Arizona Chickens

[southerndesert]

Where did you get your netting? I am looking at a 25%, white ag. Shade cloth. It is UV protected and wind reduction on plants.

Home Depot has netting, I use the stuff labeled "Deer Netting as it comes in larger sections the bird netting. It is black and lasts many years before the sun gets it, but inexpensive and easily replaced. It can be ordered online in larger rolls as well.... Our PVC has been up for several years now with no issues getting brittle, but we use the schedule 40 not the thin stuff, as suggested the electrical ABS also works well, but costs more....

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Making one of the T-frames into a green house. Using Home Depot clear plastic for this year. Each of the beds have PVC hoops that I can cover. They are not of my design. They are Ok, I can remove them when I do not need them if I wish.

Great progress! You'll have enough veggies to feed an army.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Making one of the T-frames into a green house. Using Home Depot clear plastic for this year. Each of the beds have PVC hoops that I can cover. They are not of my design. They are Ok, I can remove them when I do not need them if I wish.

Great progress! You'll have enough veggies to feed an army.

You might be right. My nephew did the starts, not enough variety. In the book it says a family of 5 for 1 year.

 

[countrygirl74]

So this may be a little strange in the chicken thread, but do any of you own geese? I'm just looking to see if anyone else has had any good experiences raising geese in our hot dry climate? There IS an Arizona Geese thread... but its only got one post lol

I don't have geese but I would love to get some someday! However, I have a friend that has a ranch outside of Dewey, AZ which is pretty much all desert where he's at, and he has geese that he uses for his watchdogs. It's dry, hot, just nothing out there but brush and dirt. You might want to visit the geese forum and find out if there's anything special people do to help them out in hot weather - maybe the same as ducks, make sure they have lots of water to drink and splash in. Although, I don't even remember a pool or anything out there for the rancher's geese...

 

[countrygirl74]

Wow, speaking of getting a lot of wind here... the wind here today is AWFUL! When some of these gusts blow through, it looks like it's going to take some of the chickens with it!

Snow will be coming in tonight and tomorrow so they will be spending a lot of time in their house over the next couple days. It's difficult to get them out in the snow - they do not like walking on it. But, I love it when it snows!

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

countrygirl74 I've had 2 Embden geese, a mated pair. I loved them, and goose eggs. Papa never made friends with me when he grew up but he tolerated me. They adored my neighbor, she cut an opening in her fence. They were the best watch dogs. Setting off an alarm and on the attack. Papa broke one of my teeth with its wing when she started laying. I used a hard sided kiddy pool with bails of straw around it, every other day I drained it into my garden. I had a wonderful garden using that water. In the winter I used bubbles and a stock tank heater. You will not need that here in the low desert, in the Hight desert I think they would be right at home. I think a single coyote may go for an easier meal when confronting a gander protecting his mate. A small flock would be intimidating. I have heard of owls, hawks, and eagles, coyote packs taking them and one very aggressive dog in the red zone.

 

[Fuzzybird]

LadyKotaDoria came over yesterday to play with goat kids and see the chickens and other pets. WE had a good time. I enjoyed it!

 

[Arizonachicken]

Before I built our greenhouse we used panels of concrete re-mesh (found at Home Depot near the concrete) bent into hoops and covered with plastic. They worked spectacularly well for us for years. I liked them because I could lift off the plastic and reach through the 6" squares to access the plants. If I really wanted to get at it I could lift off the entire panel. We never fastened them to the ground and we never had one blow away in the wind (which we do get here too). The plastic only lasts a year before the UV damage starts to make it crumble, but it's fairly cheap. Here is one of my rows of lettuces and celery from a couple years ago. [COLOR=005CB1] [/COLOR] Another option is to use electrical metal tube (EMT) conduit bent into a hoop shape. The hoops can be slipped over rebar driven into the ground. This is probably the most commonly used method for making row covers as it they are relatively permanent (UV will cause pvc to become brittle with a few seasons' exposure). The drawback to this method is you need to buy the hoop bender. If you had a lot of space to cover, it would probably be worth it in the long run.

My husband has a whole role of that stuff (concrete remesh). I was going to toss it because I didn't know what it was and because I'm trying to declutter, but I'm glad didnt! Now I know what it is and what I'm going to do with it! Thanks!

 

[Rezia]

I am selling a registered chocolate palomino! If anyone is interested in this horse (i.e. pictures, price, registration, etc.), just PM me! (I'm selling him for a good friend of mine.)

 

[noodlegirl]

Found this in FaceBook, wanted to share it you all. A true chicken run.

I so want to make this. Especially after they ate my tomato plants yesterday! Can anyone share what dimensions I should do? Height, width? I was thinking of buying the 48" roll and doing a good 30ft down to another section of my yard that they could tear up without complaint.