Arizona Chickens

[Annalog]

@Annalog
yes I have 7 New Hampshire hens but they are all supposed to be going, tomorrow I hope, to a poultry judge friend who is going to work with them and breed them to the SOP. They are beautiful birds and I had the only one entered in the Tucson show in Nov, so not very commonly seen around here, but I just don't have the time or space to do justice to breeding so many breeds, so they are going.

Now if you want Blue or Black Copper Marans, Barred Rocks or Rhode Island Reds, I can fix you up!

@desertmarcy, glad that you found a good home for them. It is probably better for me to wait until next year after we rebuild the main coop, incorporating what we have learned and twice as big as it is now.

 

[City farm]

Will you be around Tempe?

I might be there on Saturday and if Bonnie goes with me we will call.

Nice.. What are the chances you have some eggs I can buy? Can't believe I have to buy egg's.

 

[flower]

Nice.. What are the chances you have some eggs I can buy? Can't believe I have to buy egg's.

to eat ? I have some for you unwashed to eat but no rooster just now.

 

[City farm]

Nice.. What are the chances you have some eggs I can buy? Can't believe I have to buy egg's.

to eat ?  I have some for you unwashed to eat but no rooster just now.

Yes to eat. I should of said that. I lost count after 9 broody's this year. No more babies for us, at least for now.. Our new flock is going to be perfect.

 

[pipemum]

I finally broke down and bought eggs too. Just a dozen, I figured the act of buying eggs would spur some hens to lay, but still, nada in the nest box! Went through the dozen in a snap, and I'm going to have to buy some more. I didn't realize how many things I cook or bake need eggs, since eggs haven't been available. I've started a couple of recipes and rather than scrapping the whole thing in the middle, have had to use flax/water substitute for eggs. Sorry vegans, it's just not as good as using a real egg.

 

[desertmarcy]

I have plenty of eating eggs and sell them for $4/dozen, organically raised. I'm getting about 2-3 dozen a day.

 

[desertmarcy]

I'm thinning out my hens and pullets and have a LOT of Barred Rocks, about 4 Rhode Island Reds, some Blue Copper Marans and Black Copper Marans. See this listing https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/942364/laying-hens-and-pullets-from-standard-bred-stock and PM me if interested.

I need to make room or I'll never get to hatching this season

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

In the incubator, I have about 14 barnyard mix eggs, including three olive-eggers and two brown leghorn-Xs. We are supposed to go on lockdown today. Wish me luck! I am hoping to have a better rate than with the CCL eggs.

 

[desertmarcy]

In the incubator, I have about 14 barnyard mix eggs, including three olive-eggers and two brown leghorn-Xs. We are supposed to go on lockdown today. Wish me luck! I am hoping to have a better rate than with the CCL eggs.

Good luck

 

[Sill]

I don't know if any of you all will remember, but I ordered chicken watering cups last spring. Finally set them up over the summer and wow, was it nice not to have to fill a nasty waterer every day. Well, one of the cups is leaking from a valve. Within the actual cup itself, not a pvc or joint leak. I've cleaned it out, took it apart, reassembled, and still leaking--draining a 5-gal bucket in 2 days. It's pretty annoying. To fix I'll either have to buy another cup to replace it, take it off and seal the opening, or cut the pvc pipe and make it a 2 cup system instead of a 3 cup system. Anyway, I've read of others having leaking problems with their cups, and this was used lightly for about 4 months (it's in the meatie coop, which is usually empty) and already a problem, so while I raved about them before, I'm down to a 3-star rating now. Also, the emails to the guy selling them are bouncing back, which is never a good sign for a business.

Are these the ones you are using?



I have quite a few of them, I think around 16. I've had two of them leak. One got bumped hard enough that it rotated in the pvc and it was leaking from the insertion site. Removed it and added more teflon tape to the threads and it's worked fine since. Another one got clogged with sand where the yellow trigger thing is, removed it, took it apart and soaked in vinegar for an hour. After scrubbing it and reassembly it's worked fine. I'll probably need to soak them all in vinegar before summer since they are getting a bit of hard water deposits on them. Over all I'm real happy with these, the quail and chickens seem to like them better than nipples. Any time I've offered both they end up using the cups and leaving the nipples alone.

Thinking about the water situation, I was reminded of recent occurrence.

I usually have nothing but good things to say about cornish cross--I know a lot people think they are so gross and unnatural. I'm just not in that camp--the growth is unreal, but I do small sets of 8-10 at a time and fermented feed, which makes the poop so much better. They range with my laying hens and get a fair amount of exercise. I usually butcher so that the processed bird is about 4lbs, which is fairly small. This last set, I let a cockerel grow out to the ripe old age of 10 or 11 weeks, and he was the biggest bird I've done--6lbs processed. I don't think I'll do that again. He was getting awkward on his legs, and the day before I'd butchered, he'd eaten so much food and so much water that he was literally sloshing as he walked. Sloshing sounds coming from his crop! That was...just utterly gluttonous, and I felt like I did him a huge disfavor by not butchering earlier. I think I'll continue to process birds before they get that big. It was also difficult to find room for him in my freezer.

That's a big chicken!

I finally broke down and bought eggs too. Just a dozen, I figured the act of buying eggs would spur some hens to lay, but still, nada in the nest box! Went through the dozen in a snap, and I'm going to have to buy some more. I didn't realize how many things I cook or bake need eggs, since eggs haven't been available. I've started a couple of recipes and rather than scrapping the whole thing in the middle, have had to use flax/water substitute for eggs. Sorry vegans, it's just not as good as using a real egg.

Me too, I needed them for Christmas baking and the girls just aren't producing right now. However my olive egger gave her first egg in a couple of months! It was nice finding her pretty egg in the nest boxes today.

I'm thinning out my hens and pullets and have a LOT of Barred Rocks, about 4 Rhode Island Reds, some Blue Copper Marans and Black Copper Marans. See this listing https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/942364/laying-hens-and-pullets-from-standard-bred-stock and PM me if interested.

I need to make room or I'll never get to hatching this season

Good thing I didn't know this when I was down there. I know I would have come home with some!

In the incubator, I have about 14 barnyard mix eggs, including three olive-eggers and two brown leghorn-Xs. We are supposed to go on lockdown today. Wish me luck! I am hoping to have a better rate than with the CCL eggs.

Good luck!