Arizona Chickens

[EmmaDonovan]

Despite the fact that it's going to be 104F here today winter is allegedly going to show up at some point.

This will be our flock's first winter. We're at about 2400 ft. elevation. Nighttime temps are in the 30s-40s with several nights about 24-28F. Two or three nights there's a light snow that melts the next day. Daytime snow is unusual but it happens sometimes (and everyone talks about it for weeks afterward).

Most of the people I know who have chickens around here don't do anything different for the winter. We will partially cover the coop windows so there's ventilation at the top but wind cannot blow directly on the hens. I might get a panel heater to use when temps are close to or below freezing.

What's winter like in your part of Arizona and what do you do for your flock?

 

[BenisonsChickns]

Who laid that beautiful blue egg?

It’s actually white, must be the lighting, that my white leghorns

 

[cavemanrich]

I might get a panel heater to use when temps are close to or below freezing.

Not necessary.
Just keep drafts off chickens.

 

[Meringue]

That is a great idea. Can you link to the A/C you use? Is it a small window unit?

Sorry, I don’t know the exact one now, but I think it was a smaller window unit—I want to say it was a Toshiba, and pretty much the tiniest one we could find. Our coop windows were still too small for it, so we actually had to frame out and cut a hole into the wall to fit.

It works well most of the time—during the worst days, we found that we had to remove the grill and give it a quick clean-up with the vacuum to keep it working well, given how much dust the coop generates.

 

[BenisonsChickns]

Does anyone have any input on this question. 3 of my chickens are still not laying eggs and their 27 weeks old, they look healthy and act just like the other girls

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I think we still have two or three who haven't started laying yet and they're 28 weeks old. One of our EEs just started laying at 26 weeks, much later than the other two EEs.

It's been very hot for a maddeningly long time this summer. It might be affecting them. If they seem healthy and happy they're probably fine. They're very pretty hens!

 

[cavemanrich]

Just wanted to share this with my Arizona friends.
The news article is from Chicago News source, but does include restaurants in other states.
Arizona being one with about 12 restaurants.
Rosati's is celebrating this coming Tuesday their 60 year anniversary.
Call and check nearest one to your location if they are participating.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

The temp dropped today as some clouds moved in. Thought we might get a bit of rain, but no. Very windy, though. Feels like fall and camping weather.

It's supposed to be in the 50s tonight. No ice trays or ice in the waterers tonight and we turned the fans off in the coop. The chickens are all blorped out and they're sleeping in a big cuddle pile again. We need to add wind breaks to the coop. We'll be back in the 90s in a few days, though.

How is the weather changing where you guys are? Have you made any coop adjustments for fall yet?

 

[BenisonsChickns]

The temp dropped today as some clouds moved in. Thought we might get a bit of rain, but no. Very windy, though. Feels like fall and camping weather.

It's supposed to be in the 50s tonight. No ice trays or ice in the waterers tonight and we turned the fans off in the coop. The chickens are all blorped out and they're sleeping in a big cuddle pile again. We need to add wind breaks to the coop. We'll be back in the 90s in a few days, though.

How is the weather changing where you guys are? Have you made any coop adjustments for fall yet?

The temp dropped today as some clouds moved in. Thought we might get a bit of rain, but no. Very windy, though. Feels like fall and camping weather.

It's supposed to be in the 50s tonight. No ice trays or ice in the waterers tonight and we turned the fans off in the coop. The chickens are all blorped out and they're sleeping in a big cuddle pile again. We need to add wind breaks to the coop. We'll be back in the 90s in a few days, though.

How is the weather changing where you guys are? Have you made any coop adjustments for fall yet?

Got just enough rain to make it feel cold here, birds seem pretty happy, my Rhode Island Red was wheezing today sounds maybe like stridor, hoping bc one tomorrow morning she’s back to normal. The garden didn’t fair well with the winds, I was at work and came home to downed sunflowers and jalapeño plants and a couple tomato plants broke one day of weird weather and the backyard went to chaos….. can we just get a few days in the 80’s please! Have planned any coop changes but maybe need to add some wind breaks since it’s an open coop design, any feedback or recommendations on that?

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Ours is relatively open, too. The back is hardware cloth and the doors are hardware cloth. It's great for summer, lots of air exchange, especially with the fans. I think we're just going to cover the hardware cloth with plywood, leaving a 3" gap at the top for air circulation. The tarps above it should keep off rain/snow. I'm open to ideas, though.