Arizona Chickens

[desertmarcy]

Update on my predator attack: still nothing in the traps after 3 nights. Maybe tonight

I just won't rest easy until I catch it, but if it is a fox, may not go for the trap. Oh, and one of my Blue Ameraucana pullets must have hurt herself that night of the attack, because now she can't walk, her leg is sprawled out. She was in a pen adjacent to the birds that were killed and was having problems that next morning. She is in isolation now but not sure if she will recover. Mentally, I still haven't recovered

I'm working on the turkey pens that are most vulnerable right now. Got a trench dug and cement poured at one gate entrance. Will do another gate the same way tomorrow, dig out those grape vines and put wire skirts down.

 

[Const24]

Little babies!

 

[a little chiken]

Update on my predator attack: still nothing in the traps after 3 nights. Maybe tonight

I just won't rest easy until I catch it, but if it is a fox, may not go for the trap. Oh, and one of my Blue Ameraucana pullets must have hurt herself that night of the attack, because now she can't walk, her leg is sprawled out. She was in a pen adjacent to the birds that were killed and was having problems that next morning. She is in isolation now but not sure if she will recover. Mentally, I still haven't recovered

I'm working on the turkey pens that are most vulnerable right now. Got a trench dug and cement poured at one gate entrance. Will do another gate the same way tomorrow, dig out those grape vines and put wire skirts down.

crossing my fingers that you catch the predator.

 

[K9Dave]

The research I've done suggests that the rabbits should not regularly eat chicken feed due to higher calcium content.  (I don't remember if there are other reasons)  My does love the chickens' feed.  I don't stress about it but I do try to limit their access to it if I can.  Ours have not become friends.  They use the same yard, but the chickens are not thrilled with the bunnies and have pecked at them a time or two.  Our rabbits are large so they just move on down the yard.  My concern would be for baby rabbits to be anywhere near chickens.  I think they would make a tasty morsel.  On one of the rabbit forums here, the person was housing their chickens under the rabbit raised hutch.  They couldn't figure out why their babies were losing their toes.  They initially thought the mom was cleaning the babies too hard. They eventually realized that the chickens were jumping up and pecking the toes off from underneath and through the small holes in the hutch wire.  On the other hand, the guy I got our buck from had chickens and rabbits all over the yard together.  He did keep some rabbits above the chickens enclosed area. He reported no issues. Maybe those were his bucks.

My DH is the big time reader in our house.  I am always trying to get him to let go of some to clear shelf space.  When he saw a book in with the rabbits, he immediately wanted to know which one it was (he has hundreds). I could almost detect a sense of panic in his voice  I told him it was one with dust on it and in the back of the closet, so he probably hadn't seen it in a long time.  Now he chooses the books that the girls can get.  These rabbits have really grown on him too. 

I have been removing the chicken feed at night so the bunnies can't eat it. I go out most nights and give them a carrot. One has a hurt leg but seems to be ok. We have one loose that I can't catch, little buger. Surprisingly the chickens aren't that interested in the rabbit food. Still trying to figure out how I'll feed the girls the FF. Right now I'm fermenting in a 5 gal bucket and filling up a large dog dish a few times a day. Trying to settle on a feeding method but with FF it's a little different. What does everyone that does FF use? I want this enclosure to be very unique and fun as its where I live and work and we have clients come by so it's a good welcomer and entertainer for kids if done right. That's my goal. I thought about a Little hanging trough to where only they can get to it. If I had a pan to hang with interchangeable plastic or stainless steel pans that fit into it, then I could ferment in 7 different containers, 1 for each day of the week and have a steady rotation. Ideas?

Update on my predator attack: still nothing in the traps after 3 nights. Maybe tonight   I just won't rest easy until I catch it, but if it is a fox, may not go for the trap. Oh, and one of my Blue Ameraucana pullets must have hurt herself that night of the attack, because now she can't walk, her leg is sprawled out. She was in a pen adjacent to the birds that were killed and was having problems that next morning. She is in isolation now but not sure if she will recover. Mentally, I still haven't recovered

I'm working on the turkey pens that are most vulnerable right now. Got a trench dug and cement poured at one gate entrance. Will do another gate the same way tomorrow, dig out those grape vines and put wire skirts down.

Man I feel bad this happened. I'd be crushed and depressed for a bit. I know it takes a lot of effort besides money to get where you were. I'm serious when I say that if the trap doesn't work and te geography is right I'll bring my dog and we'll see what we do about whatever it is. You have some dogs too right, we can handle it. Anything I can do to help, please ask.

 

[K9Dave]

Hilarious @a little chiken

 

[moms3cuties]

 

An airplane?!?

Wow. That tops my heaviest by a but I'm sure. I was the TC of the M88 Recovery Vehicle in the Army. My heaviest mud stuck vehicle was an Abrams Tank which is 62 tons, give or take a few. What's a jet weighing nowadays?

Yes, a Boeing 747. Dry weight (no fuel) is about 45 tons. It's not the weight, though, it's the lack of traction. Think about trying to walk in about a foot of snot.

