Arizona Chickens

[Mama Hen Chris]

 

[Twinklin]

so cute!

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Anyone have an idea yet what breed my beautiful Grace is yet?

Not the best photo but I will guess Silver Laced Wyandotte based on coloring and rose comb. PS wrote color without the "R"

Might possibly be a pea comb. Can't really tell due to the angle of the photo. The bird looks like an Easter Egger cockerel. It's definitely not silver laced.

dose this help? Dose she have a waddle?

 

[FeatherPugs]

Thanks everyone for the very warm welcome! I appreciate all the tips for keeping my future hens protected from the summer heat. Twinklin, LindaMurphy, Featherpugs, AliciaSimon and HeidiSue - I think I got all your names right! We are planning to incorporate fans and misters as well as blocks of ice and frozen water bottles. My chickens will have a well ventilated coop with a small run, and will free range on my lawn, in my garden and the rest of the backyard in the evenings when I am home and on the weekends. The coop we will place behind a fence that divides the backyard and has shade all afternoon. I only plan to have 4. We don't have to worry so much about predators, we see the occasional hawk and one actually tried to catch a baby dove that had hatched in my tiki bar just about a month ago. We have coyotes but our yard is enclosed by block wall, 5-6 ft tall. I know they have been known to jump walls to catch small pets, but I had a chihuahua for 12 years and always felt she was safe.
What do most of you use for bedding and nesting boxes? Straw, sawdust, pine shavings? Anyone use the deep litter method for your run? I haven't decided if my run will be dressed or left bare ground. I 've done lots of reading and research and will continue to. We are visiting our 2 small feed stores over the weekend to see what is readily available locally, and what items we'll need to purchase out of town or online. We are headed to the big city (PHX) next week and plan to stop at Pratt's in Glendale which is probably where we will buy our chicks as most mail order hatcheries have a 15 chick minimum.
We need to plan our brooder and get the heat lap, feed and supplies for the chicks. I think that is all I have today!!
Kristine
Oh, and working on my profile today too!

I would definitely use contractor sand in the coop and in the run. It is great and clean up is like scooping kitty litter. In my nest boxes I use pine shavings under nest pads. I like the nest pads because there is no hay or shavings on the floor - they last a long time - you can pull them out and clean them up if need be. I live in the country so my girls only get "out" time to wander and scratch in the morning for how ever long I have that day. Otherwise they are safe in their coop and run - predators are a big deal. It is not unusual to see a coyote walk behind my husband's shop in the morning plus we've seen badgers too. . Now there are hawks but I think the girls are pretty good sized - except for Little Red - and wouldn't be considered on the fly. My coop also has wire dug down about a foot to make it hard to dig in. If you feel you are safe where you are that is super - just put them away at night. AND only 4 - my .... my..... my!

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Anyone have an idea yet what breed my beautiful Grace is yet?

Not the best photo but I will guess Silver Laced Wyandotte based on coloring and rose comb. PS wrote color without the "R"

Might possibly be a pea comb. Can't really tell due to the angle of the photo. The bird looks like an Easter Egger cockerel. It's definitely not silver laced.

dose this help? Dose she have a waddle? An EE? -------------------- Photo's of eye candy that was sent to me Oops am not aloud to publish..... SORRY!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

This may be one of your best ever!

 

[heidisue]

Those are

dose this help? Dose she have a waddle? An EE?

--------------------
Photo's of eye candy that was sent to me

Those are awesome

Ill chime in for sand too - I LoVE it. Super easy to clean and it drains well when we do get rain. In the nest box I am using terra?? It's wood pellets. I throw in some shredded paper too so they can dig around. One girl likes the paper and one likes the terra alone. I don't think it's called terra, but I think that's close. Ill look it up tonight.

 

[pipemum]

1st egg today. Pretty little light green one! Yay!

 

[City farm]

Quote from City Farm The girl that has a white under coat has been laying gorgeous olive eggs steadily for days. She is become sweet

The black one Sofia, her feathers are comming in very nice.. Still skittish & makes lots of noise when I hold her.. I plan on having some neighbor kids over to help with that.. Hey thanks for letting me know that your hens are doing OK. Does Sofia lay her nice round blue eggs for you ? They are different from the more pointed eggs ? My flock looks very shabby now in full molt. Our nights are 50 to 45. It is so nice for me who prefers cooler weather.

No, sofia the black one is still molting, I think any way.. Oh & the one with the white under coat does have feathers coming in on her legs.. Just barley.. So with that said what breed is she? The olive layer.. I totally can't wait for a blue egg!!!

 

[City farm]

1st egg today. Pretty little light green one! Yay!

Yee haaa!!! Congradulations