Arizona Chickens

[tsuninight]

So I was looking for an indoor solution for the super hot days and ended up going with a soft sided "dog" playpen instead of a kennel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/57-Pet-Play...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item2574158187

I just put shavings in the bottom of it and can remove the top & bottom for washing.... though I haven't needed to was the top. It can also be folded down when not in use to a nice smallish bag. The price was better than a kennel too.

Not sure this would be perfect for everyone since it would require actual washing (chickens are after all messy), but I'd guess you'd keep it pretty clean if you were keeping them in the house either way.

I had a pic of mine in use, but cleaned it off my phone & since I'm at work don't have access to it.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: Oh, my goodness, even if you are not a Star Trek fan, you HAVE to see "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode!

For some reason I couldn't get the evil gremlin picture to work. I do remember that the change had to do with water...

 

[tsuninight]

Wow, I've never seen what was under all that silkie fluff before. Brings new meaning to the term "dark meat."

I knew silkies were supposed to have black skin. Didn't know the black went into the flesh as well. Interesting.

I saw these first on Chopped of all places. To me they just looked weird, and most of the chefs agreed with me lol. I guess my vision of what a chicken looks like is more or less the same in every store. The dark odd looking little birds looked simply off to me lol. I had a good laugh at myself though since the first thing I said was... chicken skin come in that color? That looks like a cornish game hen! Alien CHICKEN! This was LONG before I got into chickens though. It was something I remembered though because I thought it was so odd.

 

[redrocketrooster]

So I was looking for an indoor solution for the super hot days and ended up going with a soft sided "dog" playpen instead of a kennel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/57-Pet-Play...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item2574158187

I just put shavings in the bottom of it and can remove the top & bottom for washing.... though I haven't needed to was the top.  It can also be folded down when not in use to a nice smallish bag.  The price was better than a kennel too.

Not sure this would be perfect for everyone since it would require actual washing (chickens are after all messy), but I'd guess you'd keep it pretty clean if you were keeping them in the house either way.

I had a pic of mine in use, but cleaned it off my phone & since I'm at work don't have access to it.

Its a good idea. Seen it used for chicks too.

I use C&C cages. Cloroplast bottom and cheap storage grids from target. Hose it out!! They do kick bedding all over with my idea tho heh.

 

[tsuninight]

yeah the nice part about the playpen I linked is it's mesh is small enough there isn't a chance for them to make a huge mess with the shavings.... which they totally did even in a cat carrier.

 

[redrocketrooster]

Omg I hate cat carriers. They are wasteful.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

So I was looking for an indoor solution for the super hot days and ended up going with a soft sided "dog" playpen instead of a kennel.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/57-Pet-Play...t=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item2574158187

I just put shavings in the bottom of it and can remove the top & bottom for washing.... though I haven't needed to was the top.  It can also be folded down when not in use to a nice smallish bag.  The price was better than a kennel too.

Not sure this would be perfect for everyone since it would require actual washing (chickens are after all messy), but I'd guess you'd keep it pretty clean if you were keeping them in the house either way.

I had a pic of mine in use, but cleaned it off my phone & since I'm at work don't have access to it.

WOW that is Awesome! Would be great for my baby chicks. Does the top zip on or just go over the top with elastic? Wondering if it would keep my cats out.

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

WOW that is Awesome! Would be great for my baby chicks. Does the top zip on or just go over the top with elastic? Wondering if it would keep my cats out.

I finally got the images to pop bigger, so now I see it has zippers. Boy that is tempting...

 

[BY Chicken Lady]

Omg I hate cat carriers. They are wasteful.

My cat carriers were a life saver when we were evacuated due to the Yarnell Fire. I was able to use five of them to load up my chickens two to a box for travel.

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

Oh I have been so busy with moving schools and school starting last week. Who was the genius that decided Tucson needed to start school on August 1

Anyway, would be interested in the chicken lesson, even just to come and learn if that is ok. Let me know when it is going to be and I might trek up from Tucson.

On a side note, one of my parents offered fertile eggs for my hatching project in my class this year (they heard about last year). So I should have some help with it this year from the parent side.

My chicks from the hatch in my classroom are doing great. We do have one (I am sure there are more just can't verify yet) that decided to start crowing. He is a Pearl Leghorn that we hatched from eggs that we got from hippie Chicks in Sierra Vista. The other 4 Pearl Leghorns are all girls

if anyone is interested in him, I would be happy to let him go with a couple of the girls. He does not crow much (have only heard him twice in the last 3 weeks) but it is a manly crow.
Let me know ifyou are interested in him or him and some girls. They were hatched May 7,8,9