Arizona Chickens

[chickybobby]

That sounds cheaper and I like the cloth idea, thanks

 

[chickybobby]

That's a little big but again I like the run idea, I can let my chickens graze on grass for around a year but I would also like to have a space for them to be able to walk around and such.. The only reason I would want it to be hidden is so that the coop wouldn't necessarily look like a coop, I've seen ones that look like a shed and it would help the hoa like the chickens more, ( they are quite strict but do make exceptions, they are not happy about the chickens but will accept them).

 

[K9Dave]

K9Dave can you post a pic of how you did your shade cloth? My girls are the same way if I put watermelon out it's gone in seconds but cabbage will hang for days.

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It's not the prettiest but it's putting out some good shade for them. My wife does crafts and I got a bunch of fabric for free for her. She's self teaching to sew and We had this left over. It's so gaudy (spell?) it's kinda nice looking. Had 6 big pieces and sewed them all together into a square, then I put grommets on and zip tied it to the chicken wire. I would have rather used Bungee cords instead if zip ties but that's all I had. They would allow for some expansion when the winds gusts I think where zip ties won't. I will prob weld a frame together for the fabric roof to rest on as it's already sagging. I wet it down to give them some evaporative cooling. We are renting and moving farely soon so I'm trying to do everything at NO COST to low cost right now. Also I have built everything to where it could be torn down and trashed in a moments notice in case that ever needed to happen. When it cools off I will make it more presentable but you gotta get up at 4:30 am now to escape this heat so I will wait til after summer or just do it 5 minutes at a time. My shop doesn't have a roof here).

Q

What I find so funny is only two houses away there are horses and on the other side of them is open land so its not like I'm in the middle of town. But if you drivedown Main Street you will inevitably come across the chickens that free range on the sides of the road. This morning while doing chores outside one of my girls was singing her egg song and I hear the neighbor that called the police in me saying "There goes that d@#n rooster again. She said she got rid of it. Lookslike its time to call the cops again." To my delight my amazing 7 year old says very loudly " Mom they must not be very smart. Roosters don't sound like that they're way louder. That's just Matilda singing about eggs!". I gave him the biggest hug and took him inside and made his favorite breakfast.

I have two neighbors who are the main problem. One has hated my family for as long as I remember something about my dad getting promoted before her husband so she takes it out on me. She is also one of those who enjoys causing drama. The other is a man who works nights and therefore feels everyone that lives around him should be quiet while he sleeps(with all his doors and windows open). He is the one wh has called the police on me over 15 times never once knocking on my door to let me know they bothered him.

They work at the TEP plant?

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

That's a little big but again I like the run idea, I can let my chickens graze on grass for around a year but I would also like to have a space for them to be able to walk around and such.. The only reason I would want it to be hidden is so that the coop wouldn't necessarily look like a coop, I've seen ones that look like a shed and it would help the hoa like the chickens more, ( they are quite strict but do make exceptions, they are not happy about the chickens but will accept them).

That's good to hear (with the HOA). I get what you're saying now about wanting to stealth coop. I have seen some REALLY clever playhouse coops on here and on the internet. Pretty cute actually, and then it just looks like a playhouse with chickens hanging out. Just for some ideas...

http://www.wooden-wonders.com/
http://isthmushandyman.com/Chicken Coop Designs/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hen-house-rocks-s-the-chicken-ranch-a-playskool-coop
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/chicken-coop-ideas-turn-a-kids-playhouse-into-a-chicken-coop/

 

[Sill]

The eggs may have started incubating, either from the natural heat or a hen may have set on them for an hour or two before you got them. Sounds like they are at day 5 or so. It could shorten your incubation period. Candle at 15 days. As to the quail, as long as they hadn't started incubating, they should be ok. If they had already started, they are now no good. The heat is one reason I don't incubate eggs that I collect after 9 am.

Great, my quail don't start laying until after 2pm.

When I want to collect eggs to incubate I'll be out there every 15 minutes so they don't fry.

Thank you @Pipemum I like the design but I have to have a narrower, more "discreet" coop,

Mine is attached to the house and has red wood lattice on it for shade, ventilation and privacy from the neighbors (even though we are allowed to have chickens and they are 80 ft+ from the closest house. The only solid wall is against the house, the other three are open but with visual barriers against my dogs.
From the outside with the run on the right.

From the inside of the lattice.

Checked the other upper grow bed, and it was similarly clogged, but not as bad. I threw a couple of these "root ropes" into the chicken run, so far no interest. On the same upper grow bed as the original post, I planted some chocolate mint at the "north" end, where the fish tank feeds into the bed. Chocolate mint is kind of notorious for trying to colonize the entire planet. Mine actually grew runners through the fish tank drain tube, and was growing into the fish tank! Yes, fish water is loaded with nutrients plants love!

I've been warned about putting mint in an aquaponics system. Now we know why!

 

[chickybobby]

Thanks I have a pen with grass to put them in and now I just thinking of a shady, open design that's cheaper.

 

[K9Dave]

Thanks I have a pen with grass to put them in and now I just thinking of a shady, open design that's cheaper.

When we get our place I have decided that our coop will be built around a tree. They like the wood so much and it's free shade. Right now I have some logs and big branches in there. Someone was giving away a coop the other day on CL. Could also use a child's play house too I bet.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

That's a little big but again I like the run idea, I can let my chickens graze on grass for around a year but I would also like to have a space for them to be able to walk around and such.. The only reason I would want it to be hidden is so that the coop wouldn't necessarily look like a coop, I've seen ones that look like a shed and it would help the hoa like the chickens more, ( they are quite strict but do make exceptions, they are not happy about the chickens but will accept them).

I agree with pipemum and the garden coop. You can also scale any coop to suit your size needs. Keep in mind that whatever you build should have at least as much ventilation as the garden coop. Most sheds don't have that kind of ventilation so it would have to be altered (which may be a good option). Sill's suggestion with the wood lattice over wire is excellent as a means for concealment too. Maybe you could build it up against an existing wall and have two or three sides covered with lattice. Some perennial vines covering the run is a good way to hide it. I have grapes over mine and it disappears in the summer, but it all gets cut back every winter. On the thread here we recently discussed a climbing rose (Cecil Brunner) which sounds like an excellent plant to provide shade year-round shade.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Thanks I have a pen with grass to put them in and now I just thinking of a shady, open design that's cheaper.

I built this chicken enclosure for a friend entirely out of salvaged materials. It's covered with welded wire on all sides, including the top. Lots of ventilation and shade. Everything but the front (north) wall of the enclosure is now covered with shade cloth. It has a buried welded wire apron around the sides to keep out digging dogs and coyotes.

 

[K9Dave]

I built this chicken enclosure for a friend entirely out of salvaged materials. It's covered with welded wire on all sides, including the top. Lots of ventilation and shade. Everything but the front (north) wall of the enclosure is now covered with shade cloth. It has a buried welded wire apron around the sides to keep out digging dogs and coyotes. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]

This is a perfect Arizona set up to me. Our climate is so different than anywhere else.