Arizona Chickens

[DesertChic]

If I were smarter Id build the coop out of Calichi! Or maybe my future garage

So what breeds should I look for?

That's the million dollar question, and you could easily get just as many answers. I started with three breeds of hatchery quality stock - Australorps because they were purported to be egg-laying machines, Barred Rocks because they had a fantastic reputation as a dual purpose bird, and Silkies because of their teddy-bear personalities and broodiness. Of those three my BR girls are my favorite. I raised them from day-old chicks and they've been wonderfully friendly and calm and started laying at 18 weeks old while my Aussies have just started laying at 24 weeks old.

Now I have Naked Neck Turkens (NNs) and I can't say enough good about them. I know that many people don't care for the breed because of their looks, and I was the same way at first, but now that I've hatched and raised them to nearly 11 weeks of age, if I could only have one breed this may very well be it. They're very sweet, affectionate, hardy, wildly entertaining, and diverse in appearance....and my perception of them has adjusted dramatically. The more time I've spent with them the less "abnormal" and more beautiful they've come to appear to me. My husband and teenage son have reacted the same way. And the breed really is nearly perfect for this hot, desert environment.

I recently hatched Bielefelders, which are now about 5 weeks old, and I'm also very impressed with this breed so far. They're lovely chicks, already very friendly, and really very smart.

The reality is, there are a lot of good breeds to choose from. You may want to start by researching the breeds and reading reviews here on the BYC, and then decide from there.

 

[kacklinkelly]

Just adding my 2 cents worth regarding breeds. I only had 3 feed store chicks. The RI Red was an amazing egg layer. She was the smallest of the hens and laid the biggest eggs. Unfortunately she passed last summer. The two remaining are olive egger - not a great producer but full of character and friendly. Friendliest of all is our Black Australorp. She lays about 4-5 eggs a week. My two do well in the summer heat. We provide frozen water bottles, for drinking and laying next too, we put a shallow pan of cool water for them to cool off their feet. Lots and lots of shade. We also provide frozen treats for them. When I am sitting outside with a cup of coffee and my feet up, they will invariable jump right in my lap to see what I have in my cup. They also like to jump onto the 3 person swing with me when I sit in it.

They are almost 3 years old now. Enjoy your research and have fun. Looks like your hens will be very happy and spoiled.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
Even with sex links, there is no 100%. I ended up with a sex link rooster. :-(

Here is my experience and input on breeds (only my observation and opinoin):
I keep my chickens for eggs and as pets and I've only had hatchery chickens (mostly from Ideal).
I've had RIR, PR, RSL, BSL, LBrahma, BR, BA, EE, Ideal 236 Leghorns, BO, and BCM. I have found favorites and not-so favorites in each breed. One of my favorites was the leghorn in my avatar, but another one that I got at the same time and raised the same was mean! I had a RSL that was sweet and one that wouldn't leave the new pullets alone. My favorite right now is a BA that occasionally goes broody and raises chicks for me. She has raised my last 2 batches, 6 total, and is has a great personality.
I have found that hatchery chickens lay a lot of eggs for a long time (My 4 1/2 year old hens are still laying 4-5/week) but some lay slightly more than others. The LBrahma and BCM(beautiful dark eggs) lay about 4-5/week, the EEs a consistent 5/week, and the rest 6-7/week. Because I've found great personalities in various breeds, I now aim for a pretty egg basket and a varied flock. I like the way the chickens look in the backyard when they are all different colors and I like the way my egg basket looks with all different colors.
They all have seemed to handle the heat the same except the EE has a little bit harder time and the BA seems to take it in stride the best.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
OK, I'll have to try one or two NNs with my next batch of chicks.

 

[City farm]

Hi all! New to the chicken scene here in Phoenix and looking for some tips and advice. I started reading some older threads but there's just too many to read. I started building my coop this past weekend, I searched for a perfect spot to build it, I have it under a big oak tree and there's one to the west of it and some trees to the east so it gets some sun in the morning and about an hour or so around noon then it gets filter light for the hot part of the day. Im building this coop like a tank, I have 4 dogs. So its built out of 4x4s and 2x6s and I'll be adding cattle fencing, stronger than hardware cloth, its actually used to keep cattle, hogs and horses in their areas so I hope it'll keep the dogs out too. The dimensions are 16' wide x 8' deep by 8 high. I wanted a taller pen to allow the heat to rise up and away from the chickens. Its going to be pretty mush an open coop / run. I also plan on putting 12"x12" pavers around the base to prevent digging by the dogs. The hen/nesting house is 4ft x 3ft by 4ft high, again Im building this to allow the hot air to escape through the top. I plan on installing a misting system to help keep things cool if needed and have the option to install a box fan on one end. I also plan on having the top made of the cox panels with shade cloth over it. So... what type of chickens do I get? Im only looking for about 4 maybe 5 max. Also, how do the chickens do with flooded irrigation? I live on a 1 acre horse property and we get flooded irrigation and I can either add dirt and sand around the coop to keep water out but then again, would it be wise to allow the water to "wash" the coop floor every 2 weeks in the summer? Thanks in advance! Rick

