Arizona Chickens

[Bobby Basham]

Thanks, I'll give them a try when I get enough courage to drive to Tucson. I'm new here and when I drove in the traffic on the freeway was horrendous, and it was the middle of the night. Is it usually that bad through the tunnel?

Google all the feed stores you can find in and around Tucson and see what they have, and find one that's most convenient driving distance for you. OK Feeds was less than a 20-minute commute for me and had what I needed.

 

[MagicChicken]

Thanks, I'll give them a try when I get enough courage to drive to Tucson. I'm new here and when I drove in the traffic on the freeway was horrendous, and it was the middle of the night. Is it usually that bad through the tunnel?

Tunnel? In Tucson? I drive all over this town and have yet to go through a tunnel. Underpasses, sure, but no tunnels. Have I missed something?

 

[Diannastarr]

I love all the videos you post I was thinking of doing something similar with their big giant box...maybe instead of dividers just put some natural items in there like wood stumps and blocks so, they can kind of create their own spot. I have a feeling I will be having some nest box drama while they are still new layers, but hopefully everyone figures it out soon. I'm also wondering if this could have something to do with them being all different breeds? Probably not but the ones who don't have big combs are going for blood on my poor leghorns. The leghorns have no problem standing up for themselves but I'd rather not feel like an extra on the movie Fight Club every time I go in the coop lol...Yesterday was much better though, with the dividers removed. I'll keep you posted!

yes i can understand how you feel but as they get older they should calm down..? i have several different breeds in my flock of 75, and i picked them firstly for temperament then laying ability , and mine do try to get into the nest boxes 2 at a time, but i noticed the hens who do that seem to be friends , but this does go on at certain times of the day and our nest box room , which is a covered open air room that i air cool all summer long with an evaporator cooler and at times it does look like a waiting room with standing room only and the hens are standing in line for each of the favorite boxes 2 & 3 deep, but not much fighting, thank goodness for that , but around that same time of day when every one is standing on line i usually feed their scratch that i have fermented & toss in some hi protein feed in with it , and feed it as wet feed like almost like cooked oatmeal in dishes in the barn yard , and that seems to quite things down , so by 5 pm all my hens have laid their eggs, and i noticed that the boxes that were in hi demand do change from time to time ..? i dont know why and some of their favorite boxes have become completely abandon...? but if you are having a lot of fighting i would rearrange the nest boxes and see if that wont help or try feeding scratch when its becoming to crowded..? good luck but im sure your flock will get better with time & with a few good moves on your part..! SO GOOD LUCK...!!!

 

[Diannastarr]

I did go to Jem's on the way in for propane in my RV, they were open when other's weren't. Also the price wasn't bad. Can't remember what it was, but cheaper than in Washington. I've paid $50 to gas up on the Olympic Peninsula. Can't believe the gas prices here! Its close to $3 a gallon in WA now. I will go to Jem's when I'm out that way, I've been wanting to try sprouting my fodder. Miller's is a small place, and I think they only sell Nutrena which is the same brand as at Ace. I like the gamebird feed they sell at the Tractor Feed in Washington but you can't get it in AZ I am looking for someone that carries Mazuri Waterfowl starter. I have to have it shipped now. I'm thinking of going to the Artwalk on Saturday in downtown. I went to the Farmer's Market the past weekend and enjoyed myself. Much slower pace here.

hi again , i wounder if you called your nearest Tractor , and ask them to order for you that feed you want , and by the way why do you like that feed ..? i was looking for a better choice in feed lately & it sounds very interesting indeed..! it must have more protein then..???? but yes JEMS does have the sprouting seed and good prices & thats the only place i think that has sprouting seeds ..!

