Arizona Chickens

[LadyKotaDoria]

I love Spelt, I have had problems getting it. I am looking for a sourse. It is one of the grasses I would plant for my girls. I have about 1/4 lb left. I soak it then cook it for myself as a breakfast cereal. I wonder it it will grow in this heat? I may plant a few seeds and see.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

I keep the lawn for a few reasons.  First and foremost, my one-year old daughter absolutely loves being outside and always have.  She was out crawling in the yard at six or eight months old.  It's allowed her to get a nice amount of sun and outside play without worrying about her falling on rocks and gravel.

I also like the grass because it helps insulate the ground against the sun's heat.  During these extreme temps, dirt and gravel can both get extremely hot.  A plot of grass is comfortable to walk on no matter what the temperature.  All of my girls are bedding down on the grass in the evenings and being lazy.  I've never found them that way in the dirt areas, nor the rocks, even though the rock landscaping is all under the shade of the oleander.  They are more often sitting in the sunny grass versus the shaded rock.  Going hand-in-hand with that, I think it decreases the residual heat that is let off at night, too, allowing the backyard to remain cooler at all times.  We have way to much of a "parking lot effect" as it is.  If I can reduce the temperature in my immediate area without any additional effort or very little expense, I'm game.  To be quite honesty, I spend more time and effort trying to keep my darn gravel front yard clean.  All the leaves, trash and everything imaginable gets caught in the rocks.  A rake didn't work well at all.  For a leaf vacuum or blower, you are either using larger amounts of electricity or gasoline.

Of course, you have the extra benefits of grass for everyone.  Fresh greens and more bugs for the chickens, the amazingly beautiful aesthetic looks, the extra material for composting if necessary, gentleness on the body for the kids playing, etc.  A desert landscape can't accomplish any of this.

That is all good points, that is exactly why I speak only for myself. I have been considering installing grass in my chicken pen for some of the same reasons, for my girls. What is stopping me is I feel I would need at lest 4X the pen to give it a chance to grow. My girls would love it to death before it has a chance.

 

[pipemum]

Here's a picture of my patch of lawn. This is definitely the family gathering spot.



And since I've figured out how to post pictures on BYC, here's some of my coop (my coop, in relation to the above photo, is to the right, around the corner).

Here's the coop wall that we see from our "regular" backyard (the grass, garden, and coop are all in the "garden". This was during construction, so it's lacking a roof, etc:


Here's looking between the black wire fence and the above side of the coop. I had to put reed fencing up to distract my hound from the chickens. Hopefully the grape and blackberry will grow in and provide further visual barrier.


Facing coop. the orange box is a planter. Since this photo was taken, all sides of the coop and run have been covered with reed fencing for shade. Tonight I'm going to do the double shade thing and hang some shade cloth.






Flower girls:

 

[pastrymama]

ladyKD

the eggs have been dispersed among the broodies around town, we shall let you know in about 21 days!

no baby as of yet, I just got back from dealing with swim team and the summer VBS camp drop off. I will check on miss A.

 

[maryhysong]

I keep the lawn for a few reasons. First and foremost, my one-year old daughter absolutely loves being outside and always have. She was out crawling in the yard at six or eight months old. It's allowed her to get a nice amount of sun and outside play without worrying about her falling on rocks and gravel.

I also like the grass because it helps insulate the ground against the sun's heat. During these extreme temps, dirt and gravel can both get extremely hot. A plot of grass is comfortable to walk on no matter what the temperature. All of my girls are bedding down on the grass in the evenings and being lazy. (snipped)

Oh I love grass; I love to walk barefoot on cool green grass; that is total heaven. I get to do it once every few years when I'm at a big park at the right time of day.

In the future I hope to have a small patch of grass just to walk barefoot on. Maybe 6x8' I have no grass now because here AZ Water Co. just raised their rates and they were high before. My water bill last summer, with one person in the house, swamp cooler running only about 6 hrs a day, fruit trees and garden was $175 a month. In contrast, in the winter my bill runs $25 tops. So around here if I can't eat it, it doesn't get watered.

 

[Demosthine]

Oh I love grass; I love to walk barefoot on cool green grass; that is total heaven. I get to do it once every few years when I'm at a big park at the right time of day.

In the future I hope to have a small patch of grass just to walk barefoot on. Maybe 6x8' I have no grass now because here AZ Water Co. just raised their rates and they were high before. My water bill last summer, with one person in the house, swamp cooler running only about 6 hrs a day, fruit trees and garden was $175 a month. In contrast, in the winter my bill runs $25 tops. So around here if I can't eat it, it doesn't get watered.

Ouch! That's just pure highway robbery! With a pool, five people in the house, watering three rose bushes, a tree, a full hundred feet of oleander and a four-thousand square foot plot of grass, my bill hasn't broken $100 yet. 'Course, our APS bill makes up for it and their arse r**ing. There is no reason for them to be charging as much as they do.

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

At first I thought you guys were talking about electricity bills. And I thought, "Wow, $175 is not bad at all for the summer! What is Deomosthine on about?" Then I realized... water. Ouch is right.

 

[GreatWhiteAfro]

Ouch! That's just pure highway robbery! With a pool, five people in the house, watering three rose bushes, a tree, a full hundred feet of oleander and a four-thousand square foot plot of grass, my bill hasn't broken $100 yet. 'Course, our APS bill makes up for it and their arse r**ing. There is no reason for them to be charging as much as they do.

Gotta love APS....I love that there's a "delivery fee"....really? I didn't notice a truck full of power back up and drop anything at my house!!

Also I seriously need to find a home for my red sex link, she's 15 weeks old and just too loud for my backyard. If anyone wants her PM me, I'm in Casa Grande. My EE's and Black Australorps are sooooo much more quiet than this loud girl! I was looking forward to the eggs from her, but with as loud as she is and she's not laying yet I can't imagine how loud she's gonna be when she's laying.

 

[flower]

Ouch! That's just pure highway robbery! With a pool, five people in the house, watering three rose bushes, a tree, a full hundred feet of oleander and a four-thousand square foot plot of grass, my bill hasn't broken $100 yet. 'Course, our APS bill makes up for it and their arse r**ing. There is no reason for them to be charging as much as they do.

Demosthine All of your points on having a lawn are good. But for me it would be too much work as crab grass is installed and very pernicious. So I am in the process of just planting and watering what I choose to grow for shade, beauty and fodder. And of course I totally agree with you assessment of APS. Oh to have solar and be off the grid !

More about grass in addition to the cooling, it keeps the dirt from being blow around and entering every aspect of your enviroment. But in so many areas including beautiful Orange Co., CA, that is a loosing battle. On the other hand despite the pressure to use stupid xeroscaping material, more shade plants should be planted. During a talk with a groundsperson at the local CC, we discussed the heat absorbing, water wicking effects of stone scaping. Plus that stupid stuff blows all over and into the buildings.

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
Wow. I won't gripe about my $70+ water bill any longer. It went over $100 once, when I forgot to turn off the drip until 36 hours later. Ooops.

I bought some native grass plants a while back, intending to make a small oasis. They are still in pots in a small fenced area under a tree. Can't plant them now - a Gambel quail is sitting on eggs on the ground between the pots.

It's a great spot for a nest. Good cover, protection from large predators, and a daily dose of evaporative cooling when I water. Smart bird.