Arizona Chickens

[DesertChic]

LOL! You know what? She totally wants to do that and thinks she could win. You have to be 21 to compete or she would be all over it.

Good for her! Strong, confident women totally rock! (Not to mention they make their parents look good.

) If she decides to sign up when she reaches 21 be sure to share it with us. I would totally show up to cheer her on!

 

[DesertChickens1]

So, I thought I'd post an update on the progress of my daughter's climbing. Mostly because I can barely contain my excitement and have to share. Last month Tucson hosted the Southern Mountain Regional Championships in bouldering and hundreds of youth climbers from AZ, UT and NM competed for seven invitations (for each age category) to compete in the Divisional Championships in Ogden, UT. There the winners for all the regions in the southwest US gathered last weekend to compete for seven invitations to the National Championship. My daughter rocked at both the Regional and Divisional Championships and will be competing in the National Championships in Madison, WI next month! She's now officially one of the top 35 best female youth climbers in the United States. We couldn't be more proud of her.

That's amazing!!! Good luck to her in her competition in WI!

 

[DesertChickens1]

Does anyone know where I can get about 20-30 cornish rock broiler chicks in southern AZ? My FFA chapter has an open barn that we want to raise chickens in and I'm the only one that raises chickens so its my job to find some.

 

[cyborg]

UPDATE ON THE WEIRD AMERAUCANA:
I have had this Ameraucana pullet in quarantine for several weeks now, all the other chickens were beating the crap out of her, and I didn't think she would make it. I've decided she isn't sick, just acts differently enough from the other chickens that they feel the need to pick on her. (BTW, because of her weird head bobbing, she is now named Waltzing Matilda). I tried reintroducing her to the flock after about a week and a half, and they just about killed her. Took her back to my new house and built a quarantine pen for her to keep her separate from the other chickens, and she is doing well. She was kind of lonely, so I also brought over a barred Rock hen with a similar temperament, and they are getting along like best buddies.

Tomorrow or Friday, I'm moving my partridge Cochins to the first "regular" chicken pen, and hopefully, will get the other pens up and all the chickens moved to the new house by the end of February. The old house is only about 10 miles from the new house, but driving over there every morning to feed and water the flock is getting kind of old!

 

[City farm]

Waffle garden is a sunken garden, dug in 1x1 or 2x2' squares.

After a little more reading, I'll be doing the more typical sunken garden, not little squares. I don't want to have to maintain squares! What happens if I use only partially composted run cleanings as a bottom layer in either a raised bed or sunken garden? It's primarily rice hulls, pine shavings, and of course, chicken droppings. But a much smaller portion of droppings compared to rice hulls.

I figured it out, keyhole garden.. "U"shaped..

 

[City farm]

Yesterday, Arrowroot took the two 9 day old chicks out into the Silkie pen for the day. Both chicks had to hop/fly up one 8 inch cement block step to get out of the coop. We moved the chick waterer and feeder outside for the day and filled the regular waterer with stones so that the chicks could not drown. The other three Silkies seemed to mostly ignore the chicks. At sunset, the chicks could not seem to navigate the three steps to get back into the coop so I held Arrowroot while DH scooped up the chicks and put them in the coop. I then put Arrowroot in. She gave me the evil eye and then went to the chicks. We encouraged the other three Silkies to go in and closed the pop door. Today Arrowroot kept the chicks inside.

They are precious aren't they..
I put the FF in my hand and the babies eat out of my hand.. Then I lift them up just a bit... They get used to me getting close to them and handling them.. Sometimes they get dirt clumps on their toes..
I forget to check for clumpy butt's untill I can hold them to check for anything else..

 

[City farm]

Does your silkie get nasty when she is broody? Have you ever let her raise some chicks?  I got the silkie breed because of their overall usefulness.  Good egg layers, good meat chickens, good mothers, and best of all good personality so my six children could pet them.  It all started out great even the rooster was friendly. The kids would sit in the chicken run and the chickens would come and sit in their laps to be petted.  Then the girls went broody after the rooster got killed by a chicken hawk and it was spring so I thought why not it will be cute to watch chicks follow the moms around. I got four fertile eggs from my mom and all hatched.  So my two silkies did a great job co-parenting.  they took turns on the nest so the other could get some exercise and eat. And when the eggs hatched they also took turns watching and feeding the babies.  It was a perfect world I was wondering why anyone uses an incubator! Then the chicks were going outside and the kids wanted to hold them.  They went in the chicken pen and the moms would not let anyone around the chicks.  I told the kids to wait until they were older and they did.  they tried it again.  The chicks started to come up to the kids and then the moms freaked out and started bulling the kids.  They didn't hurt them but they were flapping and making their displeasure known.  Now that the chicks are grown we can't get near them and the silkies are still nasty.  Any idea what I did wrong?

I would start going in at night at this point, get one or two hand hold them.. Plus the older ones.. Hand feed treats..

 

[City farm]

I'm going to try straw bale gardening this spring!  Oh, and I planned to do an elaborate keyhole garden anyway, but I'll modify it a bit to be simpler, and dig more in ground due to cityfarm's comment about u-shaped garden with compost in the middle. So, I guess my new garden space is going to be a combo of raised beds, regular sunken garden, keyhole, and strawbales.  Thanks for the ideas, all!!  In my current garden, which will go to the dogs soon, I have little niches in hidden all over growing succulents, strawberries, and perennial herbs.  Not really sure how I'm going to transplant them successfully.  Hopefully they'll taste horrid and the dogs will leave them alone.  Hahahahahaaha, yeah, right. 

That's funny, I just posted.. Keyhole.. I meant to say that in the post this morning, but I couldn't remember the name till this evening.. I needed to wake up.. The chickens will love it, but of course we would have to keep the top covered with hardware.. Those spoiled brats think the garden is for them.. I do build a wood pile for them. With plenty of space for crickets to start to live.. Then I tell the flock, "bug's, bug's, bug's!!" they come running.. I love when they understand English.. Now this year I'm gona learn French.. Hope they understand a new language..

 

[City farm]

Stuff from the garden. A massive head of lettuce for last night's salad: Purple cauliflower:

When you cook it, does it keep it brilliant color?

 

[City farm]

So, I thought I'd post an update on the progress of my daughter's climbing. Mostly because I can barely contain my excitement and have to share. Last month Tucson hosted the Southern Mountain Regional Championships in bouldering and hundreds of youth climbers from AZ, UT and NM competed for seven invitations (for each age category) to compete in the Divisional Championships in Ogden, UT. There the winners for all the regions in the southwest US gathered last weekend to compete for seven invitations to the National Championship. My daughter rocked at both the Regional and Divisional Championships and will be competing in the National Championships in Madison, WI next month! She's now officially one of the top 35 best female youth climbers in the United States. We couldn't be more proud of her.

That is rad.. What a blast!