Arizona Chickens

[MagicChicken]

Finally able to post again. Yay! Just in time for the heat wave predicted next week. They're predicting 115 degrees in my area (SW of Tucson) starting in a few days. Heads up!

 

[BlueBaby]

Finally able to post again. Yay! Just in time for the heat wave predicted next week. They're predicting 115 degrees in my area (SW of Tucson) starting in a few days. Heads up!

Welcome back! Good to see you again! Yes, it's that time of year when the temp really sky rockets.

 

[FeatherPugs]

Father's Day - 115, Monday - 118 DANG - Water bottles frozen, watermelon rind frozen. Just gotta push through it. Wish they liked to swim - I'd take them to the waterpark! LOL - can ya picture it? Stay safe.......

 

[cactusrota]

I wish I could train my chickens to eat ants. The black harvester ants are like a plague here. I've tried everything but the colonies are just too big. I'll bet if someone tried that melted aluminum/cement thing they'd end up digging up one huge colony 100 feet wide.

 

[SonoranChick]

Hello my fellow Arizonans! What a great thread to start I am so nervous about our upcoming monsoon season, and of course the HEAT I have successfully raised chickens through the summer weather, but now I have chicks and they will be ready to move into their big girl coop in July. In the middle of our harsh weather...aaaah! Can't I just keep em inside forever?! Lol

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello my fellow Arizonans! What a great thread to start I am so nervous about our upcoming monsoon season, and of course the HEAT I have successfully raised chickens through the summer weather, but now I have chicks and they will be ready to move into their big girl coop in July. In the middle of our harsh weather...aaaah! Can't I just keep em inside forever?! Lol

I think that we all worry about ours and do the best that we can for them in these hotter months. I just moved my last 2 chicks outside this evening and put them out in the run in a extra large wire dog crate. I have some old plywood boards over the top of it, and on the side that get's the most sun during the hottest part of the day to give them shade.

 

[FeatherPugs]

Hello my fellow Arizonans! What a great thread to start I am so nervous about our upcoming monsoon season, and of course the HEAT I have successfully raised chickens through the summer weather, but now I have chicks and they will be ready to move into their big girl coop in July. In the middle of our harsh weather...aaaah! Can't I just keep em inside forever?! Lol

You might try putting them outside a bit at a time right now before they go out permanently. Getting them used to the weather and drinking the extra water. You know like when you have seeds started inside - you harden them off before planting them. I have a special "cage" I use just for this. Then I give them a bit more roaming room in the baby pen with the cage inside the pen - then they are usually ready to do their thing by themselves. We worry but they got it!

 

[SonoranChick]

You might try putting them outside a bit at a time right now before they go out permanently. Getting them used to the weather and drinking the extra water. You know like when you have seeds started inside - you harden them off before planting them. I have a special "cage" I use just for this. Then I give them a bit more roaming room in the baby pen with the cage inside the pen - then they are usually ready to do their thing by themselves. We worry but they got it!

Awesome advice, thank you...you're right I am way more worried about it than they seem to be!

 

[nicollee]

Any additional suggestions for stopping a broody hen???
We removed her from the nest, put her in a separate cage for a couple of days, and still she runs back to the nest... I can't block the nest entirely, or the other hens will start to hide their eggs again.... this has been going on almost a month, and with the upcoming heat, I am very worried for her

 

[DesertChic]

Any additional suggestions for stopping a broody hen???
We removed her from the nest, put her in a separate cage for a couple of days, and still she runs back to the nest... I can't block the nest entirely, or the other hens will start to hide their eggs again.... this has been going on almost a month, and with the upcoming heat, I am very worried for her

You can also try putting ice packs under her. Sometimes it helps, but if she's a persistent broody the only thing that will break her is probably separating and isolating her for several days in an area where she can't easily nest. That said, I admit that I finally have to cave in with one of my broodies last year and give her eggs to hatch. After 3 weeks of fighting her tendencies I decided that nature might just know better. She turned out to be a truly amazing mother, and she give me 3 lovely and surprisingly friendly chicks.