Arizona Chickens

[K9Dave]

?????? We, AZ BYC IS NOT A CLOSED GROUP. WE WELCOME CALL NEW MEMBERS. You must have made a typo. I welcome you. I spent years reading and learning about goats, still do not have goats, but it have chickens. Even if I had given up my 2 girls on this trip I would not give up BYC. I WILL HAVE A SMALL FLOCK AGAIN.

You just didn't read the OP Bonnie. They're not talking about BYC.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

?????? We, AZ BYC IS NOT A CLOSED GROUP. WE WELCOME CALL NEW MEMBERS. You must have made a typo. I welcome you. I spent years reading and learning about goats, still do not have goats, but it have chickens. Even if I had given up my 2 girls on this trip I would not give up BYC. I WILL HAVE A SMALL FLOCK AGAIN.

You just didn't read the OP Bonnie. They're not talking about BYC.

I thought I missed something looked back but couldn't find anything. I will look again. The past couple of weeks I have been able to read every morning, but I only go back 24 hrs. I get up between 7:30-8:30 (5:30-4:30 AZ time). Sorry.

OPPS, there was a day I did not have time to read first thing.... Will chick that day out.

 

[K9Dave]

I thought I missed something looked back but couldn't find anything. I will look again. The past couple of weeks I have been able to read every morning, but I only go back 24 hrs. I get up between 7:30-8:30 (5:30-4:30 AZ time). Sorry.

OPPS, there was a day I did not have time to read first thing.... Will chick that day out.

No need to say sorry. I just knew there was more because I remember seeing it. A FB group I believe belonging to @a little chiken maybe?

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

OMG I have become a victim of chicken math! I took a whole day yesterday and drove from Tucson to Chino Valley intending on purchasing 5 show quality Silkies. I came home with 13!

 

[chicksurreal]

OMG I have become a victim of chicken math! I took a whole day yesterday and drove from Tucson to Chino Valley intending on purchasing 5 show quality Silkies. I came home with 13!

Welcome to the club!

 

[mom-to-5]

I had a naked neck go broody earlier this yr. I put fertile eggs under her and she hatched 4 (shipped eggs and low hatch rate) so I grafted 5 more to her and she took them. She was an excellent momma and still after 14 weeks will stick up for them if one of the older hens gets out of line....great experience!
So, I had a BA go broody 4 weeks ago. I put her in a cage, no success so after a week I gave her 3 wooden eggs to sit on. I picked up 3 day old chicks (they still had the egg tooth) to graft to her since she was such a dedicated broody.
Well, she will NEVER get another chance to be momma again! I waited till 1am Fri morning, slipped the chicks under her, took the eggs and everything seemed fine. I checked on them early in the am, all good. Later in the day this is what I saw

She was protective, puffed up and scooped the chick back under her....THEN this morning I went out there to find one chick pecked to death and the other two hiding in a corner of the coop. Luckily I got to them before the other birds did.
Ugh! I would much rather a broody raise the chicks since it's soooo easy but obviously that's not going to happen with my sycho BA. So, I set the remaining two up in the storage area of the coop so the other chickens can't get to them.

Then I told hubby this morning that if I'm going to raise them myself why not get a few more...chicken math, must resist!

 

[City farm]

Our welsumers layed her first egg today.. Very eggciting.. Counter clockwise..
Top first welsumers egg
Right silkie
Bottom from@BostonBryce black copper Marans
Left jungle fowl

 

[City farm]

Just put the 5 chickens back into there coop, they enjoyed there time outside they mostly stayed under that bush, on the front porch and around the front of the house, will be adding a few more with them tomorrow mornin. 

We only allow them to free range around 5pm.. That way they put themselves sto bed.. If I did the morning I would have to keep a close eye out all day for hawks.. No thanks.. I like evening tea time

 

[Happy Novogens]

The quail have managed better than the chickens in the heat and just keep laying! Lots of yummy eggs! I haven't tried the meat yet, but got some in the freezer and a few more to process probably this weekend.

They must have pans of water to cool off in when it's over 100, misters if its over 110 for their well being if they are in wire or if the aviary is particularly hot. Use terracotta pans as they keep the water cooler than anything else. Good for chickens too. Below is one of my A&Ms using a water pan to keep cool. They will also bathe in water when it's hot so don't let people tell you they can't or won't bathe in water, they don't live here where it's super hot! My quail love their water in summer.




Aviaries can be successful for quail here, give them some plant matter to scratch, nest, or hide in. You can buy a roll of sod and use that for some or all of the floor and just replace it when they kill all the grass. The grass will help keep them cool in summer.

The roof must be high enough that if they spook they can correct their trajectory before they break their neck or skull, 6 feet high or so. Small cages need to be short so they can't get enough speed for the same reason, so 12 inches or less.

Give them places to hide so they can feel secure when they need it and for the hens to lay in if they want (though they often just lay them where ever they happened to be). Boxes, baskets, pots laid on their sides, potted plants, or bunches of greenery clipped to the sides of the aviary can all work to give them places to hide as well as get away from each other if they feel like it.

Doves are OK to share an aviary with quail. I've housed some of mine with a diamond dove and a ring neck dove. They all got along though the doves spooked a bit at first until they learned the quail were not going to eat them.

Let me know if you have any other questions. You can also visit the quail threads here at BYC for lots of info on quail.

Thanks for the info! If we do the aviary, it will be tall enough to walk in, so over 6' high. Putting out pans of water and having hidey places won't be a problem.

I have more questions, but before I get into too much detail with those...

...do you know where we can acquire some coturnix eggs to sample how they taste? Before my hubby jumps on board with the keeping quail idea, he wants to see if he will even like the eggs. If he doesn't, then we'll be going back to the idea of raising chickens. If he does, well then I'll know which way to go and can ask the right questions.

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

Thanks for the info! If we do the aviary, it will be tall enough to walk in, so over 6' high. Putting out pans of water and having hidey places won't be a problem.

I have more questions, but before I get into too much detail with those...

...do you know where we can acquire some coturnix eggs to sample how they taste? Before my hubby jumps on board with the keeping quail idea, he wants to see if he will even like the eggs. If he doesn't, then we'll be going back to the idea of raising chickens.  If he does, well then I'll know which way to go and can ask the right questions.

Where are you? I have a friend in Tucson who has quail eggs.