Arizona Chickens

[MagicChicken]

Hello, everyone. Our local feed store is getting their chicks in sometime this week, and my family was planning on getting a few more. My question with that is, will they be able to be outside in this weather? I'd have asked in a separate thread, but I feel like I'd get a better answer with people that know the weather out here, especially in monsoon season.
It's a blocked in area, fully sheltered from birds, bugs, cats, rain, wind, etc., but it is still outside and stays at about 90 degrees throughout the day. Is that too hot for the chicks to be outside? We wouldn't put the heat lamp on them or anything except possibly at night, but we don't want to get them if it's too hot out for them because we can't bring them inside. Our current chickens were out in the same spot when they were chicks and are now moved into their pens, but that was back in April when it was way cooler.

And good luck if you start your own bloodline of Austra-Whites, @BlueBaby!

I had a broody hen hatch a chick - outside, under a rosemary bush - at the beginning of June. We had a couple of weeks of 110-118 degree weather shortly after it hatched. The chick is now two months old and doing fine. But it was also with its mom, who could lead it to cool shady places and probably kept it cool (instead of warm) by sitting on it.

If I were getting chicks this time of year I would give them a large area to run in with sheltered space, lots of shade, and a heat lamp on a thermostat set in a place they can get away from if it's too hot. Reptile thermostats are great for controlling heat lamps. The thermostat I use has a settable range of 68-100+ degrees. You plug it into the wall, then plug the heat lamp into the thermostat. You can lower the on-temp gradually as the chicks age.

You can also use an Ecoglow brooder or equivalent radiant chick-brooding heater instead of a heat lamp. You can run the Ecoglow on a thermostat too, which helps when it is really hot out. Ecoglows work fine outside if they are adequately sheltered from rain and wind, and if the ambient lows aren't consistently below 50.

Good luck!

 

[DesertBird]

I had a broody hen hatch a chick - outside, under a rosemary bush - at the beginning of June. We had a couple of weeks of 110-118 degree weather shortly after it hatched. The chick is now two months old and doing fine. But it was also with its mom, who could lead it to cool shady places and probably kept it cool (instead of warm) by sitting on it.

If I were getting chicks this time of year I would give them a large area to run in with sheltered space, lots of shade, and a heat lamp on a thermostat set in a place they can get away from if it's too hot. Reptile thermostats are great for controlling heat lamps. The thermostat I use has a settable range of 68-100+ degrees. You plug it into the wall, then plug the heat lamp into the thermostat. You can lower the on-temp gradually as the chicks age.

You can also use an Ecoglow brooder or equivalent radiant chick-brooding heater instead of a heat lamp. You can run the Ecoglow on a thermostat too, which helps when it is really hot out. Ecoglows work fine outside if they are adequately sheltered from rain and wind, and if the ambient lows aren't consistently below 50.

Good luck!

Alrighty, thank you! Under different circumstances, I'd wait another month or two so I know it's not too hot for them, but my unexpected cockerel's are almost at 4 months and I'd rather them have the necessary amount of pullets sooner rather than later so they don't torment my 11 pullets much more than they already will.

For their first week, would a Rubbermaid-type tub be too small and hot for them? And if it's not, when would it be best to let them out into a grow-out pen? Week 2 or 3? If one of my pullets were broody, I'd sneak the chicks into the nest under her at night and take the eggs out, but none of them want to be. Can't blame 'em!

 

[cactusrota]

I had some chicks that hatched the end of May, right in the beginning of the peak heat. I ended up giving them a terra cotta tray with water in it to cool their feetsies, which had to be changed out very regularly because they trashed it quick. I also had their waterer on a paver stone and would tip the waterer to get the stone wet and keep it cool. They loved hanging out on that, too. They did just fine.

 

[cactusrota]

I bought one of those metal garbage cans and the lid to hold my feed in. Nothing is going to get into it, and the lid won't split or deteriorate like plastic does. Not even the mice are going to chew through it. Just make sure that you have the lid all the way down on it, then bugs won't get in there neither.

My brother uses those and I love them, but our store has been out of them for quite a while now. They don't seem to be good at keeping track of inventory I guess.

 

[BlueBaby]

My brother uses those and I love them, but our store has been out of them for quite a while now. They don't seem to be good at keeping track of inventory I guess.

Have you tried someplace like Home Depot or Lowes?

Amazon has them, too: https://www.amazon.com/Behrens-1270...6700&sr=8-2&keywords=metal+trash+can+with+lid

 

[igorsMistress]

According to the original poster the bird was starting to bite fingers as well as toes. That is beginning to sound like more than curiosity. Aggression is in the range of "normal" behavior for roosters. But human-directed aggression is something I won't tolerate in my flock. I have learned that lesson the hard way. I haven't had many cockerels stop at toe biting. They either behave respectfully from the start (no toe biting) or they escalate the aggressive behavior over time. There is a genetic component to aggressive behavior and I am weeding out the overly aggressive birds. They are not welcome in my breeding program. Your mileage - and birds - may vary.

I missed the biting fingers when reading. Regardless, I would try to work it out before I chuck him in the stew pot, but that's me. I also would have corrected the behavior as soon as it started.

