Arizona Chickens

[AZGardenFarmer]

* Okay it might be 1 cup to 18. I had to do the math since I have large water feeders.

I was checking out the chicken catalogs that just came in the mail. I don't understand why people are mixing breeds to get Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers. It brings down the amount of eggs a person will get from them. Which also means they're not pure bred. I'm just shaking my head in amazement.

 

[Sill]

My 11 weeks old chicks.
I release them out to my back yard 2hrs a day at 4pm, they eat all my Veggies

I feed them with Big Sky Layer Mash

Cute! The days I free range mine I also release them around that time so they don't tear up the yard too bad. So far they've stayed out of the veggies since they are far from the chickens' run.

I do have a few question for you guys. I'm new still so I'm always learning. I have two hens that are laying now. Yay! I'm assuming I can just supplement with calcium until the other ladies start before I switch them over to layer feed?

What illnesses are common here? I'm trying to get an idea of what to watch for. What do you do for maintenance, healthwise?

And vaccines, I know there are tons of opinions, but I'm just curious as to what I would vaccinate for here. I'd rather prevent illness even if it means it can't be done naturally. My birds do have free run of my yard, with supervision, so they could catch things from wild birds. They don't have contact with anyone else's birds.

If they are close to laying age it won't hurt to have the extra calcium.

Heat is probably the worst killer of chickens here. Illnesses would be fowl pox, parasites, Marek's...

Some of mine were hatchery chicks so they were probably vaccinated for Marek's, the rest were bred locally and are not. I don't do anything special, they will thrive or not. I've culled some that did not, the rest seem to be doing well.

* Okay it might be 1 cup to 18. I had to do the math since I have large water feeders.

I was checking out the chicken catalogs that just came in the mail. I don't understand why people are mixing breeds to get Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers. It brings down the amount of eggs a person will get from them. Which also means they're not pure bred. I'm just shaking my head in amazement.

I have an Olive egger that is one of my best layers and has super hard egg shells, like they are very difficult to crack. My DH jokes that she is a super chicken. If the Olive egger is bred from a cross of good layers with excellent shell quality the resulting hens should have those genes plus give pretty olive eggs. I think some people breed them solely for color without regards to production or shell quality. Here are some of her eggs next to some olives!

 

[MagicChicken]

Dang, those are some small "eggs" on the left, there. Brings new meaning to the phrase "olive egger."

 

[MagicChicken]

* Okay it might be 1 cup to 18. I had to do the math since I have large water feeders.

I was checking out the chicken catalogs that just came in the mail. I don't understand why people are mixing breeds to get Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers. It brings down the amount of eggs a person will get from them. Which also means they're not pure bred. I'm just shaking my head in amazement.

That is still way too much vinegar. A tablespoon of vinegar per gallon of water is just about right. That would be a ratio of 1:256, not 1:18.

 

[icdred]

The coop is finally Done and the birds will get to spend the night in their new coop.

 

[MaddBaggins]

@City farm should like this.
I'm finally making a move into the beer world. I'm tired of working for other people. Myself and a couple friends are opening a craft beer bar in east Tucson. We will have 30 taps, mostly AZ beer plus a bottle shop. This may eventually play into a brewery, my lifes dream.
We've already begun renovations and hope to be open late April. I hope to see some of you there.

http://www.arizonabeerhouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/azbeerhouse

 

[City farm]

The coop is finally Done and the birds will get to spend the night in their new coop.

Very nice..

 

[City farm]

@City farm
  should like this. 
I'm finally making a move into the beer world. I'm tired of working for other people. Myself and a couple friends are opening a craft beer bar in east Tucson. We will have 30 taps, mostly AZ beer plus a bottle shop. This may eventually play into a brewery, my lifes dream. 
We've already begun renovations and hope to be open late April. I hope to see some of you there. 

http://www.arizonabeerhouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/azbeerhouse

Wonderful! ! congratulations!. how exciting.. yes we will come by and have drink.. We plan on going camping up in Tucson hopefully in the next few weeks. We're going to bring your mountain bikes and go to Fantasy Island.I'm hoping to know more by Tuesday of next week.

 

[Annalog]

I am currently away from home but DH thinks that one of the chicks that hatched a couple weeks ago may be blind. That would explain why it always seems lost and is last to eat. Anyone had experience with a blind chick?

 

[Sill]

The coop is finally Done and the birds will get to spend the night in their new coop.

Very nice! They should love their new home.

@City farm should like this.
I'm finally making a move into the beer world. I'm tired of working for other people. Myself and a couple friends are opening a craft beer bar in east Tucson. We will have 30 taps, mostly AZ beer plus a bottle shop. This may eventually play into a brewery, my lifes dream.
We've already begun renovations and hope to be open late April. I hope to see some of you there.

http://www.arizonabeerhouse.com
https://www.facebook.com/azbeerhouse

Sounds like a great place to stop on the next road trip!

I am currently away from home but DH thinks that one of the chicks that hatched a couple weeks ago may be blind. That would explain why it always seems lost and is last to eat. Anyone had experience with a blind chick?

No clue. I've had some animals that were partially blind but not totally. I'm hoping that being a chick it would learn to deal with the blindness better than an older animal.