Arizona Chickens

[Diannastarr]

I even knew of someone before who used pieces of old carpet in the nesting boxes as pads.

yes they do have those favorite nest boxes , just this morning i saw 3 hens in a box when 6 boxes wer empty , i cant say why those are the favorite boxes,..? and i have tried to brake them up and even putting some hens into the empty boxes but they just wait till i leave and go in the boxes thet love with the other hens .HA , so hours later i see just one hen in each favorite box with maybe 6 eggs under her so after they go our to play,i can go collect those eggs ...lol. gosh but they may break an egg in the process of crowing into the favorite boxes, but i dont care no one eats the broken eggs, so my girls age good about that, but if only i knew how to make more favorite boxes ( i sure would ) but the ones i have were all made on the same day and they are all alike , i even have pics of my darling husband sitting in the coop on his bench & making the boxes with chickens all around him & even one SLW sitting on his drill HA, but one thing if your looking for easy nest boxes try hunting down some old kitchen draws, we had a few left over from a kitchen remodel my husband did for some neighbors , AND I WAS LIKE BRING THOSE DRAWS HOME... HA and we put a curved roof over the old draws , since we had this stuff called door skin left over from another one of his remolding jobs, its a heavy plastic sheet & you can cut easy and by bending it over the tops of the old draws that made a nice curved top for the nest boxes, then & screw them in place..! my hens just adore the old kitchen draws with the curved tops , that was sooo easy to make even ladies can do it , no carpentry involved..!..HA , but hey lets start a list of good ideas for making nest boxes out of the stuff we have hanging around , no need to buy stuff...! just recycle what you got..!!!..! ill try to get a pic of my nest boxes made from old kitchen draws..!so you all can see what that looks like , take care have a good one...! ok i put that draw nest pic on top here, but also i really like these draw nest boxes , they can be made very easy just make a box like a draw , lucky for us we got those old kitchen draws ,so with this idea you can just pick them up andpop off the tops , made from door skin and man are these easy to clean , my farm hand vacuums them out and puts DE into the bottom then straw & if need be we can just pick them up put them any were and take the tops off to hose them out & let them air dry in the hot sun, i cant do that with any of those built in boxes. my sweet husband worked so hard on ,so thats the draw back with the built in boxes they are built in HA, but really what a happy accident we had the opportunity to take away all these old kitchen draws they were suppose to go to the dump , until i saw nest boxes in them ...lol.. and they are great for that purpose..! & are very handy..!

 

[FeatherPugs]

First question: is there a certain material that is best for nests? Particularly given the southern AZ heat and critter issues, what do you guys use?
Second question: will 3 seperate nest boxes be enough for ten hens? It is one big nest box divided into thirds.
Third question: should I switch to layer feed before or after they start laying?
Thanks so much in advance guys! I know I can find so many answers on this site, but I like to narrow it down to AZ folk so I can get good info pertinent to our climate and desert environment

Already been said - you'll have plenty of nest boxes! AND if you think roosters are crazy noisy crowing wait until you hear the hens when they want the same box that is in use and they are singing the hurry up song!! I use tote boxes - cut a hole in the front and they seem to love them. I have 20 girls and 3 totes, an open milk crate, a large plant container - you know the black ones from the nursery, and an old large end table that I worked into two boxes. They all get used on and off. Some girls like one and not the other then change up whenever. Oh and there is a stand of 5 boxes in the coop but they very seldom use them unless its raining and they are in the coop! I also use golf balls as a training for littles (even some of the seldom lay older girls). They see the golf balls and realize all is well with this nest so they go and lay there. I you have heavier breeds they might feel cramped in a big nest box made into three...... only an after thought.
I have tried so many different things in my nests but I will look at the cooler pads and check them out. I've used the nest box liners with straw and they just scratch those up like crazy. I've used just straw and they are okay with that but it does take upkeep and sometimes - like with a broken egg - its next day upkeep. Right now I'm using chopped alfalfa and timothy hay - they really seem to like this as long as they have lots and can make deep wells to lay in. I am not a fan of DE but I believe in the bottom of the nest boxes would be useful - especially if you have a good number of ants.
As far as the layer feed. I try to keep track of when 18 weeks comes about but sometimes I start running low in the feeders around 16/17 weeks and will start the layer feed then. Definitely at 18 weeks. Its a dance to get things to be somewhat economical! Crazy how many answers there are.

It made me so mad. I made nice nests for my layers. I had 30 layers, so I made 10 nests! The dumb clucks used only 2 of them. I could not tell any difference. I moved them. I cleaned them. I put straw in them. LOL -- I found a nest in the yard under the Oleanders where they were hiding the eggs! Darn Brown Leghorn would fly over the fence around the coop, lay an egg, and fly back in and eat.

