Arizona Chickens

[pimachickens]

Seems folks here are pretty knowledgeable about anything bees, goats, quails, plants..... here is a new topic, meat rabbits.  Anybody had any experiences?  I want to have some in my backyard but really worried about the heat in the valley.  And with a regular 9-6 job, I can't attend to them during the day, (so any chores says more then once a day would be impracticable for me.  for example, give them iced bottle of water twice a day...) ... Any thoughts?

I had meat rabbits for the past couple of years. Just got rid of them a couple of months ago when I moved. The heat can be a problem, but it isn't insurmountable. Mine were in a cage off the ground, in a larger all wire enclosure for ventilation, covered on top for shade. They were still really stressed during the hottest parts of the summer. I lost one to heat stroke last year, but that was my only loss. I got into a routine of freezing those big, apple juice type bottles (they didn't roll, like two liter bottles), and setting one out in each rabbit's cage every morning before I left for work. I had two for each, so I just brought the old one in when I took out the new one and tossed it in the freezer again. There was very little work involved. The hardest part for me was keeping the drinking water cool. I often came home and the water was hot to the touch. They won't drink it when it gets like that. I'm pretty sure that's how I lost the one. Her water bottle was hot, and full, so I know she hadn't been drinking it that day. If you can solve that problem, you will have a better time keeping them alive.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote: FWIW, in over four years my birds have never pecked at the Reflectix insulation. It's accessible to them in the coop, run and tractor. Of course, your results may vary.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
half my front yard is dichondra (the other half is bermuda--all mixed together, with a lot of weeds). The only deliberate watering it gets is flood irrigation every couple of weeks during the summer and every 4 weeks from October through March (with a couple of months of no irrigation tossed in for December and January).
That sounds lovely! I'll bet it feels cooler with it too. I'm so envious of the irrigation.

 

[K9Dave]

I am considering Buffalo Grass for the yard. Anyone have any experience with it? Also need advice on what to grow on the chicken run wire for shade? I would like something, prob a vine or something to grow rapidly and cover the south fence of their run to cool the area off and give them a break from the brutal sun. Thanks

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I am considering Buffalo Grass for the yard. Anyone have any experience with it? Also need advice on what to grow on the chicken run wire for shade? I would like something, prob a vine or something to grow rapidly and cover the south fence of their run to cool the area off and give them a break from the brutal sun. Thanks

I planted Thunder Turf, which is mostly Buffalo grass along with Blue Grama and Curly Mesquite about a month ago, it's coming in nicely. I have grape vines over the chicken run and coop and they work very well at keeping them cool in the summer. It's the only shade for the run. The vines also provide fairly constant forage for a good portion of the year.

Here is the run in spring before the vines grow out:



Here it is in early summer:





These pictures are a few years old. The vines are much larger now and grow over the coop and all the way down to the ground where the chickens and tortoises keep it trimmed (mostly).

 

[pipemum]

Sill, thanks for the info on coturnix quail. I think I'll try a few out mid-summer. Great to hear they can use the water cups! If they are easy enough to raise, tasty, and not too loud....I foresee another project in my future! But I'll stick with a just a trial few for now.

I've been thinking about meat rabbits for the past year or so. I don't feel like I have a decent shade situation for them here. At some point, I'm hoping to at least build a covered patio onto my house, complete with ceiling fans and electrical outlets...and if so, I'd create a little nook for rabbits, but till then, no rabbits for me. I've even been looking at doing an underground cavern type housing for the rabbits, but there's flaws with that idea as well.

 

[a little chiken]

Seems folks here are pretty knowledgeable about anything bees, goats, quails, plants..... here is a new topic, meat rabbits.  Anybody had any experiences?  I want to have some in my backyard but really worried about the heat in the valley.  And with a regular 9-6 job, I can't attend to them during the day, (so any chores says more then once a day would be impracticable for me.  for example, give them iced bottle of water twice a day...) ... Any thoughts?

We raised them here in Tucson and like K9Dave said having raised hutches and shade is imperative. Also you can freeze water bottles to put in their cages. We kept ours in a rabbit tree (a building) with a fan and misters as rabbits can get heat stroke fast. Other than that they are very easy to raise.

 

[Macboat]

I'll be interested in what people come up with since I've thought about meat rabbits too. I used to raise some NZWs at my last house here in Tempe but they were in my garage that had a solar powered swamp cooler on it. I don't know what to do for rabbits if you have to be away all day and it's 115 plus degrees.

Your post totally give me a new idea of installing a solar powered fan for my future rabbit hub!

We raised them in the Texas heat under oak trees in their hutches. Changes the water in the morning and give them clean bedding and you're good. The hutches were off the ground for ease of care and it let the rabbits have wind all around them. Shade is super important.

Thanks Dave, Do you have a roof on top of the hutches? Or just trees?

I had meat rabbits for the past couple of years. Just got rid of them a couple of months ago when I moved. The heat can be a problem, but it isn't insurmountable. Mine were in a cage off the ground, in a larger all wire enclosure for ventilation, covered on top for shade. They were still really stressed during the hottest parts of the summer. I lost one to heat stroke last year, but that was my only loss. I got into a routine of freezing those big, apple juice type bottles (they didn't roll, like two liter bottles), and setting one out in each rabbit's cage every morning before I left for work. I had two for each, so I just brought the old one in when I took out the new one and tossed it in the freezer again. There was very little work involved. The hardest part for me was keeping the drinking water cool. I often came home and the water was hot to the touch. They won't drink it when it gets like that. I'm pretty sure that's how I lost the one. Her water bottle was hot, and full, so I know she hadn't been drinking it that day. If you can solve that problem, you will have a better time keeping them alive.

Thank you pimachickens, since you have experiences, I have more questions now if you don't mind.
* Per my research, seems you need at least 3 sections for the herd, one for male, one for female and one as brith/grow out pen? Is that right?
* A 2 gallon apple juice bottle ice will last a whole day? To leave 2 bottles for each pen, that adds up to at least 6 bottles a day? Do you keep an extra freezer? I don't think I have that much space in my freezer.
* What kind of waterer do you use? I use nipples on 1 gallon water jug in the shade for my chickens so far the water hasn't got too hot yet.

 

[Macboat]

We raised them here in Tucson and like K9Dave said having raised hutches and shade is imperative. Also you can freeze water bottles to put in their cages. We kept ours in a rabbit tree (a building) with a fan and misters as rabbits can get heat stroke fast. Other than that they are very easy to raise.

For everybody using misters, I have a big question here... when do you turn them on/off during the day and how? On a timer? Most irrigation timer on market only gives me 2 hours of misting, is that enough?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
I only turn mine on when the temps are expected to exceed 110. Last year I didn't use them at all since all the birds seemed to be doing O.K. I used to turn them on for 15 min. or so at a time every hour between noon and three. I use a hose timer from Home Depot. You can program it to come on up to four times in a day for however long you want them on. There are probably better things for this job, but for the money it has worked well for me.