Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

I know a lot of people are super careful about handling eggs for hatching, but it is not necessary. I just pick them up, put them in the basket; sometimes in my pocket if I forgot to take the basket out there. I wipe the dust off and anything clinging to them with my hands; if they have poop stuck to them, I rub that off with a wet paper towel, have even been known to wash under water gently. I have marked eggs "washed" out of curiosity to see if they hatch or not, and they hatch....my most recent turkey egg hatch, that just hatched yesterday, every one of the eggs hatched. I had no infertile eggs from the ones I set, either. 7 out of 7 Penciled Palms and 16 out of 16 Bourbon Reds.  I believe that hatching success has more to do with the health and compatibility of the parents, if they haven't had the right nutrition all along, their eggs will not hatch as well, and the freshness of the eggs. Yes the bloom does protect the egg, so it is also important to keep your incubator clean if incubating artificially. The bloom does not really come off unless washed.

Yeah, the bloom does not apply for hatching.. I am always touching them under the hen or rotating them in the incubator.. I meant to post for those who store in the fridge or those that did not know that the "bloom" will protect the egg when left out on the counter.. Friends that have chickens did not know this.. It is just a FYI...tid bit..

 

[City farm]

yay!!! ok

The holiday will be hard for us to get away from the in laws.

All are welcome to come.. Bring them.. :yiipchick

 

[City farm]

It's not like that all over. The South especially

I live in a dinky town (graduating class was less than 100 and that's 5 towns and surrounding areas combined 20 years ago, my son is a sophomore his grade has about the same). Maybe I just got unlucky with the neighbors I have, I'm not doing anything illegal, I even got rid of my rooster to keep the peace. I know we should all move to an area with miles and miles of farmland, establish our own town, and live peacefully sharing tips and food and have weekly get together and we all live peacefully.

We all talk about starting our own commune on here.. We have to have @maddbaggins for his beer making skills!!
@Gallo for his fresh veggies... e
@desertmarcy for the turkeys you get the idea..

 

[City farm]

Hi,
Planning to build my own coop, but I want some help for the design
1.) it's in AZ so it needs to be able to be cool
2.) I want to be able to easily clean and access the birds
3.) it if possible could be "hidden" or incognito
4.) it should have a design so the chickens can easily run or have space to be relatively free
Thanks all,
P.S. Feel free to post pictures of your coop

There is a ton of photos on the coop section.. Check those out..

 

[MaddBaggins]

We all talk about starting our own commune on here.. We have to have @maddbaggins for his beer making skills!!

@Gallo for his fresh veggies...

@desertmarcy for the turkeys you get the idea..

I also roast my own coffee, grow my own peppers, load my own rounds...

 

[MaddBaggins]

chicken bobby can check out my sig line for a link to my coop as well. Not exactly stealth but they're pretty comfortable in it.

 

[carnivore]

I also roast my own coffee, grow my own peppers, load my own rounds...

Sounds like we have a lot in common! I even build my own rifles. I can shoot flies at 100 yards if they stay still long enough! Trying to grow some coffee, but no joy so far.

Here is a pic of my latest and greatest, but pic is taken and uploaded with my phone, so don't know how it will come out.....

 

[K9Dave]

Sounds like we have a lot in common! I even build my own rifles. I can shoot flies at 100 yards if they stay still long enough! Trying to grow some coffee, but no joy so far.

Here is a pic of my latest and greatest, but pic is taken and uploaded with my phone, so don't know how it will come out.....

What caliber is this? Nice. I'm a shooter myself. No gun building though.

 

[a little chiken]

Too funny, had to share

 

[carnivore]

What caliber is this? Nice. I'm a shooter myself. No gun building though.

.308 Win. Rem. 700, short heavy barrel in Bell & Carlson fully adjustable stock with detachable magazines, Atlas bipod, Jewell trigger, and a Weaver 4 x 16 tactical scope. Made for dotting the i's.
My pet load is military LCLR sniper brass, WLR primer, Sierra 168 gr MatchKing hollow point, and an undisclosed amount of RL15 powder. Another of my more accurate rifles is a 6.5-06 built on a Mauser action.