Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

Wings, my white turkey is dead. What ever it was it took her fast.

That's the 3rd loved turkey this summer. Banner my young tom Royal Palm, My 6 year old Blue Bell and now wings. Lost all those chickens, including my 6-7 year old Tumbleweed, silky roo, with the coyote finding a way in under the fence in the wash. WE are down to one Maran hen and two worthless young RR mix roos and one turkey tom heading for November dinner. Almost don't care anymore about having fowl for awhile.

Awhee, sorry for your losses.. When we have the next hatch, you are welcome to have them at no charge..

City Farm that is very sweet of you. What are you going to hatch? Problem is we are pretty far away living in Wittmann. Thank you all for caring!

Our flock is mixed.. We just wait to see what eggs the broody takes in.. They are truly " back yard chickens" mix's..boy did some of them come out so beautiful.. I ended up giving so many away to friends that started new flocks.. I have visited some & was bummed we did not keep some.. ;(

 

[redrocketrooster]

Haha Dephane! You and I have the same thoughts!

My Marans are late hatchers. This is the fifth hatch with them and they tend to take longer. Any thoughts? Maybe a breed trait? The bantams were the first to hatch and boy are they hyper.

Im already looking at more eggs. Hatching is so addictive! This time maybe lav orphingtons, wellsummers and yokohamas? Saw a breeder for cuckoo silkies too.

 

[Demosthine]

City Farm that is very sweet of you. What are you going to hatch? Problem is we are pretty far away living in Wittmann.
Thank you all for caring!

If it ends up working out, my wife and I can play messenger. We can meet Daphane downtown or in South Phoenix and then bring the chicks up to North Peoria. Between my wife and I, we are down in that area every day but Sunday. It's only about another 20 minutes from my house to Wittman.

 

[MagicChicken]

Last week I had two pullets going broody. After pitching them out of the nest boxes multiple times a day for a week I decided to put a cockerel in with them. If they want to sit on eggs the eggs may as well be fertile. The cockerel has been in there for several days. The broodies are no longer broody. And the eggs are not fertile.

The cockerel is not gay. I've seen him try to mount a couple of the pullets. But the pullets want nothing to do with him. The girls want the studly, dark-eyed cockerel who dances so nicely and mounts every rock he can find. Stud-boy is not in the coop with them. The cockerel in the coop is the only bird I have with yellow soles which is why he's in with the pullets and stud-boy is not. (Absence of yellow in the soles is a disqualification in this breed, and the yellow is a recessive trait.) Hope the yellow-soled boy wins the girls over soon. At least he's not tearing them to pieces. Why do girls always go for the wild boys and ignore the nice, polite ones?

The good thing is the girls are no longer whining that the boys are all on the OTHER side of the coop/run wire. It is much quieter around here now.

 

[countrygirl74]

DH processed our other cockerel yesterday morning. I brined it all day and grilled it for dinner. DH also bought some organic chicken from Sprouts (about $10/lb) since our scrawny cockerel wasn't enough for dinner. I brined that, too, for the same amount of time. I could tell the difference in taste for sure! Ours was tastier and had a very different flavor. DH liked it and said he wouldn't mind doing more. Yay! Success!

We noticed that ours were more flavorful than even the organic chicken we bought too! After eating both store-bought organic and my own, I have never been able to go back to cheap chicken at the grocery store.

 

[Demosthine]

I let the "female" bunny that I picked up off Craig's List out to free-range with the chickens, turkeys and other female rabbit. Within a matter of minutes, they began doing the mating dance and had four or five sessions in about four or five minutes! Needless to say, the phrase "Screwing like rabbits" is absolutely true! I may have rabbit kits for butchering or for sale significantly sooner than I planned... Oops!

 

[GreatWhiteAfro]

I wish there was a way to catch them all, free food. Too bad the girls are roosting when they all come out. Any one know how to build an effective cricket trap? I remember as a kid my dad had one we would set out at night to catch bait for fishing in the morning.

 

[Arizonachicken]

Wow, Demos, you have chicken eating turkeys and horny bunnies. I might have to make the processing party just to see your craziness!

 

[MagicChicken]

I let the "female" bunny that I picked up off Craig's List out to free-range with the chickens, turkeys and other female rabbit. Within a matter of minutes, they began doing the mating dance and had four or five sessions in about four or five minutes! Needless to say, the phrase "Screwing like rabbits" is absolutely true! I may have rabbit kits for butchering or for sale significantly sooner than I planned... Oops!

Wish you were in Tucson. Rabbit is tasty! I'd take some of the xtras off your hands.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Also, regarding your comment about vets being better doctors than human doctors, it is ABSOLUTELY true!  Human doctors only have to learn one species to treat. Vets have to learn Bovine, Equine, Caprine, Feline, Canine, Avian, Reptilian, etc. I've heard many times that human doctors couldnt make it thru vet school!

AND they can not talk, Plus, for many amimals, hiding illness is what they do. My vet, examining BROWN DOG, a half Pit Bull and Half Blue Teck, he found the problem by feeling slight tightening of muscles. He showed me what he was doing and feeling. Brown Dog never showed pain, but when you touched the sore spot, his muscles tightened ever so slightly then relaxed right a way. It was really cool. He had a stranded tenden. I didn't see anything but my husband fealt something was wrong. He is always right, so we went to the Vet.