Arizona Chickens

[springvalley123]

It's going to be hovering around 110F today and the next several days!
Hope everyone is staying cool and able to keep their chickens cool.

Kinda glad I don't have my chickens yet... but it sure puts a kink in my attempts to finish preparations outside.

My younger pullets are doing really well. The adults are doing OK still with puddles and the mister. You certainly have to work around the heat. I had to replace a tarp on my hens' enclosure but had to do it very early in the morning because of the wind.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I had to replace a tarp on my hens' enclosure but had to do it very early in the morning because of the wind.

I was just looking at shade cloths but the wind is such a bear! I've been considering draping shade cloth over my run and securing it with auger anchors. Has anyone tried that? I def don't want to attach the cloth to my run and have the wind carry away the whole run.

 

[azurbanclucker]

I was just looking at shade cloths but the wind is such a bear! I've been considering draping shade cloth over my run and securing it with auger anchors. Has anyone tried that? I def don't want to attach the cloth to my run and have the wind carry away the whole run.

That would have to be some fierce wind. You can also cut some wind slits in your cover.

 

[Happy Novogens]

That would have to be some fierce wind. You can also cut some wind slits in your cover.

My run is pretty light. I'm still putting hardware mesh on, but this is it. I can lift half of it off the ground myself just by pushing it up from the roof. Slits are a good idea for sure.

 

[azurbanclucker]

My run is pretty light. I'm still putting hardware mesh on, but this is it. I can lift half of it off the ground myself just by pushing it up from the roof. Slits are a good idea for sure.

Tie some cinder blocks to it to help hold it down. Or big rocks, or really whatever you have handy.

 

[Happy Novogens]

So long as I don't have a shade cloth attached to it, there's nothing the wind can catch to move it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to put some blocks down anyway.

We had a steel/tarp shade structure from Costco for a vehicle. We put 6 concrete footers down to hold it. A wind storm ripped the footers right out of the ground. The wind we get west of Buckeye seems more frequent and fierce than when we were more in town. That's why I don't want to attach anything to the run itself that can catch the wind.

 

[springvalley123]

So long as I don't have a shade cloth attached to it, there's nothing the wind can catch to move it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to put some blocks down anyway.

We had a steel/tarp shade structure from Costco for a vehicle. We put 6 concrete footers down to hold it. A wind storm ripped the footers right out of the ground. The wind we get west of Buckeye seems more frequent and fierce than when we were more in town. That's why I don't want to attach anything to the run itself that can catch the wind.

Maybe you could attach the shade cloth to a really tall t-post? I'd guess you're going to double up the shade cloth to provide some protection from the sun.
I had some shatex brand shade cloth with grommets. I cursed it when it ripped during a wind storm. Then I saw that one of those big huge freeway signs, had its signposts curved about 45 degrees by that wind!

 

[CaroleW]

Anymore I hold the entire 'chicken tractor' down with parachute cord looped over top of the structure and thru cinder blocks. I can't get screw anchors (I think they are dog- tie out anchors) to go into my hard dry ground. So the concrete blocks work for me and I can still move the 'chicken tractor' around if I want to. The structure is independant of the concrete block tie down in my setup.

The wind is very powerful and there can be a micro burst anytime even when there is absolutely no wind before or after. I've had my favorite hen trapped for hours during a storm because the chicken tractor blew onto her leg (she survived but I learned).

 

[NuggetMama]

So my little mister has e.coli and a compromised immune system. There are chances he will continue getting ill @BlueBaby I wanted to update you since you know what is going on

 

[Stacaroni]

I bought a very nice tarp at tsc. When we tried to put it up, it nearly lifted me (and my considerable derriere) off the ground. So... The knuckleheads currently have a tree and a couple of lean to pallets for shade. I'm trying to work up the intestinal fortitude to cut slits in the tarp.