Arizona Chickens

[pipemum]

Some scary happenings last night. It was about midnight and I was still up, browsing BYC when I heard coyotes. First time since having chickens. We usually hear them in the wash that backs up to houses that are across the street from us. This time it was coming from closer to my backyard and seemed to be about 1/2 block away. I think there were maybe 2 but they were calling for reinforcements pretty loudly. I ran out to the backyard and made some obvious human sounds yelling and banging. They quit howling and moved along. I woke hubby and we fired a single 20 gauge shot in case they were still in hearing range.

Now I am terrified they smelled my coop and know there is something to be had in my yard. I wonder if they will keep coming back every night until they figure out a way to get in. They will need to scale a 6 ft wall which I know they are perfectly capable of. My girls are locked in the roost portion of the coop after dark, so they would need to somehow dig their way into the coop/run and figure out how to chew through the wood to get to them. Hubby seems to think there is no way they can get into the roost portion even if they were somehow able to access the run. I'm just not so sure anymore.

I have a pack of coyotes go within 100 yards of my house just after sunset almost on a nightly basis. I have also on numerous occasions seen them walking through my front yard. I would assume they have "smelled" my birds. I also have a standard 6' block wall keeping them out of the yard. I haven't seen any track near the wall or anywhere else showing interest. I just trust that I built the coop secure enough should they want to hop the wall. The rabbits and ground squirrels are so plentiful here I just don't think they want to put forth the effort.

I'm only to here (way behind in posts), but my unfortunate and repeated experience with coyotes is that plentiful food, high wall, big dogs, living in a cookie-cutter subdivision is NOT even one small bit of a deterrent to a coyote. A secure coop is, but I have doubts about the all-hallowed hardware cloth and a determined animal now.

I'll have to figure out where the photo is, but I saw something on Facebook that might prevent coyote from clambering over a wall--it was a pvc pipe set up to roll to prevent a dog (or coyote) from getting purchase over the fence. A roll bar. Genius. However, an electrified wire strand might be just as cheap and less "ugly"--I haven't done the pricing yet.


I've been working on securing the meat coop yet again, and can see no way any animal can chew or dig in. But of course, I thought that the first 2 times. I dunno.

 

[kacklinkelly]

Sad day over here. Spent the entire weekend outside with the chickens, rabbits and our 14 y.o. collie/shephard mix. She has been declining over the past week as if she is displaying some alzheimers symptoms. (or something like that) She is completely "present" for a while and then seems to get lost and starts meandering around and doesn't respond to our voices. Well, today she passed. It is a blessing to have had her as long as we have. I got to groom her this weekend and she loved it. She was outside with me all day both days. I sensed something was eminent, so last night I took the time to love on her and tell her if it's her time it's OK. When I left for work this morning, she was snoring away. My husband called me at work around 10:15 to tell me she had passed away. One minute I am smiling and even laughing from some of our favorite memories of her. The next I am crying like a baby because she is not under foot. She has been our constant companion and happily greeted us daily for almost 14 years. I guess this is our new normal. Thanks for letting me share.

 

[FeatherPugs]

Sad day over here. Spent the entire weekend outside with the chickens, rabbits and our 14 y.o. collie/shephard mix. She has been declining over the past week as if she is displaying some alzheimers symptoms. (or something like that) She is completely "present" for a while and then seems to get lost and starts meandering around and doesn't respond to our voices. Well, today she passed. It is a blessing to have had her as long as we have. I got to groom her this weekend and she loved it. She was outside with me all day both days. I sensed something was eminent, so last night I took the time to love on her and tell her if it's her time it's OK. When I left for work this morning, she was snoring away. My husband called me at work around 10:15 to tell me she had passed away. One minute I am smiling and even laughing from some of our favorite memories of her. The next I am crying like a baby because she is not under foot. She has been our constant companion and happily greeted us daily for almost 14 years. I guess this is our new normal. Thanks for letting me share.

This is always tough - no matter how long. Big hugs.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Give them a
I'm sorry but u saied give them a rest ? How? Like separate them. ?? I won't be able to have light back there it's too far from my house I don't have a extension that far

is there something I could feed them??

How many roosters and hens do you have? You posted your flock a while back and maybe you have one too many roosters for the size of flock?

