Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

My comment about what my grand papy said was rude, my apologies..
I have just been dealing with huhh,,,, neighbors that can't ya know huhhh.. A bit impatience today..
We volenteer just about 4x a week in our neighborhood but every once in a while dealing with people
that are difficult just to be difficult gets to me..

 

[City farm]

Again.. Edit;; impatient today.. Going to bed.. Good night..

 

[kacklinkelly]

WOW, you have restraint.. ONLY ! 3!...

4 now

 

[countrygirl74]

Thanks for all the comments about West vs. East in Tucson!

Besides wanting space and chickens, I like the idea of being able to do our own thing. We both ride road bikes, so I'd like to be able to ride out of my place on pavement, without being chased by dogs, and be able to ride not more than a couple of miles to get groceries~ I'll be retired by then, and he'll have to find work. He fixes computers as a mobile business. He wants to find a good gun club too, being a former Marine.

I make and sell jewelry online on Etsy, and we both are gamers, so we'd need fast internet.

I want to garden too! So I wouldn't like to be told I can't water my vegies, or wash my car, if that happens.

Even eating eggs should be stored point down. Keeps them fresher.

Good info! And thanks to whoever posted the info later about why it does!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I'm in Tucson. I have four pullets that are rapidly reaching egg laying age. I stopped using the waterer and just put out a large rubber dish (like you use for large livestock) filled with water along with some ice cubes. My birds are in and out of it all day. I had to teach them to get in the water. Just pick one up and set her feet in the water. She'll be all stressed for a minute or two and then Ahhhh..... they realize it's cooling them off. They enjoy frozen fruit and vegtables (half of a corn on the cob is a real treat) along with their regular feed. I've noticed that legumes (split peas, orange legumes but NO BEANS OR RICE) don't seem to overheat them as do grains. They get a yellow treat ball that get's half stuffed w/ legumes and dried fruit towards the end of the day when it's starting to cool off. It's a kick to watch!

why no beans or rice? Rice in particular is easily digestible (not a hot food), and is quite nutritious.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I just figured out you meant SHRUB, not the SCRUB you said. lol! Anyways, Texas sage might be a good choice, or possibly ruellia brittonia. For a tree, china berry grows extremely rapidly, and of course there is also the moringa. For vines, grapes, passion fruit and arabian jasmine grow pretty rapidly,

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote:
I'm a big fan of hopbush, with a caution on the freeze resistance. When I lived in central Tucson I had a couple of hopbush plants that grew tall enough to cover my south and west facing bedroom windows in about three years. They provided great shade and privacy. It was like looking out onto a green jungle. Those hopbushes had very little freeze damage in the 10 years I lived there, and that included at least one freeze that went down into the teens.

Then I moved about 15 miles away, to a spot that turns out to be several degreees hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. I cannot get a hopbush to grow well here. They keep getting frozen to the ground every couple of years, even though I cover them when the temps go below 20. If your coldest freezes are above 20 degrees and you can water the hopbushes regularly, they are GREAT plants. If your freezes go down into the teens the hopbushes will struggle.

 

[City farm]

If someone is burning oleander's, they need help.. My grand pappy always said you can't fix stupid.. Speaking about oleander.. Any suggestion

for a scrub that closely relates to oleander's qualities.. Minus the "poinious".. We were thinking hop seed? Any other suggestions?


Love the rocket stove idea.. Are you going to be at processing day?

Arizona Rosewood (Vauquelinia californica). It is an Arizona native large shrub/small tree. It is a little slow to get started, so I would get the largest size you can afford, but once established, it will grow tall and wide like an oleander if given supplemental water. Even has leaves size/shape of oleander. It grows around 5,000 feet so you might want to check with your local nurseries, preferably ones that sell native plants, and ask how it fares in the low desert. It does great in Tucson. Quite a hardy plant. Hopbush is relatively short-lived, that is it's downside. I highly recommend Arizona Rosewood, it is a lovely plant and makes a nice screen or natural hedge. I think it is a wonderful replacement for oleander. You won't have the bright showy flowers (Rosewood's flowers are white and somewhat unassuming), but it is not poisonous.

I just figured out you meant SHRUB, not the SCRUB you said.  lol!  Anyways, Texas sage might be a good choice, or possibly ruellia brittonia.  For a tree, china berry grows extremely rapidly, and of course there is also the moringa.  For vines, grapes, passion fruit and arabian jasmine grow pretty rapidly,

thinking about Texas sage? I am going to check out ruellia brittonia & china berry. Sounds good.. I only have 1 out of 3 seeds growing from the
the seeds my D.H. brought home.. Dont want to use a trellis.. Although I do love the 3 grape vine we do have.
Thank you..

 

[City farm]

 

Thank you for suggestions. We also would like the height

I'm a big fan of hopbush, with a caution on the freeze resistance.  When I lived in central Tucson I had a couple of hopbush plants that grew tall enough to cover my south and west facing bedroom windows in about three years.  They provided great shade and privacy.  It was like looking out onto a green jungle.  Those hopbushes had very little freeze damage in the 10 years I lived there, and that included at least one freeze that went down into the teens. 

Then I moved about 15 miles away, to a spot that turns out to be several degreees hotter in the summer and colder in the winter.  I cannot get a hopbush to grow well here.  They keep getting frozen to the ground every couple of years, even though I cover them when the temps go below 20.  If your coldest freezes are above 20 degrees and you can water the hopbushes regularly, they are GREAT plants.  If your freezes go down into the teens the hopbushes will struggle. 

Hopbush would do fine here.. We rarely freeze..

 

[simplyscrambled]

Thank you Countrygirl, I will definitely look into Chino Valley!
Edit: oh, it looks like we can only have up to 4 chickens in Chino Valley. Other than that, it looked lovely!!