Arizona Chickens

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happyhenhouse said:
Hi Parront, I'm no expert for sure, but the nesting material I've, (that is we've) had most success with is the aspen material found in evaporative cooler pads. You'll need to remove the nylon netting so their little toes don't get tangled. They are clean, not dusty, smooth and comfy, and don't become matted or rotten. The pads are pretty cheap and a couple should be plenty for your girls. Sorry, not sure about being scorpion proof, but hopefully your girls will snack on the critters.
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Yes, I have friends in CA near Palm Springs and they swear by the cooler pads. Last I had chickens, I did not know about this, but now in AZ, I am going to try them. Sonoran Chick was asking, her hens are soon to lay. My next hens are still hypothetical. The only hen I have at present is Dylan, the African Grey. She shreds her own nesting material. If I just save all the stuff she shreds, I wont have to buy any wood chips!
 
HIi, SONORAN CHCIK, I use straw but keep it clean & change the straw and add in new DE every month ,we dont have scorpions here in my area of Bisbee AZ, so i don't wory about them ,im not sure what to say about your area..? but hey cooler pads sound like a totally kool idea..! or ask some local farmers , when you can at your feed store.! so about feeding to the laying stage yeah go ahead & switch over to the layer feed when your chick food says to, then up the calcium , i started here in Bisbee with our first group of 14 hens, but i have had chickens in several states over the years going back to NY & CT in the 1960s, and my husband built our hen house with 12 nest boxes, so we had plenty HA years later i have 75 birds & have added many more nest boxes so mine don't fight over (( the favorite nest boxes..? )) in both hen houses, i would not block off your nest boxes at all no matter what so the young hens wont be checking out other places to lay their eggs you know how the young ones can some times get confused about were to deposit their eggs , so give them every opportunity to make that right first choice.! since you sure dont want to be searching all over the place for eggs, and when they start going to all the wrong places to lay their eggs its very hard to get them to stop...!my young pullets may sleep in the nest boxes but i dont mind i just keep the boxes clean with new straw & DE & 3 golf balls HA they soon get the bigger picture ,plus they want to sleep on the roosts more often then not , and only use the nest boxes for egg laying , and yes i do put 3 golf balls in each nest box just so the newbies get the right idea, HA , and that helps to stop any egg eating since they cant tell which of those round things are the real egg, HA , but hey i say your doing really good..!!! just take the time to sit and watch & read what your birds are telling you, that's the bast way forward..! we get our clues from them..!! so yeah its a good thing having chickens around to enjoy ...!!! take care :highfive: :thumbsup
 
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SonoranChick said:
@Parront thank you! I also heard they will pile up in one box, or wait in line for the same box while other boxes are open lol...now this I cannot wait to see :lau
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Yes, they will try to pile up in them. One day I walked out there to my coop, and there were already 2 hens in the nest box, and a third hen trying to get in there too! I use some of those nesting pads that look like artificial turf in the bottom of mine (bought at Amazon), and my nesting boxes are those bottom drawers from old refrigerators. They didn't like the nesting boxes that hubby made for them, and had been laying the eggs on the ground. They liked the refrigerator drawers.
 
BlueBaby said:
Yes, they will try to pile up in them. One day I walked out there to my coop, and there were already 2 hens in the nest box, and a third hen trying to get in there too! I use some of those nesting pads that look like artificial turf in the bottom of mine (bought at Amazon), and my nesting boxes are those bottom drawers from old refrigerators. They didn't like the nesting boxes that hubby made for them, and had been laying the eggs on the ground. They liked the refrigerator drawers.
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I agree, I wasted a lot of effort building them nice boxes. Next time, plastic bucket nest with cooler pads!
 
Wow thank you all so much for the info, I had never thought of cooler pads but DH says we have a bunch unopened lying around from the hardware store! I'll be sure to remove any netting. Lol I like the golf ball idea...we also have some of those somewhere too. It's amazing what your garage can produce for free when you need it :p
 
Hi Arizona chicken folks,
I would like to tell you about the vet I use, Dr. Stephanie Lamb at Arizona Exotic Animal hospital. She is an excellent certified avian vet. She takes chickens, I have seen chickens in the office when I took Dylan in for boarding. Here is a post from facebook for those who aren't on that site:https://www.facebook.com/azeahospital/posts/1897381980277418
Their web site is: http://azeah.com
Dylan highly endorses Dr. Lamb and her office. 4 claws up!
Chris
 

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