Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

The lavenders are known for their feather fretting, unfortunately. All lavender breeders I know breed back to black to fix this problem every third breeding.
If you want to see a beautiful lavender project check out John Blehm's site Fowlstuff, he createda Silver Lavender Ameraucana and they are gorgeous. I believe it took 5 generations but don't quote me on that! Even the newly hatched chicks are beautiful.

I might have better luck in what I am trying for with a Blue and a Black Orp. then, for my project pen that I am thinking of starting up, rather than to try the Lav. Orp.

 

[ejcrist]

If you're not using a broody hen, hatching chicks in the warmer weather can actually save you the hassle of having to use heating lamps, etc. because the ambient temps are sufficient to keep them warm. But the older they get the harder it is on them to be contained in hothouse environment. Just don't put a broody hen through the torture of hatching past April at the absolute latest. I had one girl that looked like she would die any second from heat stroke and she would NOT leave her eggs. I set up an A/C unit to blow directly on her to keep her alive.

Roger that. Yeah the one hen I had that went broody in the middle of last summer wouldn't leave the nest for nothing. I thought for sure she was going to go belly-up but she survived ok. Besides the tough conditions another reason I didn't plan to go beyond the last week in March is because the pullets/cockerels wouldn't have enough size to them to compete in the Tucson, Apache, or Safford shows. Just my estimation but I'd say the last eggs should be set no later than 3/31 - any later and I'd be worried they'd be DQed.

Have you hatched any NN's this spring yet? I have four really nice cockerels and a couple of medium sized pullets. We're going to BBQ all but the two best cockerels this Saturday. The two big boys are really great birds and I want to pair them up with the NN hens this fall when they're all a year old. These aren't SOP or anything but they're really super-robust birds and have really calm dispositions. They're assertive but not at all flighty, and super-duper healthy. They're a real pleasure to work with - don't mind being inspected or anything. I'll have to try to remember to take updated pictures of them tomorrow and post - you'll like 'em.

 

[ChuskaMtns]

I might have better luck in what I am trying for with a Blue and a Black Orp. then, for my project pen that I am thinking of starting up, rather than to try the Lav. Orp.

Go with the black then and stay away from the blue. All the chicks will hatch black but carry one lavender gene. Breed together when they're of age and you should get 50% lavenders and 50% black split to lavender. With blue you'll have all blue chicks carrying a copy of the lavender gene. It's when they're sold or given to someone else with a blue flock that the color genetic pool gets thrown off and they hatch chicks that are not bbs. There's a wonderful group on facebook called Poultry colours and genetics with breeders that have studied color genetics extensively.

 

[DesertChic]

Roger that. Yeah the one hen I had that went broody in the middle of last summer wouldn't leave the nest for nothing. I thought for sure she was going to go belly-up but she survived ok. Besides the tough conditions another reason I didn't plan to go beyond the last week in March is because the pullets/cockerels wouldn't have enough size to them to compete in the Tucson, Apache, or Safford shows. Just my estimation but I'd say the last eggs should be set no later than 3/31 - any later and I'd be worried they'd be DQed.

Have you hatched any NN's this spring yet? I have four really nice cockerels and a couple of medium sized pullets. We're going to BBQ all but the two best cockerels this Saturday. The two big boys are really great birds and I want to pair them up with the NN hens this fall when they're all a year old. These aren't SOP or anything but they're really super-robust birds and have really calm dispositions. They're assertive but not at all flighty, and super-duper healthy. They're a real pleasure to work with - don't mind being inspected or anything. I'll have to try to remember to take updated pictures of them tomorrow and post - you'll like 'em.

I actually plan to set eggs this weekend. I'm more than a little insane for hatching more since I've got so many birds running around here as it is (I'm down to 87 with more slated for the chopping block), but I plan to butcher two of the cockerels I've been breeding since I actually like their offspring better than them so far, and I want to preserve their genetics while I can. I had hoped to be incubating some NN//Cornish eggs, but my Dark Cornish and DC/White Cornish Cross have not been cooperating, and are already suffering in this heat wave we've been enduring.

Here are my favorites from my last hatch, which is 12 weeks old today:

Frost:


Buffy:


Tank (not a good photo of him, He's much prettier than this...and HUGE for his age)


Trixie - my best barred female


And Saffron:

 

[BlueBaby]

Go with the black then and stay away from the blue. All the chicks will hatch black but carry one lavender gene. Breed together when they're of age and you should get 50% lavenders and 50% black split to lavender. With blue you'll have all blue chicks carrying a copy of the lavender gene. It's when they're sold or given to someone else with a blue flock that the color genetic pool gets thrown off and they hatch chicks that are not bbs. There's a wonderful group on facebook called Poultry colours and genetics with breeders that have studied color genetics extensively.

Ok, thanks for the info. I'm already trying to work with the B/B/S with what I already have, so I guess that I will not be adding the Lavender. I'm not on facebook.

 

[BlueBaby]

I actually plan to set eggs this weekend. I'm more than a little insane for hatching more since I've got so many birds running around here as it is (I'm down to 87 with more slated for the chopping block), but I plan to butcher two of the cockerels I've been breeding since I actually like their offspring better than them so far, and I want to preserve their genetics while I can. I had hoped to be incubating some NN//Cornish eggs, but my Dark Cornish and DC/White Cornish Cross have not been cooperating, and are already suffering in this heat wave we've been enduring.

Here are my favorites from my last hatch, which is 12 weeks old today:

Frost:


Buffy:


Tank (not a good photo of him, He's much prettier than this...and HUGE for his age)


Trixie - my best barred female


And Saffron:

They look like they are getting pretty big! If you still have a bunch to go to the chopping block, what time is the barbecue going to be? lol

 

[arizonachickens]

Does anyone have any black hens for sale ? I'm looking for about 3-6 hens .
I have a lavender rooster and want to make some more lavenders ,im looking for Standard size I'm wanting to pay maybe $10 per bird maybe $15 it just depends if I like them thanks in advance

 

[DesertChic]

They look like they are getting pretty big! If you still have a bunch to go to the chopping block, what time is the barbecue going to be? lol

LOL! I'll be culling quite a few, but not for a few more weeks.

I just did a weights check today and my favored breeder, Tank, already weighs over 5 lbs @ 12 weeks. He's the biggest, meatiest boy I've bred to date, and SUPER friendly. Several of the other cockerels, even the affectionate ones, have already started biting me from time to time, but Tank is Mr. Mellow. I'm keeping him and his brother, Frost, who weighed in at 4.64 lbs., and possibly Nugget, who weighs less at 4.11 lbs but has the highest growth rate in the group since hatch and is shaped a bit like a bowling ball.

Nugget:

 

[igorsMistress]

Need some advice...
I'm setting up my coop and thinking about poop boards vs deep litter. Can't do DL in Phoenix during the summer. What do you all do? Clean a poop board or the remove litter? Sand?

 

[BlueBaby]

LOL! I'll be culling quite a few, but not for a few more weeks.

I just did a weights check today and my favored breeder, Tank, already weighs over 5 lbs @ 12 weeks. He's the biggest, meatiest boy I've bred to date, and SUPER friendly. Several of the other cockerels, even the affectionate ones, have already started biting me from time to time, but Tank is Mr. Mellow. I'm keeping him and his brother, Frost, who weighed in at 4.64 lbs., and possibly Nugget, who weighs less at 4.11 lbs but has the highest growth rate in the group since hatch and is shaped a bit like a bowling ball.

Nugget:

Well, just don't take Nugget bowling with you then. We wouldn't want you to get the strike with him instead of the ball. lol