Arizona Chickens

[kukupecpec]

Looks like wry neck check out this thread:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/675405/sick-silkie-wry-neck-or-crocked-neck

Very helpful!! Thank you!!!

 

[desertmarcy]

LOL! I had been trying to kill my African Sumac and wasn't successful. Didn't water it for six years. It kept hanging on. Then I built a chicken coop next to it and thought, "hmmm... if I could get that thing to grow this coop would have some shade on the west side..." so I started being nice to it, and apologizing to it, and watering it... for a year... and then it froze nearly to the ground. Go figure. It's not dead. It's just very, very short. Good shade for the ants. Not so much for the chickens.

I had a seedling African Sumac volunteer in my yard years ago and decided to dig it up and grow it. At the time, I just had a male tree and it was a great bee tree (bees love the pollen) but it had to be taken out since it was in the way of a planned garage. I did like the tree and so did my bees. But this seedling turned out to be a female. Well my neighbor also has African sumacs so there is a pollinator nearby---and I'm starting to get seedlings coming up everywhere, the tree is very invasive and is listed as a noxious/invasive alien on a list prepared by the AZ Native Plant Society. So I decided to take it out---by hand, it is not in a place a backhoe can get to. That thing has NEVER been hurt by the last two freezes we have had and let me tell you it has sent roots all over the place. We are still working to get it out.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I had a seedling African Sumac volunteer in my yard years ago and decided to dig it up and grow it. At the time, I just had a male tree and it was a great bee tree (bees love the pollen) but it had to be taken out since it was in the way of a planned garage. I did like the tree and so did my bees. But this seedling turned out to be a female. Well my neighbor also has African sumacs so there is a pollinator nearby---and I'm starting to get seedlings coming up everywhere, the tree is very invasive and is listed as a noxious/invasive alien on a list prepared by the AZ Native Plant Society. So I decided to take it out---by hand, it is not in a place a backhoe can get to. That thing has NEVER been hurt by the last two freezes we have had and let me tell you it has sent roots all over the place. We are still working to get it out.

Yeah, mine has roots all over the backyard and tries really hard to make itself a large bush. I'm sure I could never get rid of it. The best I can do is contain it. It's a great shade tree with a low overall height (under 40').

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Very helpful!! Thank you!!!

You are welcome. Let us know how your silkie does.

 

[countrygirl74]

I have a question about my silkie - it seems she's gone broody but I also noticed that she has a squishy crop. Is that sour crop? Or is it just weird because she's trying to go broody and she's a little "off".

Just so you have some background... she stopped roosting with the other girls 2 nights ago and only stays in her favorite nesting box all day and night. I keep collecting the eggs from under her and throwing her out. She will drink a little, scratch around a little, then go back into the coop within a couple minutes. She lays in there even if there are no eggs and somehow all the other girls eggs end up under her before I take them away. Tonight the temps will be in the 20's and I'm worried about her sleeping by herself. So, I brought her in and that's how I noticed her crop. But, she is NOT happy to be inside. Just wondering if I should let her tough it out in the cold or if I need to keep her in if something else is going on with her....

 

[MagicChicken]

Last night when I closed up the coop I only had 21 birds. A cockerel was missing. Looked around the yard and couldn't find him. I was a little sad about that but hey, I've got 15+ cockerels and maybe 5 pullets, so a missing cockerel just saved me a culling decision. Who better to cull than a loner bird who won't coop up at night?

Tonight when I closed up the coop I had 22 birds. The little guy spent last night out somewhere, and decided to come home tonight.

Now I just have to figure out which one he was, so I can cull him myself...

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Wonderful news! You can now shope at Williams & Sonoma for all your back yard chicken needs. Their chicken scratch a real bargen at only $24.99

"Chicken Scratch is what brings wandering chickens back to the coop at sundown. Known by many as "chicken candy" because of its addictive flavor, this scratch is a GMO-free organic mix of sunflower seeds, corn and whole grains. In the winter, the extra calories from scratch also keeps chickens warm. But it should not be the only source of food.
Chicken scratch is a treat used to bring chickens back to the coop and is not well rounded enough to be the only source of food.
1 12-pound vacuum-sealed, resealable bag of hand packed organic hen scratch.
Made in USA."

it must be really good stuff. ?¿ Really! Just think! 12# for only $24.99!

right, I'm sure we are all going to be on line ordering chicken food from Williams & Sonoma. they have a really nice ceramic waterer for chicken, I'm sure the water is better coming out of it then anything from the feed store

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

i really hope no one takes me seriously. but it is a statement on back yard chickens.

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

I had my first chicken dream last night, and I don't even have chickens yet! I'm getting chicks from Hippie Chicks in a couple of weeks...in my dream, they dropped off the chicks and my RIR chicks turned into big, fat, rats. Meanwhile, rats are running around creating havoc, I was fighting off a giant 4' tall red tail hawk with a rolled up sheet of paper?? to keep her away from the rest of the chicks. Kinda nuts.

BorderChicken and GreatWhite, the coops look great!

I am getting some fertile eggs from Hippie Chicks to hatch in my first grade classroom.

I'll be posting to their facebook page to share the progress. My students are soooooo excited. We set up the incubator and are waiting for the eggs to get here tomorrow.

 

[City farm]

Its been an educational adventure. Thanks for all the kind words. We started out with the idea of backyard garden oasis and chickens. We built the coop first. Then we started re-deisigning, re-landscaping the backyard. All this work by two people, doiityourselfers. Then the chicks came. No big deal, right? Little fuzzballs, how difficult can it be? Then they grew up...fast. And eating...and eating...literally everything in site. Our raised veggie beds were the first things on the menu. Soooooo..... a little re-thinking was in order. First, a fence and gate. The girls would have one side of the house, instead of the entire backyard. Simple enough, built the fence, and the gate out of re-claimed pallet wood (oak). Lisa paints it so it fits in with her whole oasis theme. Problem solved. Not so fast.... the chickens decided they could fly over the fence (6 feet) to get to the gardens. So, more re-thinking. Fence extentions built and installed. So far so good. No chickens in the gardens so far making a quick meal out of Lisa's meticulously cared for gardens. I hope I'm smarter than chickens. We put the composter in with the chicken yard, so far they love it. I hope it keeps them occupied and distracted from plotting future escape attempts.

I like the idea of putting the composter in with the chickens.. Will you show a photo of what your composter looks like??