 

[kpgoldstar]

Sad day over here. Spent the entire weekend outside with the chickens, rabbits and our 14 y.o. collie/shephard mix. She has been declining over the past week as if she is displaying some alzheimers symptoms. (or something like that) She is completely "present" for a while and then seems to get lost and starts meandering around and doesn't respond to our voices. Well, today she passed. It is a blessing to have had her as long as we have. I got to groom her this weekend and she loved it. She was outside with me all day both days. I sensed something was eminent, so last night I took the time to love on her and tell her if it's her time it's OK. When I left for work this morning, she was snoring away. My husband called me at work around 10:15 to tell me she had passed away. One minute I am smiling and even laughing from some of our favorite memories of her. The next I am crying like a baby because she is not under foot. She has been our constant companion and happily greeted us daily for almost 14 years. I guess this is our new normal. Thanks for letting me share.

It sounds like she had a wonderful life with you and that she passed peacefully. Condolences...

 

[maryhysong]

Looks feminine, but no guarantees...

Thanks SS. I am hoping Precious is a girl; acts a lot like a girl most of the time, tho occasionally does the neck flare/chest bump Mr. no name. "She" got that name because when I went to take her out of the coop at Tucson she practically lept into my arms and hid her head in my jacket. She was cold and scared and oh so Precious. ;-)

I don't know the Silkie standard yet, do you see any obvious DQ or anything on these? I know No Name doesn't have as much beard/face fluff as he should. Everyone has 5 toes so we're good there and they all seem to be well feathered to the middle toe. That's about the extent of what I know to look for ;-)

 

[HomeGrownChick]

I love my mixed flock! My adults aren't mixed, but my babies are. I hatched some shipped eggs just for more variety in the egg basket (CCL, blue/black Marans), but from here on out I am self-sustaining if I want to be. I have a RIR roo x BR eggs, and will be hatching more Rhodebars for the Easter hatch a long so I have an autosexing coop, but will continue to hatch mixes for my layers.

I have 18 4-week-olds right now. My 2 RIR x EE pullets are gorgeous, so is my Rhodebar cockerel. I also have RIR over BO and production red. I have really enjoyed hatching them and watching them grow, and especially knowing where they come from!

It sounds like you could make some really interesting mixes!

This is so exciting to hear your successful story! I'm just now researching autosexing and am not sure I'm clear on how it works. So, do you have more than one coop, i.e., separate flocks, to keep the breeding options confined to specific breeds? Please tell me more, would love to learn how to manage the flock more effectively, especially with 2 roosters, and the prospect of potentially others hatching. I hope to get my flock to a self=sustaining level, also. Which of your ladies are the best brooders & moms? It sounds like you have all standard size, no bantams. That's the case with my flock, and it's really a fun adventure watching them grow... can't wait to try hatching a clutch of eggs this spring. Kudos to you for doing so!

 

[maryhysong]

I do. All the pics I posted earlier were vegetables grown aquaponically. Here are some pics of lettuce that I posted a few weeks ago:

Beautiful set up! Did you build your greenhouse or buy a kit?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Sad day over here. Spent the entire weekend outside with the chickens, rabbits and our 14 y.o. collie/shephard mix. She has been declining over the past week as if she is displaying some alzheimers symptoms. (or something like that) She is completely "present" for a while and then seems to get lost and starts meandering around and doesn't respond to our voices. Well, today she passed. It is a blessing to have had her as long as we have. I got to groom her this weekend and she loved it. She was outside with me all day both days. I sensed something was eminent, so last night I took the time to love on her and tell her if it's her time it's OK. When I left for work this morning, she was snoring away. My husband called me at work around 10:15 to tell me she had passed away. One minute I am smiling and even laughing from some of our favorite memories of her. The next I am crying like a baby because she is not under foot. She has been our constant companion and happily greeted us daily for almost 14 years. I guess this is our new normal. Thanks for letting me share.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Beautiful set up! Did you build your greenhouse or buy a kit?

Thanks! I built it (mostly) from materials I got at Home Depot. The ribs are galvanized top-rail fencing pipes bent with a hoop bender. It's held together with metal screws, radiator hose clamps and band-straps made for chain link fencing. They're quite easy to make and much less expensive than a kit. I found the vintage aluminum screen door at a salvage yard. The ventilation and coverings (poly for the winter, aluminet shade cloth for summer) were purchased at Greenhouse Megastore (I highly recommend them for stuff like this).