Arizona Chickens

[xtremechickens]

Sorry I can't help ya with the covers but we have just been giving our chickens alot of fruit and cuting back on the layer a bit. It' so hot that I have had a few start to over heat We put misters up and they are working great.

O the dirt and dust has been horrible this year. Broke alot of tree's around here in Maricopa

.
I love the rain though.

 

[DM]

Here is something fun for everyone. I work with a guy who has chickens in Queen Creek. He bought a bunch of them, made a large chicken coop with run for he had plenty of room on his 3 acres, even bought a few ducks and made a little pond in with the chickens. I only bought my 3 next to his huge flock but we exchange fun stories about our chickens experiences anyway.

Today at work he told me he saved a chick. Apparently it was face down in the water, limp, eyes clothes not breathing....so he punched it hard on the chest just to see and water came out. He kept punching it till the water stopped coming out and the chick started to breath. he flapped the chicks wings a little and set it down to dry out and just let it be. When he checked on it by the end of the day it was running around.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

I have been feeding my kids more fruit and veggies, I stopped giving them scratch, as the corn creates heat, as you said it is really hot now. I also run a mister. I only turn it on when the temp. gets to 110. I think that the water in the pen is what brought on the mites? Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I make sure I let the pen dry out. It doesn't take very long in this heat. My hottest was 118 that lasted about a week in tonopah, so I ran it each day, all day. That is about the time the mites showed up. The feed stores couldn't keep the dust in stock

 

[xtremechickens]

Quote:
Sounds just like us...

SO HOT...ugh but the misters help, but downfall you do get mits and flys. We have been dusting everyweek and then puting the DE in the coops at night. My one roo just about picked all his feathers out in one day. I told my husband there is something wrong with LJ so sure enough mits

I hate thoughs lil things. But the DE helps alot. Good luck!!!!

 

[Nikki28]

I give my chickens a pool with some ice chunks in it..They don't go in voluntarily but they do chase each other through it and it seems to help. I also made a covered area with some tarp for extra shade and put veggies and berries in the fridge to give as treats. Mind you it doesn't get as hot here in Prescott as it does other places in AZ.

 

[Bosque]

Im on the northwest side. I am using frozen water bottles in pine shavings as an insulator. Also, I wet the soil before I go to work. My run is built under a big palo verde tree and mesquite tree which helps out a lot. I also built a hiding place that is a cave sort of thing what they can go into if they need to. I am a new chicken owner, but things seem to be going OK so far.

 

[rufus]

OK, about those mites on the chickens, we used to put the ashes from the wood stove out in the chicken yard for them to dust bathe in. It keeps the mites and lice down.

Just make sure the ashes are totally cool and dead.

Chickens also like to peck on charcoal. It has something in it that they need or like.

Try it, it might work for you.

Rufus

 

[a2ms4chickens]

I'm in NW Tucson, also, and my chickens are in an enclosed stable, so there is no direct sunlight on the chickens until in the evening. And by then they are ready to bask in the sun.

We just make sure everyone has plenty of water. It is hard to keep clean because the girls like to stand in it to cool off their feet. So, in the morning they get clean water and in the evening we change their water again. I tried a separate pan of water for them to soak their feet in, but they like using their water bowls. Go figure.

We have used a mister but I'm not sure if they like it or not.

Good luck on keeping your birds cool!!

Angie

 

[DM]

I have a portable henhut on grass. The sprinkler system comes on 3 times a day 8, 1, and 5. They have plenty of water and the hut with run is covered in that green shade stuff double thickness. our temps are 106-111 plus. They still pant some but get cooled off in the wet grass while the system gets everything wet.

 

[cap1717]

We are all correct in worrying about our chooks in this extreme weather. I have hung cloths all around my coop/ run (the south and east sides are exposed to the sun during parts of the day) to provide shade, have an inexpensive mister (portable mister, 10.00, home depot) running on all except the coolest nights, provide blue ice blocks, frozen water bottles, cool foot bath, etc., and make sure that all drinking water containers are in constant shade. The chooks do pant some during the day, love the ice blocks and even the mister although it did take some time for them to get used to that. they also like to cuddle down into the damp sawdust under the mister, and I am finally getting confident that they will survive the summer just fine.