Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

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!

Oh boy, so sad to find one like that.. Ugh, . Condolences from us..

 

[City farm]

?????? 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.

Yes it is an open group, plus peeps that are not members of BYCs can read everything on the forum.

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.

Most Asian grocery stores carry them. Local to me LeeLee and Mehkong both carry fresh and canned quail eggs. Get the fresh eggs for a true taste test. To me they taste like chicken eggs, maybe a bit creamier because there is more yolk to white. Don't over cook them, they are much smaller than chicken eggs! You can't crack quail eggs open like chicken eggs, they must be cut open if they are fresh (or just peeled if hard boiled.) Or use quail egg cutters if you decide to get your own quail, they are much faster than using a knife but most people already own a knife. BTW I have the same kind of cutter and it is awesome. If you get quail for eggs you need to get one of these. Much faster, cleaner and easier to use than a knife. Almost like they were made for the purpose!

Great video's..

 

[FeatherPugs]

Fyi-I have one of my two white leghorns that Fly over the fences just to come to the front yard and say hello to all the neighbors and sometimes to pick my dining room window to let me know she wants me to feed her again, lol!!

....this is why I made her my avatar she's the one that was getting into my Front yard & since my chicken seems to come out and meet all the neighbors and company,"All about chicken,"...for a store since l
"Chickles," our Leghorn chicken seems to come out and meet all the neighbors and company daily...and of course this is in spite of the second gate /fence I built to keep her from getting into my garden! the little stinker!!

the last group of "littles" - are about 19 weeks now - but I have a white leghorn in that group that is a ring leader!! She insists on roosting on the roof of the coop run and she brings along her banditas - two barred rocks and an EE - they will be the life of me I'm sure!!! Plus she is assertive - usually the littles won't get in the way of the treats when the big girls are there but she just jumps in and gets what she wants - then runs. I think little stinker is mild

. Oh BTW - I have a broody Aussie - are that any fertile eggs out there- maybe about 4/5??

 

[moms3cuties]

What kind of roos?

1 Maran, 2 Black Copper Maran's, And 1Weslinger (spelling may be off ^..^)

Yes it is an open group, plus peeps that are not members of BYCs can read everything on the forum. Most Asian grocery stores carry them. Local to me LeeLee and Mehkong both carry fresh and canned quail eggs. Get the fresh eggs for a true taste test. To me they taste like chicken eggs, maybe a bit creamier because there is more yolk to white. Don't over cook them, they are much smaller than chicken eggs! You can't crack quail eggs open like chicken eggs, they must be cut open if they are fresh (or just peeled if hard boiled.) Or use quail egg cutters if you decide to get your own quail, they are much faster than using a knife but most people already own a knife. BTW I have the same kind of cutter and it is awesome. If you get quail for eggs you need to get one of these. Much faster, cleaner and easier to use than a knife. Almost like they were made for the purpose!

Now..that was a cool quail egg cutter, I like it!!

 

[moms3cuties]

the last group of "littles" - are about 19 weeks now - but I have a white leghorn in that group that is a ring leader!!  She insists on roosting on the roof of the coop run and she brings along her banditas - two barred rocks and an EE - they will be the life of me I'm sure!!!  Plus she is assertive - usually the littles won't get in the way of the treats when the big girls are there but she just jumps in and gets what she wants - then runs.  I think little stinker is mild .   Oh BTW - I have a broody Aussie - are that any fertile eggs out there- maybe about 4/5?? 

.....you're right stinker is an understatement, lol!

Sill might have some fertile quail eggs and
Maybe desertmarcy who is near Tucson might have some but I'm not 100% sure

 

[Thorner]

Hi all. I'm still trying to find a home for my smallest aloha rooster. He is friendly, hand raised, hand fed, and picked up and petted daily. I'm going to try keeping the RIR rooster for a while. I hope he crows less with the other 2 gone. I think they just compete with each other.

 

[chicksurreal]

Here are a couple of pictures of the inside of the new coop, still working on it, but you can see the size and most of the details. We sectioned off one end and put in a pop door for access to the rest of the coop just in case it's needed for some reason, like broody hens or something...

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Here are a couple of pictures of the inside of the new coop, still working on it, but you can see the size and most of the details. We sectioned off one end and put in a pop door for access to the rest of the coop just in case it's needed for some reason, like broody hens or something...

Is the whole building the coop? Wow! You must have a big flock! I wish I had a partner that motivated ... where are you located?

 

[chicksurreal]

Is the whole building the coop? Wow! You must have a big flock! I wish I had a partner that motivated ... where are you located?

Yes, that's the whole coop! We're getting 26 chicks next week for this coop and we already have a roo that will be put in there after the girls are all grown up.

We have a flock of 12 Hamburgs right now in another coop, but we don't really want to mix them, so we built this for the new flock. It will be in a 50x50 run so they have room to play. And, believe me, I feel very blessed to have a partner willing and happy to participate!

We live about an hour north of Phoenix off in the boonies. We love it!

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

I know you all are waiting to see the chickens I spent 12hours getting.