Arizona Chickens

[SunBaked]

Do any of you know someone who is missing a peahen? One showed up in my yard and I'd like to find her owner if I can.

Thank You!

Aww, poor thing. I hope you find her owner. You should try checking with animal control to see if anyone reported her missing. That's how I found the owner for one that wandered over to my place. I guess she heard mine and decided to join them. I'd also check craigslist. A lot of people use that these days when looking for missing pets. They can travel for miles so she may have come from pretty far away from you.

 

[kpgoldstar]

I agree, adorable nest box idea!!

My original garden barriers (long before I got chickens) were 2ft. tall, 2 x 2's screened in chicken wire to keep out bunnies and chuckwallas. I did clip wings but my chickens still easily hopped up and over daily.
I added just chicken wire another 18" just this past couple of weeks. We just put 2x2's in the corners and stapled the wire to it pulling it tight. They can probably still fly that high but there is nothing to land on like Twinklin mentioned. They can't fly over the flimsy top so if you don't give them a landing from one side to the other you are good. Not the most attractive solution but it works. I no longer have to be out there every second when they are out of the coop.

 

[kpgoldstar]

Look what appeared in the nest box today! Our first day with all 4 girls laying was Saturday. We had 2 normal small eggs on Sunday, then this! I wonder if it is a double yolker? Quite the shiver to get the rest of it out at the end!

This was not staged! Exactly how I found them!

 

[MagicChicken]

MandyFitch the "nest box" is adorable. I planted my grapevines a couple years before I got chickens and built the run around them. You could either plant them on the outside of your run fencing or you'll have to protect them for a short period of time until the vines grow long enough that the chickens can't jump up and get the tip. It doesn't take much time at all before the vine will grow out of jumping height. Your local nursery will have grape vines that are relatively long--probably long enough to be too tall for the chickens.

As far as keeping chickens out of garden projects, I've found that simple welded wire works well. I took a 4' tall roll of 2" X 4" welded wire that I cut in half lengthwise so I have two strips of 2' tall fencing. I use the tag ends of the cut part in the middle to insert into the ground and don't use posts. This works best for smaller areas and areas with curves (as opposed to long straight runs), but I've never had a chicken get into anything protected by this fencing, even though it's only two feet tall (and I've never clipped wings). When crossing fences they like to fly up and land on a high point, like a top rail to the fence, before crossing over but they don't like to land and re-launch from thin wire. If you have existing fencing, you could take a foot or two of welded wire and add it to the top and that should help keep them out. I should point out that I have all heavy breeds that are less than athletic. I'm not sure how this arrangement might work for something like a leghorn or a smaller bantam.

I had never had a problem keeping chickens out of my garden until I got a couple of Fayoumi cross pullets. Those birds were smart. I have a 2' high chicken wire fence around my garden held up by 2" x 2" stakes in the ground (attached to the outside of my raised bed frames). Those Fayoumi cross pullets figured out how to land on top of the 2" x 2" stakes and jump down into the garden. Even worse, they taught my fat old production red hens how to do it, too. In a vain attempt to keep both garden and chickens, I put remesh hoops over the garden beds and covered them in plastic poultry netting. That didn't work either. The chickens figured out how to wiggle through the tiniest openings in the poultry netting, and they had no problem squeezing through the 6" openings in the remesh. I had to eat all of those girls before they could teach my new chicks the same tricks. Crossing my fingers the new birds don't figure it out for themselves.

Gallo is right. No top rail. And no fence posts, either, unless the posts don't go all the way to the top.

Here's one of my old production hens, proudly displaying her gymnastic prowess before they all got a one-way ticket to the stew pot. She was a happy chicken:

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

IN YAVAPAI COUNTY HERE LOOKIN FOR NEW CHICKEN LOVER FRIENDS! ANYONE HAVE COYOTE ISSUES???? I HAVE ALOT OF COYOTES AROUND HERE AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO KEEP THEM AWAY FROM MY HOME. 

. One of the. Most discussed subjects. A few weeks ago a great design was detailed, I think it was Gallo. They live in Tuscon. We have also Sky attacks. You need a footer around the perimiture so they can not dig down. Heavy enough wire that they can not tare it, and of course tall enough can not jump, or a design they can not manage to get over. There are some great designs. May be he (Tuscon BYC member) will reprint it for you.

 

[dlayne]

Aww, poor thing. I hope you find her owner. You should try checking with animal control to see if anyone reported her missing. That's how I found the owner for one that wandered over to my place. I guess she heard mine and decided to join them. I'd also check craigslist. A lot of people use that these days when looking for missing pets. They can travel for miles so she may have come from pretty far away from you.