.....lol ooh ick!! snot is really gross!

No precator here at the moment because I haven't started on my pending projects

I've been getting some of those hunting/outdoor magazines for the last several years. Some of those pellet/CO2 guns can do some significant damage to critters (and some disrespectful two-foot ones) who have total disregard for another''s property and have nothing better to do than torment/steal your animals.

Some of these guns close to discharging a firearm in the city. I haven't read up on the ordinances for many months, but where is the line drawn between a BB/Pellet gun and a dangerous firearm?  I won't hesitate to shoot anyone, even if it's with a sling shot, bow & arrow or just throwing a **** rock at them. I just have an issue with folks violating others' property. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

....I agree with you, I don't blame you for feeling that way. In all honesty I would too.

Hey guys - it's not chicken related but… I just attempted my first mating of meat rabbits tonight.  Yes I"m sure I have a buck and a doe 
The doe was definitely interested.  The buck seemed very unsure.  He would do the deed on the wrong end.  When he got to the proper end, he would just stop and sniff around.  This is the first mating for both.  He's smaller and younger than she is. I kept them together for about 10 or 15 minutes.  There was chasing each other then a break, then sniffing then it would all start over.  I was surprised at how well they got along and disappointed that there wasn't a love connection.  Any feedback is appreciated. 

.......oh how fun!!,, , I hope you enjoy the process. Keep us posted!!

Yeah, I thought my rabbits were spoiled but I don't want them meeting Dave's.  

The does I got from a lady who kept them in an air conditioned garage that was totally clean and had so many cages and rabbits I can't remember how many.  I got them for size.  

The buck I recently got from a guy who raised his outside and in a colony during the summer months so they could dig down to cool off.  He also provided other means to keep them cool if they needed.  He said he did the colony thing in the summer because the bucks are typically sterile out here.  Well, not his.  He had a few surprise litters and the babies all survived the summer heat.  He was doing something right.  I got the buck for his heat tolerance. My two big does have been inside the house since May due to their panting and being lethargic when it got into the mid 80's. 

I've read that the teeth can be trimmed if way too long. (like nails) but typically they will shorten given proper chew options.  Mine have wood and they also get lots of cardboard boxes, sometimes untreated wicker baskets or anything else untreated or unpainted wicker. They LOVE to tear up news paper, paperback books and phone books. They also have other toys that they like to toss around.  Pretty soon they will be going outside again and I'm curious to see if they stay as friendly as they have become.  

.......yes please, let us know if they stay friendly once you start bringing them outside. I think it must be the new fad to start raising bunnies with chickens on BYC, lol! ...and yeah I agree with you don't bring him over to Dave's so they don't expect more from you.

I have one of those, she sounds like a sick or dying cow!  At least here I can keep her even if she is a bit noisy.  My coop is well away from my neighbors so they shouldn't find her too obnoxious.

I have one of those too! My 1 yr old BO is obnoxious. She's a docile hen and sweet but sick cow would describe the sounds she makes every morning very well. The coop is very close to my neighbors too, ugh! I'm hoping we get to keep her. I keep telling her to be quieter but she doesn't seem concerned. If she weren't so close to the neighbors house it wouldn't be so bad. I was trying to build the coop in the shade and didn't think about having a very noisy hen.

......don't feel bad, my RIR is really sweet and friendly, bossy and is extremely loud telling me she has laid an egg. It was funny at first, because I thought I had a rooster doing it and it was my hen of all things, lol!!

 

[moms3cuties]

The research I've done suggests that the rabbits should not regularly eat chicken feed due to higher calcium content.  (I don't remember if there are other reasons)  My does love the chickens' feed.  I don't stress about it but I do try to limit their access to it if I can.  Ours have not become friends.  They use the same yard, but the chickens are not thrilled with the bunnies and have pecked at them a time or two.  Our rabbits are large so they just move on down the yard.  My concern would be for baby rabbits to be anywhere near chickens.  I think they would make a tasty morsel.  On one of the rabbit forums here, the person was housing their chickens under the rabbit raised hutch.  They couldn't figure out why their babies were losing their toes.  They initially thought the mom was cleaning the babies too hard. They eventually realized that the chickens were jumping up and pecking the toes off from underneath and through the small holes in the hutch wire.  On the other hand, the guy I got our buck from had chickens and rabbits all over the yard together.  He did keep some rabbits above the chickens enclosed area. He reported no issues. Maybe those were his bucks.

My DH is the big time reader in our house.  I am always trying to get him to let go of some to clear shelf space.  When he saw a book in with the rabbits, he immediately wanted to know which one it was (he has hundreds). I could almost detect a sense of panic in his voice  I told him it was one with dust on it and in the back of the closet, so he probably hadn't seen it in a long time.  Now he chooses the books that the girls can get.  These rabbits have really grown on him too. 

