Arizona Chickens

[nicollee]

I've dug through the archives and finding it impossible to find answers to my question.. since this is AZ, we have major heat, do you guys move your broodies? I can move her to her own coop with her own run, but then I don't know how that will affect her being away from her flock mates. if I put her low inside the coop where she is now, I have the danger of others getting in her nest box and breaking the eggs, "can you tell I am a worry wort nervous chicken owner?"

Keep an eye on the heat and humidity, The hen should keep humidity right, but about two years ago, I had shrink wrapped chicks because it was so hot and dry.... Last time I transferred the broody to a dog crate inside the house.... It was much better.

 

[starri33]

Keep an eye on the heat and humidity, The hen should keep humidity right, but about two years ago, I had shrink wrapped chicks because it was so hot and dry.... Last time I transferred the broody to a dog crate inside the house.... It was much better.

I might have to move her just to make sure her eggs don't get broke, went out this morning to make sure everyone was ok, found her out in the yard, the nest box had been taken over, at one point and time I had 3 hens piled up in it..lol. 16 hens of laying age and 6 nest boxes, you'd think that they could find a box for themselves. We're not getting miserable here yet.. Thankfully.

 

[Michelle Guynn]

I always put my broody in her own pen in a cool dark place. I will take her out once a day to poo stretch and sun bathe. Mine are all house chickens until we get moved. HOA and Glendale aren’t nice to chicken people.

 

[starri33]

I haven't gotten a good picture of her yet, but does anyone know if Easter Eggers grow feathers similar to what a polish would look like? I've got what is suppose to be a easter egger who has feathers on the top of her head that looks almost like a mohawk.

 

[BlueBaby]

I haven't gotten a good picture of her yet, but does anyone know if Easter Eggers grow feathers similar to what a polish would look like? I've got what is suppose to be a easter egger who has feathers on the top of her head that looks almost like a mohawk.

It might be a mix with the Crested Cream Legbar.

 

[starri33]

bought it at TSC, so I am not surprised that it might be a mix.. not sure I like how they are doing their chick days now, your birds can be anywhere from a day old up to 4 weeks, they've lowered their must buy from 6 to 4. A lot of the chicks I know were more towards the 4 week than 1 to 2 days, I might start getting mine from a hatchery or only buy a few to add fresh blood to my flock, we've got Stockton Hill Feed that I will check out next "chick season"

 

[BlueBaby]

bought it at TSC, so I am not surprised that it might be a mix.. not sure I like how they are doing their chick days now, your birds can be anywhere from a day old up to 4 weeks, they've lowered their must buy from 6 to 4. A lot of the chicks I know were more towards the 4 week than 1 to 2 days, I might start getting mine from a hatchery or only buy a few to add fresh blood to my flock, we've got Stockton Hill Feed that I will check out next "chick season"

I'm pretty sure that places like TSC and feed stores get their chick's through hatcheries. When you buy chick's from those places, you can ask where they get their's from. I know that Chitwood's over here get's their chick's from a hatchery. The owner of the store told me that if I had breed's like those auto-sexing or sex-link's where you can tell what sex they are at hatch that I could start selling her some local sexed pullet's that way.

Edit:
I didn't do as she asked, because that would mean having to hatch out big time, and kill all of the boy's after each hatch. I don't have anyone set up that would want nothing but the cockerels. I just don't feel like having to cull that many boy's at once.

 

[cactusrota]

TSC's in Arizona used to get their chicks from Privett hatchery in NM. Not sure if they still do. If you order chicks off their website they get them from Hoover I think. Alot of smaller feed stores get their chicks from McMurray.
Easter Eggers are mixed breed birds anyway. They are not APA recognised or even have a standard. Its generally just a bird with some Ameraucana in its parentage that has the potential to lay any color egg.

 

[NanaOfZanitas]

How old?

Ya know, I was trying to figure that out. I paid cash for them, and they were like *maybe* a week old at that point, so I couldn't look them up in my bank records. I *thought* I posted to Facebook, but I can't find any posts before the new babies. I didn't start my account here until after the first of May, and I am pretty sure I had them before my husband was in a car accident on April 1st. (No one was hurt, just the cars.)

If not, then it was JUST after that, but I'm pretty sure it was just before because I remember paying with a $10 I had in my wallet (stashed for emergencies) which means we were probably waiting for his SSI on the 3rd to have money in the bank! *laughs* My mind works in odd ways, but my best guess is they were bought about the 26th-27th of April and was told they were less than a week old, I believe the guy said 3-4 days...
So, just over 8 weeks?

So, I watched that video someone posted and one point she made was at this age, the pointy tail feathers vs. the rounded ones... Hubby is right, "Henrietta" is now "Henry." LOL - Fryer Tuck has some competition. That means I have 2 boys and 2 girls outside, and 2 girls still in the brooder (Blondie and Beebe, which I got on mother's day and were 4 and 2 days respectively.)

@NanaOfZanitas I agree with @cactusrota That chick looks to be still young and a roo. I imagine vents look the same male or female - I've never tried looking closely at them when trying to sex a chicken.

 

[BlueBaby]

@NanaOfZanitas I'm glad that video helped you. I have it bookmarked, so it was easy for me to find it to post.