Arizona Chickens

[Hopeful homesteader]

The two older Dorkings, Dora and Mari, must have been spending too much time listening to the Leghorns clucking and crowing. They seem to think they're Leghorns, too. They're upping the egg production. It's been 2 days since I checked the nest box, and there were 4 eggs in it. And they have been on ant and bug patrol. Now if I can only convince them that flies are flying raisins....

Hopeful Homesteader, where are you? I'm in east central AZ, and the only one of the group out here.

I'm on the southeastern edge of Tucson

 

[Parront]

I have one duck that hunts flies. She snaps them right out of the air. My husband takes the fly swatter out by the ducks and smacks the flies on their food dish, and they all run up for treats! We threw them some June bugs, duck caviar!

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Welcome Hopeful homesteader - glad you joined us here in the Arizona group. Are you raising chickens more for eggs or also meat? Seems like you might have more than one cockerel but I'm no expert- I hope some are females for eggs if that is your goal.

Both eggs and meat. I hope it's only 1 male, it was kinda obvious when we first got them that this one was a cockerel cause he was bigger, always jumping on all the chicks backs, all the others would scatter when we open the coop but he'll stay and stare us down, and his feathers are a darker red with the stripe across the eye being much lighter than the girls.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

@Hopefulhomesteader The one in the first picture look's like a Cornish X to me, and I think male on that one.

The one in the last picture there also look's like a male.

Did you mean the Cornish may be male as well?

 

[Parront]

Both eggs and meat. I hope it's only 1 male, it was kinda obvious when we first got them that this one was a cockerel cause he was bigger, always jumping on all the chicks backs, all the others would scatter when we open the coop but he'll stay and stare us down, and his feathers are a darker red with the stripe across the eye being much lighter than the girls.

I think by 5 weeks old you would be able to tell if the others were male. The one in the last 2 photos is pretty easy to tell. It really doesn't matter if the Cornish-X is male or female, it is best to eat them young. It looks younger than that to me, mine were getting close to dinner sized by that age. Some are slow grow strains meant to dress at about 9-12 weeks.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

I'm on the southeastern edge of Tucson

Still nobody near me. Well, welcome anyway!

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

I think by 9 weeks old you would be able to tell if the others were male. The one in the last 2 photos is pretty easy to tell. It really doesn't matter if the Cornish-X is male or female, it is best to eat them young. It looks younger than 9 weeks to me, mine were dinner sized by that age.

That's true, the Cornish is starting to look pink on the combs and wattles today and I saw the sussex cockerel and the Cornish puff their chests and sort of charge each other than both dropped and crouched down before they reached each other so that kinda got me wondering. I won't be getting any Cornish again either way, it's not handling the heat at all and I'm constantly having to tend to it to keep it cool and wash it's bottom every day cause the poop gets stuck on that pooch and I don't want it to get an infection from that, it's definitely the spoiled one of the bunch lol the poor thing just looks miserable, I searched more info on it earlier and they just sort of always look half bald with terrible balance so I'm just trying to make it comfortable. Every time I go out there to check on then, that one runs to the door and jumps at me for snuggles and a wash, it's smart enough to let me know it's gonna poop by squawking and flapping it's wings so I hold it away from body and it goes then right back to snuggles, it's pretty funny.

 

[BlueBaby]

The two older Dorkings, Dora and Mari, must have been spending too much time listening to the Leghorns clucking and crowing. They seem to think they're Leghorns, too. They're upping the egg production. It's been 2 days since I checked the nest box, and there were 4 eggs in it. And they have been on ant and bug patrol. Now if I can only convince them that flies are flying raisins....

Hopeful Homesteader, where are you? I'm in east central AZ, and the only one of the group out here.

Maybe Dora and Mari want to be part of a flock again? Maybe you could catch a fly and see if they will eat it too?

 

[BlueBaby]

I just heard some distant thunder, and the wind and dust are starting to kick up now.

 

[Parront]

I just heard some distant thunder, and the wind and dust are starting to kick up now.

We had a nice rain, now the sun is back out. Just lovely weather for the ducks, the chickens have learned to run into their house when the rain starts!