Arizona Chickens

[meetthebubus]

A dust storm just started hitting me over here.

All the storms are passing me just north of me

 

[FeatherPugs]

@Geranium Many people have many different opinions on this. I personally like to feed medicated crumbles for a few months. Some like to feed 16 weeks and some just a few weeks or a month. Cocci is the reason for medicated feed. If you have a dry, dry area and it doesn't get very wet then you can probably get by with one bag. I don't remember how many chicks you are getting so you can decide how long. My personal opinion is 3 weeks is too short and 3 months might be too long.
On another thought we just got big wind - lots of wind - not especially high mph type but lots of wind followed by lots of rolling thunder and some rain. I don't know how much we will ultimately get but I'll keep watching as I buttoned down my chickies so they wouldn't get wet and it is still kinda hot and humid out there.

 

[BlueBaby]

All the storms are passing me just north of me

You'll probably get some. It seem's to be coming up from the south of me.

 

[Geranium]

Not to go against things but to put out another opinion I don't like medicated feed, I liked dumor chick starter or Purina bc of the crumble consistency I didn't like manna pro starter it was too big of a crumble

Otherwise I'd still be careful of dumor I know layer feed dumor is poor in many ways

Also starter/grower is for 16 weeks, not 6

Sorry, I was talking in terms of the medicated chick starter. My understanding was to use that for 5ish weeks, then switch to grower feed until 16 weeks, then layer feed.

Why not medicated feed? I'm just terrified of screwing up and the chicks dying.

 

[BlueBaby]

Sorry, I was talking in terms of the medicated chick starter. My understanding was to use that for 5ish weeks, then switch to grower feed until 16 weeks, then layer feed.

Why not medicated feed? I'm just terrified of screwing up and the chicks dying.

I'm a hatch-a-holic and I'm always hatching chicks out. I start mine out on the medicated chick feed, and I don't have chick's dropping dead left and right. Mine are healthy, so don't worry about feeding it to yours.

 

[Geranium]

@Geranium Many people have many different opinions on this. I personally like to feed medicated crumbles for a few months. Some like to feed 16 weeks and some just a few weeks or a month. Cocci is the reason for medicated feed. If you have a dry, dry area and it doesn't get very wet then you can probably get by with one bag. I don't remember how many chicks you are getting so you can decide how long. My personal opinion is 3 weeks is too short and 3 months might be too long.
On another thought we just got big wind - lots of wind - not especially high mph type but lots of wind followed by lots of rolling thunder and some rain. I don't know how much we will ultimately get but I'll keep watching as I buttoned down my chickies so they wouldn't get wet and it is still kinda hot and humid out there.

I'm getting 9 chicks, and i'm in Tucson. They're shipping September 10th, so it will be fairly dry by the time they're in the coop in October.

 

[SonoranChick]

I'm getting 9 chicks, and i'm in Tucson. They're shipping September 10th, so it will be fairly dry by the time they're in the coop in October.

That is a nice time of year to be moving them out to the coop. I was a teacher when I put my order in, and had them delivered the first week of June (when my summer break began). It meant that six weeks later, they were moving out to the coop mid-July. I would not do that again. They all survived, but it was horribly hot and we got the monsoons. I spent that entire summer outside with them, just to make sure they were doing okay!

 

[igorsMistress]

@Geranium

Your chicks can get natural immunity from a plug of sod from your own yard just as they would if they were broody raised. Also a pan of dirt for dust baths is helpful for this.

I started my chicks on Bar Ale chick starter, never medicated, and they're still on it at a year and a half old. I give oyster shell on the side. Layers are the only chickens that need the higher calcium.

 

[Geranium]

That is a nice time of year to be moving them out to the coop. I was a teacher when I put my order in, and had them delivered the first week of June (when my summer break began). It meant that six weeks later, they were moving out to the coop mid-July. I would not do that again. They all survived, but it was horribly hot and we got the monsoons. I spent that entire summer outside with them, just to make sure they were doing okay!

That was my hope, that by the time they were ready to go to the coop, the worst of the heat would be over, but they will still have plenty of time to feather out before winter comes.

 

[Geranium]

@Geranium

Your chicks can get natural immunity from a plug of sod from your own yard just as they would if they were broody raised. Also a pan of dirt for dust baths is helpful for this.

I started my chicks on Bar Ale chick starter, never medicated, and they're still on it at a year and a half old. I give oyster shell on the side. Layers are the only chickens that need the higher calcium.

Good to know about the dust baths! We have zero sod - only hard, sandy desert dirt.