Think of egg basket, the chocolate covered once are from@Sill the ones next to them are wild dove egg's from a friend that rescues wild bird's. We cooked those up & served them to the dog's.. The last one on the bottom is a duck egg.. We absoulutly love our duck's!! I would give them a spot to hang out on to get away from the water.. They will love to dig for bug's durring irrigation. Oh and don't forget a place for them to do a dust bath. We use wood ash.. Keep us posted.

 

[City farm]

@RSerafin here is a link on how to store your egg's.
@Sill your so funny, headless chicken

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1977-11-01/Fresh-Eggs.aspx

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

After incubating and hatching (and, yes, buying), this winter and early spring, I'm going to have to sell some of my younger feathered friends. I have mostly barnyard mixes. I was hoping to have a bunch of gorgeous silver-laced Wyandottes, but I've only had two chicks out of dozens and dozens of eggs. Apparently, I've concluded, my SLW hens do not let their rooster mount them. They have not a feather out of place compared to the other hens.

All large fowl crosses are by my SLW roo:


PULLETS ~ 3 months

1. 1 Minorca cross
2. 1 blue copper Marans cross (this is a cockerel, but his hatch-sister looks like this, just a little lighter, a little less copper)

3. 1 hatchery Delaware (bottom pic: white small girl front right)
4. 1 hatchery red (gold?) sex link (below: back left)



STRAIGHT RUN ~ 2-4 weeks

1. 2 Blue Copper Marans crosses (yellow, chipmunk striped chicks, will look somewhat like the juvenile above)

2. 2 blue Copper Marans crosses (blue) (on left, yellow Marans cross on right)


3. 1 hatchery Ancona (no picture, I'm sorry!)
4. 2 black Easter Eggers (1st generation cross of my SLW and a pure BBS hen)


Straight Run bantam black Wyandottes

I have ones that are two weeks, three weeks, and three months (2). The three month old ones are a pair (1 cockerel, 1 pullet ... I think). They are from excellent show/breeding lines. I also have hatching eggs.


These are parents. I will post some of the babies later on this evening.












PM if you have any interest.

 

[RSerafin]

First of all,

It sounds like you have a good plan. I like your ideas of a taller coop to let the heat rise away from the birds; I did the same thing and it really helps. I would probably not want the irrigation to wet the bottom of the coop/run. While we often wet areas of the run in the summer to help keep the birds cool, it's best if you can control which areas get wet and rotate them so that each area can dry out regularly to limit moisture-loving pathogens. I would also consider placing some pavers or something under the bottom edge of the coop to elevate the wood out of the flood irrigation to limit damage that repeated exposure to water might cause. I would definitely install a wire apron to prevent your dogs from digging in. If you haven't yet seen one, you can see pics of mine on the "my coop" link under my avatar. Keep us updated with pics!

Thank you. Nice coop too!

 

[RSerafin]

I only free range in the evening, maybe an hour or two before normal roosting time. It's a time when I'm able to monitor them and hopefully prevent one from being killed by a predator. It also keeps them from doing too much damage to the turf areas by limiting grazing time. I'll usually hide treats for them to find before I release them.

Nice shady yard!

Be careful of using just the cattle fencing. Unless you also use the hardware cloth or chicken wire the chickens will be able to get their heads through the cattle fencing and will get their heads taken off by the dogs or some other predator. You don't want to go out and find a headless chicken! You will only have to do the bottom 3 feet of the run. Or you can use a solid visual/physical barrier like plywood, fiberglass or metal panels. The added benefit of the visual barrier is it will keep you dogs from fence running and chasing the chickens from around the outside of the coop. If you have high drive dogs chasing from the outside can be a big cause of stress for the chickens.

Ahhh, thanks for that info! The though of headless chickens umm not good.

 

[MagicChicken]

After incubating and hatching (and, yes, buying), this winter and early spring, I'm going to have to sell some of my younger feathered friends. I have mostly barnyard mixes. I was hoping to have a bunch of gorgeous silver-laced Wyandottes, but I've only had two chicks out of dozens and dozens of eggs. Apparently, I've concluded, my SLW hens do not let their rooster mount them. They have not a feather out of place compared to the other hens.

Is it possible the silver-laced Wyandotte hens have too much fluff around the vent to allow consistent fertilization?