Arizona Chickens

[saguaroskeleton]

Anyone going to this down in Tuscon?

[TD] [/TD] [TD] [/TD]
Tuscon Poultry, Pigeon & Fancy Fowl Spring Lawn Show [TD] March 4, 2017[/TD]

I might be able to make it for a little bit, but I work at the Wild Wild West Con that same weekend and I don't know my shift times yet

 

[ejcrist]

Anyone going to this down in Tuscon?

Tuscon Poultry, Pigeon & Fancy Fowl Spring Lawn Show March 4, 2017

I marked it in my calendar and would love to go but I still have more breeding pens to finish. Even though I don't need them technically for "breeding" this spring I'm really going to need them for grow-out pens here pretty shortly and then again for breeding in the fall. I lost a couple of weekends due to getting rained out - always seemed to rain on both Saturday and Sunday, the only two days I had to get anything done. I've got a pretty good population of birds at the moment so during during the week when I get off of work there's only about enough daylight to do the regular maintenance (feed/scratch, change water in founts, quick check-up a sample of birds, clean coops, etc.) before it gets dark. I picked up 21 Ameraucana chicks today from a breeder up in NV that were born from a champion sire and dam, and with these I'm up to 101 birds total now, so my daily maintenance chores just got a little longer. To tell you the truth though I really enjoy it all - for whatever reason it doesn't seem like regular work. Once these pens are done, and probably one more coop and run, I want to focus on getting ready for the fall shows. I've never shown any birds yet but I plan on being at Tucson, Safford, Apache County, and the APA show in California next February. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[BlueBaby]

I marked it in my calendar and would love to go but I still have more breeding pens to finish. Even though I don't need them technically for "breeding" this spring I'm really going to need them for grow-out pens here pretty shortly and then again for breeding in the fall. I lost a couple of weekends due to getting rained out - always seemed to rain on both Saturday and Sunday, the only two days I had to get anything done. I've got a pretty good population of birds at the moment so during during the week when I get off of work there's only about enough daylight to do the regular maintenance (feed/scratch, change water in founts, quick check-up a sample of birds, clean coops, etc.) before it gets dark. I picked up 21 Ameraucana chicks today from a breeder up in NV that were born from a champion sire and dam, and with these I'm up to 101 birds total now, so my daily maintenance chores just got a little longer. To tell you the truth though I really enjoy it all - for whatever reason it doesn't seem like regular work. Once these pens are done, and probably one more coop and run, I want to focus on getting ready for the fall shows. I've never shown any birds yet but I plan on being at Tucson, Safford, Apache County, and the APA show in California next February. I'm really looking forward to it.

I won't be going neither. I posted here in the AZ. thread in case there were other who didn't know about it, but would like to go to one.

Those 21 Ameraucana's you got, are those the ones that lay the blue eggs, not green eggs?

 

[ejcrist]

I won't be going neither. I posted here in the AZ. thread in case there were other who didn't know about it, but would like to go to one.

Those 21 Ameraucana's you got, are those the ones that lay the blue eggs, not green eggs?

Roger that. You gave me an idea - I've been following the shows this past year and get Poultry Press every month so I think I'll post on here whenever a show is coming up in AZ. That way everyone will know about it in case they might want to go.

Yep, the Ameraucanas lay the blue eggs. The breeder showed me the eggs in his incubator and they were all sky blue. His chicks are quite a bit more expensive than most but the quality is super top-notch. He also has pairs, trios, and quads later in the year. I'm planning on getting at least a trio from him when he has them available. I like to have a good base breeding stock to start with. I'm doing the same thing with Brown Leghorns. I have chicks coming from Jacob Bates and a breeding pair coming from Florida this week. It took me over a year to find SOP Brown Leghorns available. They're just tough to locate. Oh, and also that breeder has pure Dorkings, Polish, and quail. My Brother-in-Law went with me and he's thinking about raising quail now. He lives in a communist neighborhood (HOA) but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in his rules that prohibit quail. Even if there were, no one would know since there's Gambels Quail running around wild all over the hood.

 

[BlueBaby]

Roger that. You gave me an idea - I've been following the shows this past year and get Poultry Press every month so I think I'll post on here whenever a show is coming up in AZ. That way everyone will know about it in case they might want to go.

Yep, the Ameraucanas lay the blue eggs. The breeder showed me the eggs in his incubator and they were all sky blue. His chicks are quite a bit more expensive than most but the quality is super top-notch. He also has pairs, trios, and quads later in the year. I'm planning on getting at least a trio from him when he has them available. I like to have a good base breeding stock to start with. I'm doing the same thing with Brown Leghorns. I have chicks coming from Jacob Bates and a breeding pair coming from Florida this week. It took me over a year to find SOP Brown Leghorns available. They're just tough to locate. Oh, and also that breeder has pure Dorkings, Polish, and quail. My Brother-in-Law went with me and he's thinking about raising quail now. He lives in a communist neighborhood (HOA) but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in his rules that prohibit quail. Even if there were, no one would know since there's Gambels Quail running around wild all over the hood.

That would be nice of you to post them here for others to know about them. I agree with you about the HOA's.

Now you've went and done it. Do you think I can get some of those pretty blue eggs to hatch out from you one day? I have been wanting to get a hold of a breed that lays the blue ones. I didn't want those Easter Eggers, because they lay mostly the green ones from what I seen.

