Yeah, I have no idea what's up with the weather. I live in North Peoria along the River, so we get a nice draft coming across the desert and always have lower temps that what's posted, too. My wife EMailed me tonight all irritated because my Mom walked down to our house to tell her to cover our pipes. Ironically, she didn't so much as question our girls in the coop. I guess she finally believes me that they are ok in the cold, as long as they were properly acclimated. Ours have been, so I think we're good there. I forgot to pick up some scratch last weekend to help them get through the night, but the yard is surrounded by 20' oleanders to protect from the wind, it's under the back porch and is nestled against two walls. I think they're pretty well set.
My wife come home today with another chicken item from Goodwill. A few weeks ago, she bought some grey cloth napkins for the dinner table with some miscellaneous chicken prints on them. They are fairly cute. Today, she brought home some placemats with a hen embroidered on one side. LoL! It's quite refreshing to see her taking to the girls like she has.
Gallo: You are permitted to kill any predator that is actively hunting your livestock, as long as you have your hunting license as mentioned. A properly placed .22 LR will take down a coyote without much fuss. Cabela's has some sub-sonic rounds that are not much louder than a pellet gun. They will sound much louder to you as the shooter, but from the neighbor's standpoint, it will just be a loud pop. My neighbor said it sounded like a dropped a rock in a metal trash can. They were very reasonably priced, too.
The city ordinances can get a bit touchy, as they ban the use of firearms for hunting inside city limits. However, there are always exemptions for personal property and/or living creatures being in immediate harms way. Just know the loop holes in Tucson's laws if that's the route you take.
I haven't had any actual experience with it, but my extended relatives in Kingman have said that once you kill a coyote on your property, they will stay away from that general area. Supposedly, they can smell the blood and they know it's from another coyote, so it's a warning scent to them. If I lived closer, I'd offer to take the carcass off your hands. Properly cooked, coyote can make some mighty fine taco meat, as long as there is enough meat to harvest.