 

[Diannastarr]

Thanks, I'll give them a try when I get enough courage to drive to Tucson. I'm new here and when I drove in the traffic on the freeway was horrendous, and it was the middle of the night. Is it usually that bad through the tunnel?

i dont like driving to Tucson and i have lived here for 30 years...lol. so your not the only one.. HA ...lol..l

 

[BlueBaby]

RIGHT ON...!!! thats been my goal for years now..! is breeding the most heat tolarent chicken ever, so i can truthfully say the australorps i have had for years , are not heat tolarent at all...!!! my first aussies were not hatchery stock, but i stared out by looking for & bbuying the best top show quality australorps from the famous hupp line in ducan AZ and those were a bit better in the heat , compared to the next 18 hatchery hens i got later on, for my egg business . they are good layers & very nice birds, hands down..! but they can never be called heat tolerant ever..!! i read that aussies were being called a heat tolarent breed on line, when i was first looking for the breed i was going to start with, the best heat tolarent breed, so i have to say that statement was so totally Wong & sadly as bluebaby can tell you she lost 2 hens to the heat very sad indeed, and its all i can do to keep my aussies cool & from dying on the nest from the heat in AZ , so im hoping the NN are the best heat tolarent bird, plus i dont know much about the size & amount of eggs the NN lays ..? i read different things on line. but logic says to create a light color bird , black is the worst color plus black attracts heat, so a light color bid is logically much better, if you are still into aussies x NN i would go for the lightest coloring in the aussies , and the NN & if its possible to find white or splash NN , if it were me i would start out with white or splash breeding stock , because some day some one will perfect the best heat tolarent chicken & i believe its going to come from the lightest color or white birds or at least a splash pare. im thinking of trying the white leg horn x NN cross and see what comes from that..? big eggs and a lot of eggs is what i would expect from that cross , plus its said of the white leg horn they are ok in the heat to , & pick the lightest color chicks to grow light coloring in the chicks , i wish you all the best of lucjk..!!!! good luck.

Dianna, I got to thinking about this. You were talking about using the lighter colors of the Australorp's in the breeding with the Naked Necks, and leaving out the blacks. That idea would be fine, as long as you don't care for having any of the good feather lacing color in your blues. The feather lacing in the blues will fade in the future generations, without adding the blacks to help to keep it going. And you also might want to breed for all splash, but without the blue, you would also loose the splash coloring in future generations, and end up with just a plain white bird.

 

[igorsMistress]

Thanks, I'll give them a try when I get enough courage to drive to Tucson. I'm new here and when I drove in the traffic on the freeway was horrendous, and it was the middle of the night. Is it usually that bad through the tunnel?

It's been a while, but I cut my teeth on L.A. traffic and the people here are worse. Gotta stop there or I'll post a 10 page dissertation on the repugnant nature of humanity

 

[Bobby Basham]

i dont like driving to Tucson and i have lived here for 30 years...lol. so your not the only one.. HA ...lol..l

That's the exact reason why I sold my practically new Harley Davidson Lowrider when moving here from Pennsylvania.

I might be a light cocoa-bean brown (LOL), but I'm still white-knuckled driving around here.

 

[RainForestBird]

It's been a while, but I cut my teeth on L.A. traffic and the people here are worse. Gotta stop there or I'll post a 10 page dissertation on the repugnant nature of humanity

I compare the I10 going through Tucson to the I5 going through Seattle. Especially that gawdawful tunnel. I think that people are aggressive everywhere, especially around big cities. I thought it would be different here in the Southwest, but apparently not.

 

[Diannastarr]

Dianna, I got to thinking about this. You were talking about using the lighter colors of the Australorp's in the breeding with the Naked Necks, and leaving out the blacks. That idea would be fine, as long as you don't care for having any of the good feather lacing color in your blues. The feather lacing in the blues will fade in the future generations, without adding the blacks to help to keep it going. And you also might want to breed for all splash, but without the blue, you would also loose the splash coloring in future generations, and end up with just a plain white bird.

yes your are right about that , exactly...!!! but at this point im more concerned with the heat tolerance of the birds , so if color must be sacrificed , then i guess that will happen ,i can add color at any point , but color is not important to me as long as a heat resistant bird can be accomplished, color is more important for showing and that's never been my goal . i want my birds to live a good productive healthy long life, in this hot clime no-matter what color they may end up being . thats why im looking into more heat tolerant breeds , firstly i want an NN roo as light a color i can get , like a NN splash would be good x over a white leg horn hen, but better yet im thinking that an astra white hen ,would bring me closer to my goal in the long run , so if you could tell me what you didn't like about the AW's..? you hatched, since im thinking at least the AW have some aussie blood in them which will give them a much better temperament and make great layers of many ex large light brown eggs , what did you think of the pare of AW's you had...? let me know thanks