Arizona Chickens

Hi, I am new to this thread. I am located in Tucson, and I'm wondering if there are some breeds that will lay eggs in the hot Arizona summer and will still do well healthwise

Hello and welcome! I live just south of Tucson in Green Valley. My breeder Naked Necks have been laying very steadily, as have my hatchery Australorps, Barred Rocks & Silkie. Discounting my two broody hens, I've got 12 laying hens right now and average 10-12 large eggs per day.
 
Hello and welcome! I live just south of Tucson in Green Valley. My breeder Naked Necks have been laying very steadily, as have my hatchery Australorps, Barred Rocks & Silkie. Discounting my two broody hens, I've got 12 laying hens right now and average 10-12 large eggs per day. 

What breeder did you get your naked necks from?
 
I have a Sicilian Buttercup that just started laying last week. My Sultan is lying great, too. The Silkies have slowed down. My other big chicken just started laying, but I can't remember what she is
 
What breeder did you get your naked necks from?

I purchased from two separate breeders out east. One obviously was mixing the NNs with other breeds, probably Cochins, as two of my girls are extremely fluffy and broody, and one hatched without having a naked neck. The other breeder kept the lines more clean as she and her children all show the birds. The birds I got from her are gorgeous, large friendly birds...and two of the girls lay green eggs yet still have a single comb. I absolutely love them!
 
I have a "starters" variety of laying chickens. :p Barred Rocks, RIRs and EEs.
They Eggers don't really like laying in the Summer heat, but have always laid massive eggs when they get the chance!
The Barred Rocks seem to do the best for me, they haven't had a single health problem and are very easy to find.
My RIRs get sick from the heat sometimes and I have to take them inside and give them a saline drip... It's rough.
I also have a few bantams and exotics (Silkies and Sultans).
Obviously the exotics don't do so well in the normal coop, so I just built them a seperate short pen, essentially a run with shade, in my garden where it is VERY cool and they get along just fine! They don't kill my plants or anything like that so it's great! c:
The Bantams do extremely well in the heat! Maybe it's their size or something? But they lay teeny tiny eggs. Maybe you could just get a whole bunch of them to compensate for the small eggs. :p Also, we have a lot of bantams here in rescues because they're used in fights and are bred like crazy for that. :(

The most important thing here is to get a mister and a dust bath, maybe even an auto waterer!
My mister is just a strip at the top of my coop, not too close to the bottom because I don't want the floor to get mucky and humid. And my Dust bath is a small pool I got at ace for $10, filled with gravel that someone what giving away at the curb. I don't have an autowaterer, but I'm a crazy bird lady, so I go refill their water every evening. :)

Salvage is your best friend here by the way! If anything I said seems like it's be too expensive (ex. 2nd bantam coop) then go curb hunting and you're sure to find some good stuff!
 
I have a "starters" variety of laying chickens. :p Barred Rocks, RIRs and EEs.
They Eggers don't really like laying in the Summer heat, but have always laid massive eggs when they get the chance!
The Barred Rocks seem to do the best for me, they haven't had a single health problem and are very easy to find.
My RIRs get sick from the heat sometimes and I have to take them inside and give them a saline drip... It's rough.
I also have a few bantams and exotics (Silkies and Sultans).
Obviously the exotics don't do so well in the normal coop, so I just built them a seperate short pen, essentially a run with shade, in my garden where it is VERY cool and they get along just fine! They don't kill my plants or anything like that so it's great! c:
The Bantams do extremely well in the heat! Maybe it's their size or something? But they lay teeny tiny eggs. Maybe you could just get a whole bunch of them to compensate for the small eggs. :p Also, we have a lot of bantams here in rescues because they're used in fights and are bred like crazy for that. :(

The most important thing here is to get a mister and a dust bath, maybe even an auto waterer!
My mister is just a strip at the top of my coop, not too close to the bottom because I don't want the floor to get mucky and humid. And my Dust bath is a small pool I got at ace for $10, filled with gravel that someone what giving away at the curb. I don't have an autowaterer, but I'm a crazy bird lady, so I go refill their water every evening. :)

Salvage is your best friend here by the way! If anything I said seems like it's be too expensive (ex. 2nd bantam coop) then go curb hunting and you're sure to find some good stuff!

I just told my husband the other day that once I get all of my pens built and chickens organized, I'd like to consider raising Sultans as an ornamental bird to possibly show and work on breed improvement. How do you like them? Are they as friendly as they're purported to be?
 
I just told my husband the other day that once I get all of my pens built and chickens organized, I'd like to consider raising Sultans as an ornamental bird to possibly show and work on breed improvement. How do you like them? Are they as friendly as they're purported to be?
Mine were very skittish. I got them as pullets instead of chicks so I think that's why. I still have one. She'll let me pick her up, but she isn't happy about it. She lays every other day.
 
Hello, last night something got my favorite mama bantam hen that would never break a set. She was the sweetest thing. But, i have no idea what she was so i don't know what to get another of. Does anyone know of any really good mama breeds that are bantams?
 
Hello, last night something got my favorite mama bantam hen that would never break a set. She was the sweetest thing. But, i have no idea what she was so i don't know what to get another of. Does anyone know of any really good mama breeds that are bantams?

Bantam Cochins are good, broody mothers (at least, that's what I've been told). Silkies are also very good.
 

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