Tucson, a couple blocks from the University of Arizona football stadium and now down by the Airforce Base. I can say that I have seen coyotes EVERYWHERE.

There must be some kind of recent population explosion, because I see them in the middle of the day, in the morning, at dusk and of course in the middle of the night, roaming the Tucson roads. I have even seen them running around in school yards behind my house.

I am lucky. I have an 10 foot cinder block wall around my back yard. My hens are in an over engineered coop, built by their very protective paternal guardian. We have not yet lost a bird to a predator, but he did witness a neighborhood cat attack and maul a hen right in front of him (ballsy feline!) during free range time.

Anyway, I know coyotes are a nusiance and a pest. I know they kill pets and livestock.

I can't help that I love them. They're so beautiful. Lately, all the ones I have seen have been large, healthy and pleased looking wildlife.

 

[roostereggs]

This is so exciting to hear your successful story! I'm just now researching autosexing and am not sure I'm clear on how it works. So, do you have more than one coop, i.e., separate flocks, to keep the breeding options confined to specific breeds? Please tell me more, would love to learn how to manage the flock more effectively, especially with 2 roosters, and the prospect of potentially others hatching. I hope to get my flock to a self=sustaining level, also. Which of your ladies are the best brooders & moms? It sounds like you have all standard size, no bantams. That's the case with my flock, and it's really a fun adventure watching them grow... can't wait to try hatching a clutch of eggs this spring. Kudos to you for doing so!

My first run/coop are laying adults that I got with our house. Our month-olds are in the brooder but will be moved out to the second coop/run in the next 2-4 weeks depending on the weather. They will be used as layers for my very colorful egg baskets.

I love giving away eggs to friends/neighbors or bartering for citrus/garden items. I plan to sell some, not for profit...mostly to help with feed costs.

The third will be my Easter coop of Rhodebars for fertile eggs/chicks. I have also had a request to hatch quail from our realtor in exchange for processed meat...maybe during the summer when I have time to research how to care for them.

I have two big horse paddocks that they will all take turns using.

I am two dozen in the bator on Friday...I will grow these to 6 weeks for a neighbor who is finishing up their coop. They are helping us with our irrigation in exchange.

So far one of my EEs acts broody, but sits next to the eggs. So I moved the eggs where she sits, and she gets into the nest next to the eggs. Grrrrr. But I like incubating and getting them used to being held. I have read that silkies make the best broody moms. I don't have any bantams but may add those next winter just for fun.

I love watching the chicks grow, as well! So many daily changes with them...from embryo stage and candling to outgrowing brooders.

Are you far enough north to get snow?

 

[roostereggs]

Sad day over here. Spent the entire weekend outside with the chickens, rabbits and our 14 y.o. collie/shephard mix. She has been declining over the past week as if she is displaying some alzheimers symptoms. (or something like that) She is completely "present" for a while and then seems to get lost and starts meandering around and doesn't respond to our voices. Well, today she passed. It is a blessing to have had her as long as we have. I got to groom her this weekend and she loved it. She was outside with me all day both days. I sensed something was eminent, so last night I took the time to love on her and tell her if it's her time it's OK. When I left for work this morning, she was snoring away. My husband called me at work around 10:15 to tell me she had passed away. One minute I am smiling and even laughing from some of our favorite memories of her. The next I am crying like a baby because she is not under foot. She has been our constant companion and happily greeted us daily for almost 14 years. I guess this is our new normal. Thanks for letting me share.

Ohhhh, so sorry!

 

[roostereggs]

Within the last 3 1/2 months I've lost my beautiful and sweet rooster, Henry and one of my hens who laid jumbo eggs all the time. Then one evening, while sitting on the couch, my beautiful full blooded collie of 7 years just fell over dead. What a shock and great despair. He was such a gentle soul. Even the chickens were not afraid of him. Just couldn't believe it. I tried CPR but it was too late. He died in an instant. Unknown why. No medical problems except a little arthritis in his back but nothing life threatening. Very, very sad. Miss him terribly. Henry, my rooster is the one on my avatar.

I can't imagine losing my dog...I don't think I would want to get out of bed for at least a few months!

Henry is VERY handsome! So very sorry for your losses!