 

[ejcrist]

That would be nice of you to post them here for others to know about them. I agree with you about the HOA's.

Now you've went and done it. Do you think I can get some of those pretty blue eggs to hatch out from you one day? I have been wanting to get a hold of a breed that lays the blue ones. I didn't want those Easter Eggers, because they lay mostly the green ones from what I seen.

I sent you a pm.

 

[paccroot]

Howdy AZ chicken farmers! It's been such a long time since I have been on, I had to create a new user! It's nice to be back though.

Does anyone here have any information or experience with building clay bricks or walls for cheap? I figured if anyone knows, it's you guys. My fellow chicken lovers are always so savvy!

A good friend of mine is suffering quite a bit right now. The past few months have been really hard on her. A huge portion of her backyard fence, coop, and trees were burnt to the ground by her irresponsible neighbors. She lost half her flock and her favorite rooster. Also an irreplaceable 35+ year old tree that her grandmother planted. She is of course seeking legal action with her neighbors but it's taking so long! She has a temp fence set up but it's not cutting it. The backyard is essentially open for anyone to steal something. We are so very worried about home invaders AND she cannot let her dogs out to go potty unsupervised. It's a huge problem. To top it off, funds are really low right now. She has sold her own furniture and appliances to create extra revenue.

Any advice or tips on cheap ways to make a permanent wall are GREATLY appreciated!!!! We need to avoid wood though, the neighbors are STILL trying to use the grill in the SAME spot.

On a side note, I am looking to purchase a used incubator (one to three dozen capacity) with an automatic egg turning tray. I figure the least I can do for her is hatch out some babies to fill her coop.

Sorry for the wall of text guys! Anywho, have a great day and thank you so much for reading!

 

[nicollee]

Howdy AZ chicken farmers! It's been such a long time since I have been on, I had to create a new user! It's nice to be back though.
...

Any advice or tips on cheap ways to make a permanent wall are GREATLY appreciated!!!! We need to avoid wood though, the neighbors are STILL trying to use the grill in the SAME spot.




Sorry for the wall of text guys! Anywho, have a great day and thank you so much for reading!

What area are you in? Are there any local social service organizations that have volunteers to donate goods or services?

 

[MagicChicken]

Howdy AZ chicken farmers! It's been such a long time since I have been on, I had to create a new user! It's nice to be back though.

Does anyone here have any information or experience with building clay bricks or walls for cheap? I figured if anyone knows, it's you guys. My fellow chicken lovers are always so savvy!

A good friend of mine is suffering quite a bit right now. The past few months have been really hard on her. A huge portion of her backyard fence, coop, and trees were burnt to the ground by her irresponsible neighbors. She lost half her flock and her favorite rooster. Also an irreplaceable 35+ year old tree that her grandmother planted. She is of course seeking legal action with her neighbors but it's taking so long! She has a temp fence set up but it's not cutting it. The backyard is essentially open for anyone to steal something. We are so very worried about home invaders AND she cannot let her dogs out to go potty unsupervised. It's a huge problem. To top it off, funds are really low right now. She has sold her own furniture and appliances to create extra revenue.

Any advice or tips on cheap ways to make a permanent wall are GREATLY appreciated!!!! We need to avoid wood though, the neighbors are STILL trying to use the grill in the SAME spot.

On a side note, I am looking to purchase a used incubator (one to three dozen capacity) with an automatic egg turning tray. I figure the least I can do for her is hatch out some babies to fill her coop.

Sorry for the wall of text guys! Anywho, have a great day and thank you so much for reading!

You could make a fence from corrugated metal roofing panels. They would be spark-resistant and relatively inexpensive.
Some of my neighbors have used old garage doors for fence panels. That might work too if your neighborhood will tolerate "creative" reuse of materials.

 

[Banaynaychicken]

Back from Eagar/Springerville!!

So while we were on the way down, I saw my first ever wild turkeys, and somehow I knew how to call to them.

(I think I had seen it somewhere on my instagram, a farmer i follow has Turkeys)

So I whistled to them (There were about 12-15) and every single one of them gobbled back.

I literally had a uncontrolable moment where I like, rocked back and forth clapping my hands because I got wild turkeys to call to me, oh god the memories are coming back XD

I had a sh*t-eating grin on my face the rest of the day .

ANYWAY I had a kind of stupid but totally serious question about my Polish roosters and hen.

Their crests were beautiful before I left for my cabin in the white mountains.

buut when I got back, my roosters had destroyed their crests. the entire fron half of each of their crests is now broken and tattered feathers. (I will post pictures later.

The feathers are still there, but they are destroyed halfway down and none of my birds are show worthy now because of it.

I have all 4 polish signed up for fair but my entry form is due monday and Im debating on whether to pull them from the show because of their tattered crests. None of them will molt before fair but this is my last year in the FFA and 4H....

Is there any way that I can fix them/remove them without hurting my birds so that the feathers could grow back before April, or are their heads a lost cause till they molt and I'll just show in Open next year or sometime in the future?

Now i'm in no way thinking of plucking their head feathers out if it means them bleeding or screaming or being in pain at all, but if for some reason there was a way to numb that, or just get the feathers to fall out and regrow without waiting for molt....

I know long shot, ill probably have to pull them from the fair but I want to consider all of my options.