I have been removing the chicken feed at night so the bunnies can't eat it. I go out most nights and give them a carrot. One has a hurt leg but seems to be ok. We have one loose that I can't catch, little buger. Surprisingly the chickens aren't that interested in the rabbit food. Still trying to figure out how I'll feed the girls the FF. Right now I'm fermenting in a 5 gal bucket and filling up a large dog dish a few times a day. Trying to settle on a feeding method but with FF it's a little different. What does everyone that does FF use? I want this enclosure to be very unique and fun as its where I live and work and we have clients come by so it's a good welcomer and entertainer for kids if done right. That's my goal. I thought about a Little hanging trough to where only they can get to it. If I had a pan to hang with interchangeable plastic or stainless steel pans that fit into it, then I could ferment in 7 different containers, 1 for each day of the week and have a steady rotation. Ideas?

.........Draw up a picture and would you leave each container to be fermenting for 1 to 7 days?...I do what mom of 5 does for my morning routine, and I have 2 large yogurt containers that I fill a little more than halfway with my chicken feed and I add water about 3/4 inch from the top roughly, and I stir and then I feed it the next morning to the chickens. I don't usually have to strain it. Some people have used apple cider vinegar to keep it from going moldy. Then afterwards I go and clean their water dishes and give them fresh water to drink.

Update on my predator attack: still nothing in the traps after 3 nights. Maybe tonight   I just won't rest easy until I catch it, but if it is a fox, may not go for the trap. Oh, and one of my Blue Ameraucana pullets must have hurt herself that night of the attack, because now she can't walk, her leg is sprawled out. She was in a pen adjacent to the birds that were killed and was having problems that next morning. She is in isolation now but not sure if she will recover. Mentally, I still haven't recovered

I'm working on the turkey pens that are most vulnerable right now. Got a trench dug and cement poured at one gate entrance. Will do another gate the same way tomorrow, dig out those grape vines and put wire skirts down.

Man I feel bad this happened. I'd be crushed and depressed for a bit. I know it takes a lot of effort besides money to get where you were. I'm serious when I say that if the trap doesn't work and te geography is right I'll bring my dog and we'll see what we do about whatever it is. You have some dogs too right, we can handle it. Anything I can do to help, please ask.

.....I'm sad to hear you had trouble too, desertmarcy.

 

[moms3cuties]

Little babies!

Hello! are you on the east side or west side of the city? How many chickens do you have if any?

Hilarious @a little chiken

...I will check this link out, it sounds good!

Wow! unbelievable, lol....

 

[moms3cuties]

My chickens are molting and I'm getting one or two eggs a day from them. However my quail are still going strong and I'm getting 20-25 eggs a day from my 30 quail hens, and 12 of them are only 3 months old. It's good to have them take up the slack. Last week I got 4.6 pounds of eggs from my quail! In that batch of eggs I had two double yolkers. The one on the left is a normal 13 gram egg, the middle one is 16 grams and on the right is a 22 gram egg! That big one is from one of the youngest hens.

congratulations! !

Well the "feral" cat that I have coming around here isn't so feral I'm thinking. I saw it at a neighbors house playing with their dogs. I want one dedicated to our place alone and this one looks a little over fed now I can get closer to it and prob is t helping any problems around here. We have 5 rabbits and they got out and were roaming the property. A feral cat wouldn't have let that happen I don't think lol. I'm looking for a very young kitten so that I can train it to the chickens/rabbits etc.

I haven't seen ours play with anyone. It's very shy and young and skinny. I know it sticks around because there is always water available in my yard from several sources. I don't feed it, maybe I should? I don't think my DH wants to spend money feeding a cat that isn't ours. Good idea for a young cat to get used to the animals that belong. Do you think a resident cat would keep the feral cats away? Or is it the more the merrier with cats? I've never had an outdoor cat, mine have always been indoor only cats.

Yes, ,,I think so (that a resident cat would be good) because the stray we adopted (a fixed male cat named snowball) always chases away the other ferral cats. So I always go out and pet him when I hear growling outside and finish off chasing the other ferrals. And then I pet him and praise him!

I'm ready to take a kitten for those that knew people trying to find homes for kittens. It needs to be from a barn yard momma please. It will be used for rodent patrol. Thanks everyone.

.....did you find one? Little chicken had some.

My chickens are not keeping up with us right now. I have 1 with chicks, 3 molting and my young ones haven't started laying yet. That leaves me with only 2 current layers! Does anyone have some extra eggs to sell? I can travel to Gilbert, Mesa and Chandler. I'm looking for organic, free-range, corn and soy free eggs. mine range free (I do not own a coop) and I do feed them organic soy free feed, but I'm not sure if it's corn free, I can't remember and I would have to check the bags.

 

[K9Dave]

congratulations! !
Yes, ,,I think so (that a resident cat would be good) because the stray we adopted (a fixed male cat named snowball) always chases away the other ferral cats. So I always go out and pet him when I hear growling outside and finish off chasing the other ferrals. And then I pet him and praise him!
.....did you find one? Little chicken had some.

Thank you.

@a little chiken is this true and if so how old are they? Pics?