Arizona Chickens

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“People who count their chickens before they are hatched, act very wisely, because chickens run about so absurdly that it is impossible to count them accurately” Oscar Wilde

That used to be in my sig line. Very true, eh?

lol i love oscar wilde!
 
I think I have made the choice to get rid of several groups of chickens. I have decided not to keep the White Crested Black Polish, Buff Laced Polish, Gold Laced Polish, Silver Laced Polish, the Frizzles (I am keeping only the reds), the Buff Orpingtons, the Houdans. Im also getting rid of about 30 wyandotte Chicks/Juveniles. A buff silkie, a handful of silkie chicks. A family member is picking them up and taking them back for the kids in their community that are in 4H and dont have chickens to show. Any of the remaining chickens that arent used for the kids for 4H, I will offer for sale to anyone here before putting them up on Craigslist. Some have just started to lay and all except the wyandotte chicks/juveniles will be laying very very soon. I have chickens coming out my ears and I would really like to focus on only a few breeds of chickens instead of having a zoo of chickens.

I will only be keeping Phoenix, FBCM and GCM, Cuckoo Marans, Americanas, WCBBlue Polish, SLW, German Appenzeller Spitzhauben, Silkies and Red Frizzles. I want to add White Faced Black Spanish and Salmon Faverolles.
 
Hi all! I just joined BYC. I live in Rio Rico, way down south. I have 5 little girls, 3 chickens (1 mutt, 1 silky hen, 1 silky rooster), and 4 chicks (1 coco maran, 1 polish, and 2 americaunas). We are figuring it out as we go, and it's time for a BYC intervention. LOL!! We've recently lost 3 chickens to coyotes and our coop is a little redneck. That's what happens when you don't really know anything about chickens and make a coop without any plans. Oh well! That's why I'm here.
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5pinkarrows--Welcome to BYC and our AZ thread! Sorry to hear about your losses.
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You've come to the right place to educate yourself about raising chickens.
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My BYC page has some ideas for keeping critters out--your run should be covered and structured to keep things from digging under. Unfortunately, you are likely to be regularly visited by a host of animals in Rio Rico, you have so much open wilderness around you. Good luck!
 
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!!!!!!! great to meet you! Our family built our own coop as well, but we also have a huge airedale terrier to protect us and the chooks from the coyotes.
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about the chickens you lost! This website really grows on you... within a year i guarantee that you will know 20 times the amount of chicken stuff than you did before!
What colors are your silkies? I have a few silkies (okay.. 5 out of my 6 birds are silkies! I LOOOOOOVE them!) and i always enjoy hearing other people talking about their silkies!
 
So I am finding that it takes quite a bit of effort to raise these chickens that are so darn addicting! I have 15, really don't have coop and run space for more, but have the yard space for more. I don't have the time for more, I already run my twin daughters' Daisy Troop, volunteer in both their classrooms, have a son in preschool, try to find time to sew(right now my hubby calls it a very $$$$$$ paperweight). But next year I want to raise a few turkeys for the holidays(yes, I want to eat them). I am very sensitive to msg and food additives and need meat that is not enhanced in any way. Does anyone locally have any turkeys for this year that are almost ready to go? I have a friend that would help me butcher. I just need to get one and I'm a little late in the game to start from scratch. So with all I have going on, I will do it next year myself, but just didn't think about it this year. Anyone have any leads?
 
Thanks for the welcome! The saddest part about the chickens we lost was that they weren't even in the coop. They were free ranging in the middle of the day RIGHT beside the house. We have had them over a year and always let them do this. There has never been an issue. 2 were getting into the garage, so my hubby stuck them in the back yard inside the fence earlier in the day. They were the only 2 that survived. A couple of weeks later, my daughter was trying to herd the two chickens into the coop from the backyard, and they wouldn't cooperate. I was in the middle of something, but told her they should be fine out there until I finished what I was working on. 20 minutes later, they were both gone. That time I was really upset. One was the rooster, and he was rotten so I wasn't upset about him. But the other was my fave hen! She is just a mix we got locally, but she's really nice and a great layer. She actually seems to like people. She is little and really fast, and I appreciated her spunk. So, I was super angry at that coyote and figured he must have been staking out our house to get them so quickly. Well, the next morning, my favorite hen (Candy Cane) was back in her coop! She is fast and a little flighty, so she must have gotten into a tree or something. She was a little traumatized, and lost all of the feathers on her belly and even some on her head. She was already pretty bald on the back from that rooster, so she looked terrible. But, I have never been so excited to see a chicken! Even with the loneliness and trauma, she still layed an egg every day. To keep her company, we got a hen and rooster from a friend that was looking for a home for them. They are beautiful white silkies, and we just love them! Our first rooster was the meanest creature I have ever met. He was a mutt and attacked me and the children regularly. I still have a scar on my knee from him. So, this sweet little docile silky hen has been such a blessing! Candy Cane likes her new friends even though the silky hen usually eats her eggs. Her feathers are coming in nicely, except the ones on her wing tips where the rooster plucked them mercilessly. We are just waiting for the chicks to get big enough to put them all together. The 3 we have are pretty small, so I hope it won't be much longer. The chicks are only about a month old, but the Americaunas are supposed to get pretty big, right? I am looking forward to learning from the wealth of knowledge here!
 
Okay, Ive figured out what I will not be keeping. They are available to purchase. If anyone here wants any of them, I will give preference to BYC'ers. Please Contact me privately to work something out. I am only open to trades of Marans chicks or pullets or a working incubator. I come to the Mesa area weekly and would be happy to save anyone thats serious the trip.

Gold Laced Polish (7 months old) 6 Hens, 1 Roo
Silver Laced Polish (7 months old) 4 Hens, 1 Roo
White Crested Black Polish (7 months old) 4 Hens, 1 Roo
Mottled Houdans (7 months old) 4 Hens, 1 Roo (Flighty)
Silver Laced Wyandotte Chicks/Juveniles (age between 2 weeks and 10 weeks) 10 available
Silkies (age between 2 weeks and 4 weeks) total of 7 available
Red Frizzles (7 months old) 3 Hens, 1 Roo
Buff Silkie rooster (8 months old) Friendly
Buff Orpingtons 5 hens (2 are 7months old, 3 are 6 months old).
 
Quote:
^ understament of the year. It aint just cool, its FREEZING!

I hear ya Tanichca. I don't like to be cold, so I pefer the 80's and low 90's.

However, my hens must like this weather, I got 9 eggs today, which is the most I have gotten in a few months
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Angie
 

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