Arizona Chickens

[FeatherPugs]

I hope they turn out to be the yellow butterfies. I was thinking that they were going to be those big brown moths. Those are terrible at night, and are drawn to light. You can't even open your door at night to let fresh air in if it's cool enough with those thing's around!

They are for a moth, unfortunately, they are some kind of spinx catepillar, I can't find the FB article that told exactly about them BUT they are moving looking for soft ground (fields) so they can burrow down, make their crysillas (sp) and then blossom to a moth later. We're already getting some of those yellow butterflies here.

 

[cavemanrich]

I'll have to stop looking at these things or I'll have nightmares tonight lol

If you have an apple tree in your back yard and you hear a voice....... resist eating the apple..
Oh wait... that was only for Eve.

 

[BYCforlife]

If you have an apple tree in your back yard and you hear a voice....... resist eating the apple..
Oh wait... that was only for Eve.

Lol! Mine are calling too. They aren't ready yet, though.

 

[DesertChic]

Is there not a way to hatch only one sex or the other. I know in reptiles you can.

Nope....but if you ever figure out how to control the hatch, you'll make a fortune off of the discovery. That said, I am notoriously "skilled" at hatching more males than females as a general rule. One of my hatches produced 9 males and only 3 females. We at exceptionally well after that hatch.

 

[DesertChic]

I guess that would leave out chicks hatched in Phoenix! It might be the opposite, since DesertChick only has females!

LOL! My Biel/NN crosses are the only ones giving me all females so far. The rest of my hatches typically produce far more males than females.

 

[Parront]

LOL! My Biel/NN crosses are the only ones giving me all females so far. The rest of my hatches typically produce far more males than females.

Maybe it's the rooster! Lucky guy.

 

[DesertChic]

anyone know of a long, skinny pink snake, no rattle, with a black head and some spots on the body? i haven't been able to identify it on the internet closest i could come up with is coachwhip...

My guess is Red Racer. They're very common around here, not venomous to humans, but can become aggressive when harassed. Most of the time they just want to be left alone. They're great for controlling mice, but WILL eat chicks and eggs too.

There's also a much smaller, skinny Thread Snake that's pink and almost iridescent. If you ever come across one of these DO NOT kill it. They eat termites and can't even really bite humans.

 

[DesertChic]

Hey, has anyone else been seeing those greenish/yellow caterpillars that look like they have a horn or something on the tail end of them? They have been so thick here for about the past 2 weeks. You can barely walk anywhere in the yard without stepping on some. They are all over the weeds. My chickens have been going nuts over them, like it's some gourmet meal!

Yes, those are Green/Tomato Hornworms. They will devour your tomato plants and many other crops as well. There was a HUGE hatching of them this year thanks to all of the extra rain and wild Amaranth that grew as a result, another of their favorite food sources. My chickens love them, but you have to be careful not to feed the chickens too many of them as they can be toxic in large quantities or if they've eaten Sacred Datura.

 

[BlueBaby]

Yes, those are Green/Tomato Hornworms. They will devour your tomato plants and many other crops as well. There was a HUGE hatching of them this year thanks to all of the extra rain and wild Amaranth that grew as a result, another of their favorite food sources. My chickens love them, but you have to be careful not to feed the chickens too many of them as they can be toxic in large quantities or if they've eaten Sacred Datura.

Well whatever they were, it seems that I haven't been seeing them for a couple of days now. I seen a couple of dead ones in the front yard part of the driveway by the road, but the ants were having a picnic on them. I keep my chickens in the back yard, where I can keep an eye on them through the door.

 

[Michelle Guynn]