Right now I have two that seem to be laying elsewhere!! I have looked and looked. I have a couple bullies in my flock who seem to hassle the littles still - it is getting better but I wonder if that is why they lay somewhere where my eyes can't see. I've even tried sitting in the yard hoping to see them go wherever and still nothing! Now if they would invent an egg finder - you know like the metal detector.....LOL

 

[BlueBaby]

@FeatherPugs

Maybe you could figure out how to make one of those egg finders. You could become the next millionaire!

 

[Diannastarr]

@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 [/QUOTE HA yeah its true, ive seen it enough to not want to see it again, good thing the hens are ok with all that crowding and are not trying to kill each other, battling it out ...lo.... but really its nuts , and the remedy for this craziness, i am still looking for , it might be the light or the lack of light in certain favorite boxes, but one thing they all love 4 boxes up about 3 feet with stairs to that level and facing the north thats all i know HA o and also those favorite boxes are also facing my kitchen door i go out from to come see them ..? but who can tell..! RIGHT HA

 

[Diannastarr]

@FeatherPugs

Maybe you could figure out how to make one of those egg finders. You could become the next millionaire!

RIGHT ON , YOU GOT HAT RIGHT...LOL....

 

[Parront]

[QUOTE="As far as the layer feed. I try to keep track of when 18 weeks comes about but sometimes I start running low in the feeders around 16/17 weeks and will start the layer feed then. Definitely at 18 weeks. Its a dance to get things to be somewhat economical! Crazy how many answers there are.


Right now I have two that seem to be laying elsewhere!! I have looked and looked. I have a couple bullies in my flock who seem to hassle the littles still - it is getting better but I wonder if that is why they lay somewhere where my eyes can't see. I've even tried sitting in the yard hoping to see them go wherever and still nothing! Now if they would invent an egg finder - you know like the metal detector.....LOL[/QUOTE]
I read an interesting article about egg binding which told the professional breeders to wait until they were getting "5% production" to be sure that they are all sexually mature. In a mixed flock, I might wait longer? I am going to post some of that article in here as a page with a link to the whole Aviagen web site. Lots of transferable info directed at the pros.
I knew it was the leghorns hiding the eggs, because they were the only white eggs. All the birds got to range the yard a lot, but brown eggs in the house, white in the bushes! The secret to finding eggs is to have a 4-year-old, that is who found those. She tried to hatch it in her bed. Gives new meaning to the phrase "bloody mess"! The leghorns were brooding it! Kid was heartbroken with the broken egg, but learning occurred.
Brown leghorns are beautiful, and great layers. The beautiful rooster was very aggressive and protective, and was one of the first to join the Cornish-X in the crockpot.

 

[Parront]

From the mixed flock I used to have, I decided next flock would be all one breed. The smaller brown leghorns actually beat up on the Orpingtons! There were more Orpingtons, but they are very mild mannered and lost every time. I had to separate the Leghorns, eventually. The Leghorns out-laid the Orpingtons about 2-1. I am tempted to get them again as my only breed, but only if we get a place with lots of room!

 

[DesertChic]

Hey Folks, just been surfing around.

Do any of you subscribe to the Tucson Organic chicken Feed Wholesale Buyers Club? I guess they take orders once every two months and deliver in Tucson or Phoenix. It sounds rather interesting and just curious as to what the locals do when shopping for feed. --BB

I do! I love their feed!

 

[DesertChic]

Yes, I have raised the cornish-x, but they are not very good birds. Too lame and too sad. The kids called them the "fat biddies" -- not in a hurry because I am still looking for a good place to roost with the whole flock. I liked the area you are in, but it was no OK with the spouse!

I will always sing the praises of Naked Neck Turkens. I know some people don't like their looks, but they're the best dual-purpose bird I've raised and shrug off the AZ heat while other birds drop from heat stroke. Some of my boys reach 9 lbs, and some of my girls reach 6 lbs. And, because they have 50% fewer feathers than other breeds, they're much quicker and easier to process. And SUPER friendly.

I breed mine in two flocks - one group of "meat" birds and one group of "egg layers", which lay every color of egg from white to brown to blue to green.

Here's one of my recent favorites:

 

[Parront]

I will always sing the praises of Naked Neck Turkens. I know some people don't like their looks, but they're the best dual-purpose bird I've raised and shrug off the AZ heat while other birds drop from heat stroke. Some of my boys reach 9 lbs, and some of my girls reach 6 lbs. And, because they have 50% fewer feathers than other breeds, they're much quicker and easier to process. And SUPER friendly.

I breed mine in two flocks - one group of "meat" birds and one group of "egg layers", which lay every color of egg from white to brown to blue to green.

Here's one of my recent favorites:
View attachment 1117678

That is a very colorful bird!
Looks are not what you taste. Most people don't even eat the skin any more. I eat the skin, and boil the necks (and feet if I can get them) into an excellent soup. Store birds do not make very good soup, no flavor. I just made some yesterday, and had to add chicken bouillon cubes to make it "taste like chicken". When we get settled I am very interested in your birds!