Arizona Chickens

[CaroleW]

OK, I turned the incubator off the other day, because if any eggs were going to hatch, they would have done so by now. There's still no movement in the full egg where I saw movement weeks ago. RIP, little Swappy. And tonight the eggs go out in the trash, because tomorrow is pickup day, and they're going on top. If they broke open, they'd probably smell.

Today the coop got Virkon-S'ed, and I installed a bright white and flashing red motion sensor light aimed at the coop. It should help scare off any predators, if it doesn't give the chickens heart failure first. The dogs were impressed when I tried it out indoors.

Yesterday I had to go to Flagstaff, and stopped off at Bookman's and bought a copy of Raising Chickens for Dummies. Been reading it. Lots of useful info there, too.

Question: All the little coops like this one don't have any mesh underneath so the chickens can scratch at the soil. Do predators tunnel under the side to get at the chickens?

Yes predators will tunnel - many people bury "hardware cloth" a couple feet down lined up with the wall. Another option I've seen is laying hardware cloth buried a bit but along the ground around the perimeter so predators would have to start digging a couple feet out to get to the wall or fence (or whatever your exterior perimeter is).

 

[BlueBaby]

OK, I turned the incubator off the other day, because if any eggs were going to hatch, they would have done so by now. There's still no movement in the full egg where I saw movement weeks ago. RIP, little Swappy. And tonight the eggs go out in the trash, because tomorrow is pickup day, and they're going on top. If they broke open, they'd probably smell.

Today the coop got Virkon-S'ed, and I installed a bright white and flashing red motion sensor light aimed at the coop. It should help scare off any predators, if it doesn't give the chickens heart failure first. The dogs were impressed when I tried it out indoors.

Yesterday I had to go to Flagstaff, and stopped off at Bookman's and bought a copy of Raising Chickens for Dummies. Been reading it. Lots of useful info there, too.

Question: All the little coops like this one don't have any mesh underneath so the chickens can scratch at the soil. Do predators tunnel under the side to get at the chickens?

Yes, some will dig on the outside, and chicken's dig on the inside taking the dust/dirt bath's. You will need the watch that.

 

[BlueBaby]

I'm coming up to Phoenix on Saturday, is there anyone who would like one of the Delaware males I have from Mcmurray? I was hoping they would be a heritage, but sadly now the truth is out and they are a hybrid. They are big birds and would definitely add size and meatieness to anyone's project. I don't need the 8 I ended up with

I hope that you will find someone that will take him in. I already have my 2 boy's for future breeding over here.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

Yes predators will tunnel - many people bury "hardware cloth" a couple feet down lined up with the wall. Another option I've seen is laying hardware cloth buried a bit but along the ground around the perimeter so predators would have to start digging a couple feet out to get to the wall or fence (or whatever your exterior perimeter is).

It'll have to be along the ground, it's so rocky here that digging is next to impossible. Petrified wood is everywhere, including some good sized logs. These are going to be the best prepped for chickens around. They'll need to say thank you with some eggs.

Just tested out the light by the coop, and it seems like it would intimidate some animals. Hopefully. The coyotes are getting pretty brave, and coming close to the house for sing-alongs. One of them and my male dog have been having a "P" war on a bush. (They take turns marking it.)

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Guess what!! My little self blue cochin is turning out to be a splash! I double checked the Privetts site, and they only had self blue for OEGB and D'Uccles, but only "blue" for cochins.. you can see some specks coming in. I am so excited!!!

 

[BlueBaby]

@CaroleW Has Roger won over the hen's heart's yet?

 

[EmmaDonovan]

The coyotes are getting pretty brave, and coming close to the house for sing-alongs. One of them and my male dog have been having a "P" war on a bush. (They take turns marking it.)

My dogs do that with the feral cats that come into the yard. The dogs find and dig up the cats' poop (and try to eat it!!! But we stop them), then they pee all over it. "Take that! This is our yard!"

 

[CaroleW]

@CaroleW Has Roger won over the hen's heart's yet?

He's gotten lucky a couple times that I've seen and he's not all over every hen all the time. He's a great lookout - heard him a few times with hawk/raven warnings. He has his job cut out for him though - last night I spotted one of the 2-3 owls that hunt our open field for rabbits (haven't really seen the owls for a couple months until now).

I was sitting in the run just before dusk yesterday and giving everyone treats, some were hopping on my lap and lucky Roger was on the edges of the group getting closer to me! I think he's figuring out he has a good spot here in the flock.

Roger's still pretty shy compared to meanie Turken NN Roo (who is no more, as of this morning). You are very right - Life's too short to put up with meanie roosters!

 

[CaroleW]

It'll have to be along the ground, it's so rocky here that digging is next to impossible. Petrified wood is everywhere, including some good sized logs. These are going to be the best prepped for chickens around. They'll need to say thank you with some eggs.

Just tested out the light by the coop, and it seems like it would intimidate some animals. Hopefully. The coyotes are getting pretty brave, and coming close to the house for sing-alongs. One of them and my male dog have been having a "P" war on a bush. (They take turns marking it.)

I used to have a coyote run down our property line when we first bought the place in Chino Valley 4 years ago.

I researched some things to keep my dogs safer that I can pass on to you -- "coyote rollers" or DIY version on top of your fence where you keep your dogs (or something to make fence hard to climb), 'predator eye' (solar battery blinky red light that mimics a predator's eye - may/may not work with coyote), various male predator urine formulas (you can find online, I always worry about this because I think it may attract a bigger predator until I get lion or tiger piss...LOL).

I only actually use the predator eye (goes by many names - many versions). I use it to deter skunks and hopefully the javelina that I just found out are closer than I thought.

 

[cavemanrich]

various male predator urine

Just invest in a bunch of this and party.

Spoiler: For both MALE and FEMALE