Sorry to hear about having to leave Arizona. I'd suggest Yuma which is at sea level but gather the excess heat would be a bit much. Best of luck with your move and your future projects.
Arizona Chickens
- Thread starter paynemom
- Start date
I thought of Yuma, but mom could not handle the heat, she is not handling 80 degrees after the surgery let alone the heat of Yuma. I hope to be left with around 30-35 chickens to move, which is afar cry from the 275 I have now. And I have the incubators full. I'm sorry to have to sell off some of these, the Dark Brahma hatched in April and are almost twice the size of hatchery stock light brahmas. heck the roo is pushing 11 pounds easy and he is just now starting to realize he is a boy
I moved my 4 chick's outside to the grow out pen before dark last night. They are a month old now and were getting too rambunctious in the brooder. I went out to check on them and the flock several time's today, and the chick's seem to be adjusting ok.
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For those of you who live with ground squirrels, did you do anything special to prepare the ground underneath your coop? We have a LOT of burrowing ground squirrels here and we're wondering how best to prevent them from burrowing into the coop and feasting on eggs and chicken feed.
This is an older thread but it is about what you just asked about:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/big-problem-with-ground-squirrels.1150095/
That was a good read, thanks! If you put wire mesh (I'm thinking 1/4" hardware cloth...?) in the bottom of your coup where the hens can walk on it, doesn't that cause bumble foot?
How far down should the wire mesh be buried so it doesn't cause any problems with hens walking, scratching, digging, taking dust baths?
How far down should the wire mesh be buried so it doesn't cause any problems with hens walking, scratching, digging, taking dust baths?
I had pocket gophers, and had someone come out and deposit bait deep into the ground where the gophers could get it but the chickens could not. Previously (other place) I had a squirrel chew through the extension cord for my brooder, so I sprayed repellent on that. That worked. It's a mix of essential oils of cinnamon, oregano, peppermint & cedar. I periodically sprayed the repellent on things like my garden and a perimeter around the coop. I also reinforced areas of ground with hardware cloth and cement mix. That ground was solid rock with few spots of dirt--a backhoe couldn't get through it though. I like the thread that bluebaby pointed out--I'd look into the 30" up coop idea. It might be a reach in coop, not a walk in coop though. The hardware cloth, I'd be careful putting that in the coop because I'd be afraid a chicken would hurt their foot when they scratched around the ground in the coop. If you put plywood on top of the hardware cloth I'd worry that the hardware cloth would eventually corrode/get a gap, and you'd never see it under the plywood.
I think that maybe burying it about 3 feet deep might be ok, and then pile whatever you used for bedding and dust bathing over the top? Maybe the chicken's won't dig 3 feet down?
I hadn't even thought of a reach-in coop. So the entire coop is off the ground, hen house and run both? Don't chickens need dirt to scratch in? What kind of flooring do you use in those?
In reality,,, your hens will scratch in your run area,,,,,, not soo much inside coop. I recommend walkin coop 500%,,.
I also would not be overly concerned with the ground squirrels. Doubt, they are after eggs,,, and chicken feed,,, well if they are hungry,, that would serve most animals.
Feed your chickens inside run area,, and remove feed for the night and secure inside metal containers. You can also empty out the water containers for the night. This discourages night time wanderers from making a drink stop, knowing water is usually there. They still will find water, but not in your coop/run area.
I suggest you look into a perimeter HC apron buried shallow around coop.
If you do encounter severe digging ,, you can see the openings. Easy solution,, is to flood those chambers. Capture the escaping squirrels and relocate 3 miles away.
Caveman not in favor of killing anything.
I also would not be overly concerned with the ground squirrels. Doubt, they are after eggs,,, and chicken feed,,, well if they are hungry,, that would serve most animals.
Feed your chickens inside run area,, and remove feed for the night and secure inside metal containers. You can also empty out the water containers for the night. This discourages night time wanderers from making a drink stop, knowing water is usually there. They still will find water, but not in your coop/run area.
I suggest you look into a perimeter HC apron buried shallow around coop.
If you do encounter severe digging ,, you can see the openings. Easy solution,, is to flood those chambers. Capture the escaping squirrels and relocate 3 miles away.
Caveman not in favor of killing anything.
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