 

[DesertBird]

I missed the biting fingers when reading. Regardless, I would try to work it out before I chuck him in the stew pot, but that's me. I also would have corrected the behavior as soon as it started.

Sorry, new to dealing with roosters - how do you try to work it out? Just in case my little guy decides he doesn't like being the little guy. If he tries to bite at me, I pick him up and hold him until he calms down and then let him strut off when he's relaxed - am I making it worse by doing this?

 

[DesertChic]

Sorry, new to dealing with roosters - how do you try to work it out? Just in case my little guy decides he doesn't like being the little guy. If he tries to bite at me, I pick him up and hold him until he calms down and then let him strut off when he's relaxed - am I making it worse by doing this?

I've actually done something similar with some of my boys, but there is the risk of teaching them that they should bite if they want attention. I had one rooster adopt this behavior and quickly changed tactics.

With some birds, simply remaining calm and non-reactive is enough, as their biting is primarily the result of nervousness. They learn that there's no reason to be nervous and just stop biting.

With others it may be mating confusion. I'm actually dealing with a 17-week old cockerel right now that is excessively obsessed with me. He's the lowest ranked in the bachelor pad pecking order and has learned that being with me is "safe". I'd started letting him out of his pen to hang with me in the mornings while I filled feeding dishes, but I've noticed that after the initial affection and feeding, he starts dancing around me like crazy and then tries to grab my hand and bites in a standard early mating gesture he'd normally display with the females. Not good! I've had one other rooster behave this way with me and he's become one of the most lovable, snuggly birds ever, but it was a difficult transition from obsession to affection and I'm not sure I'm up for it again.

A lot of times biting in cockerels is confused for aggression when it's simply overactive teenage hormones and growing-up stress that will work out on its own. My experience is that their biting is only a true problem with it's accompanied by hen-possessive and territorial behaviors. Sometimes grabbing them by the legs and carrying them upside down for quite a while, followed by flipping them upwards and carrying them securely like a football for a while is sufficient to teach them that YOU are the boss and should be respected, but when that fails to work I break out the roasting pan and invite them to dinner.

 

[DesertBird]

I've actually done something similar with some of my boys, but there is the risk of teaching them that they should bite if they want attention. I had one rooster adopt this behavior and quickly changed tactics.

With some birds, simply remaining calm and non-reactive is enough, as their biting is primarily the result of nervousness. They learn that there's no reason to be nervous and just stop biting.

With others it may be mating confusion. I'm actually dealing with a 17-week old cockerel right now that is excessively obsessed with me. He's the lowest ranked in the bachelor pad pecking order and has learned that being with me is "safe". I'd started letting him out of his pen to hang with me in the mornings while I filled feeding dishes, but I've noticed that after the initial affection and feeding, he starts dancing around me like crazy and then tries to grab my hand and bites in a standard early mating gesture he'd normally display with the females. Not good! I've had one other rooster behave this way with me and he's become one of the most lovable, snuggly birds ever, but it was a difficult transition from obsession to affection and I'm not sure I'm up for it again.

A lot of times biting in cockerels is confused for aggression when it's simply overactive teenage hormones and growing-up stress that will work out on its own. My experience is that their biting is only a true problem with it's accompanied by hen-possessive and territorial behaviors. Sometimes grabbing them by the legs and carrying them upside down for quite a while, followed by flipping them upwards and carrying them securely like a football for a while is sufficient to teach them that YOU are the boss and should be respected, but when that fails to work I break out the roasting pan and invite them to dinner.

One of mine crows every morning. If I don't go out, he crows even more for attention and if I go out my front door without going to see him, he crows, too. He does do a little dance for about 2 seconds when I sit on the ground near him, and he's pretty snuggly when I pick him up. I found a little staple (I have burlap stapled to one side of my run to block from the sun) in the run maybe 2 days ago and went down to pick it up and he bit me. Not enough to draw blood, but it was a little bite. My pullets do it, too, occasionally. Is there anything I can do to fix that before it becomes an issue? Should I completely ignore his little dances, pecks, etc. or continue to pick him up to calm him down? Or is it best to just wait it out with him a bit longer so his hormones settle a bit? He's a bit protective of the girls now and keeps them together during free ranging, makes sure to warn them of any bird that passes, etc. so I'm hoping he'll be a good little guy, but if he gets aggressive, I suppose it's best to rehome him. (Probably to someone's stew pot, in all reality. )

Also, for anything I've been doing wrong with him, (probably a bit lol) he's almost 4 months - have I completely messed up with him so it's irreparable, or is it possible to still fix any issues I could've caused? It's not ideal, but they're currently separate from 6 of my other pullets that are about a month and a half older so they free range separately, and occasionally he'll wander over to their run and they fight through the bars. I pull him away and pet him to calm him down, so hoping that that hasn't taught him to be aggressive to me. Normally I'd let them work it out, but since he's still smaller than them, I'm hoping to wait until he's a bit bigger. The pullets he grew up in his grow-out pen with are still tiny, too - seem to be all feather and no chicken underneath!

 

[BlueBaby]

I think that my Blue Australorp rooster is trying to feed me? When I put out the food, he picks up a piece and just takes a step forward then drops the food like he does to the hens. All of the hen's are behind him. He doesn't try to bite nor attack me.