I posted myself about finding her on Craigslist but I will check with animal control tomorrow. Thank you for the advice! She's not very afraid of me so I know she's been handled, and well cared for. I put her in with my chickens.. Is that okay? I know nothing about peafowl!

 

[rockmissjess]

. One of the. Most discussed subjects. A few weeks ago a great design was detailed, I think it was Gallo. They live in Tuscon. We have also Sky attacks. You need a footer around the perimiture so they can not dig down. Heavy enough wire that they can not tare it, and of course tall enough can not jump, or a design they can not manage to get over. There are some great designs. May be he (Tuscon BYC member) will reprint it for you.

A local guy in my little rural neighborhood has 264ft of 4ft & 5ft hardware cloth for $100 im gonna have my husband go look at it.. if its up to par its a great deal and we will get it!

 

[jubilation]

IN YAVAPAI COUNTY HERE LOOKIN FOR NEW CHICKEN LOVER FRIENDS! ANYONE HAVE COYOTE ISSUES???? I HAVE ALOT OF COYOTES AROUND HERE AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO KEEP THEM AWAY FROM MY HOME.

I live in Chino Valley right next to BLM land and we have absolutely no coyote problems here. Our problem is people not keeping their dogs in. Don't seem to have any hawk or eagle problems either. Lots of ravens, doves, etc. come for all the grain scratch I put out and go drink out of the horse waterers. The ravens walk on top of the horse but they don't seem to mind.

 

[Sill]

A local guy in my little rural neighborhood has 264ft of 4ft & 5ft hardware cloth for $100 im gonna have my husband go look at it.. if its up to par its a great deal and we will get it!

My sister lives in Rio Verde less than two miles from the Verde River. They have coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons to worry about. She made her coop out of a 12 foot chain link dog run covered in hardware cloth. The west end is semi enclosed and has the nest boxes. The roof is covered in corrugated metal supported by steel pipe. Hog panels are used on the ground extending around the perimeter and buried a couple of inches so nothing can burrow in. Plastic lattice helps create a visual barrier so the chickens feel safer and the predators don't think they can eventually get to them plus it lets in cooling breezes while giving some shade and sun. The coons can open just about any gate or door latch so the door is locked with a pad lock. So far nothing has gotten in except scorpions and mice and those get eaten by the chickens. She uses a similar set up for her dwarf nigerian goats and hasn't lost any either. Her neighbor lost several chickens because his chickens had several places they could put their heads through their coop to the outside and they got their heads eaten off by coyotes. The coop needs to be set up so the chickens cannot put their head through the coop walls or doors. If there are coyotes in the area free range birds are lunch, dinner or breakfast. Loose dogs in her neighborhood also get eaten.

 

[rockmissjess]

My sister lives in Rio Verde less than two miles from the Verde River. They have coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons to worry about. She made her coop out of a 12 foot chain link dog run covered in hardware cloth. The west end is semi enclosed and has the nest boxes. The roof is covered in corrugated metal supported by steel pipe. Hog panels are used on the ground extending around the perimeter and buried a couple of inches so nothing can burrow in. Plastic lattice helps create a visual barrier so the chickens feel safer and the predators don't think they can eventually get to them plus it lets in cooling breezes while giving some shade and sun. The coons can open just about any gate or door latch so the door is locked with a pad lock. So far nothing has gotten in except scorpions and mice and those get eaten by the chickens. She uses a similar set up for her dwarf nigerian goats and hasn't lost any either. Her neighbor lost several chickens because his chickens had several places they could put their heads through their coop to the outside and they got their heads eaten off by coyotes. The coop needs to be set up so the chickens cannot put their head through the coop walls or doors. If there are coyotes in the area free range birds are lunch, dinner or breakfast. Loose dogs in her neighborhood also get eaten.

see this is my issue.. im literally just off the prescott exit off the 17 and if anyone knows what it looks like right there im in the middle of nowhere.. i hear the coyotes almost every night and sometimes around 5am when i wake up.. i dont have alot of $$$ and i plan on free-ranging them during the day.. i thought about getting wolf urine and night predator eye solar lights... as well as the fencing from the local guy... we shall see on that tho... i just ordered this coop which i plan on re-enforcing and surrounding with dug halfway down cinderblocks and paving stones..


HMMMMM... JUST CAME ACROSS THIS... WONDER IF MY HUSBAND COULD CONVERT ONE OF OUR BACK PORCHES INTO SOMETHING LIKE THIS..... OR POSSIBLY OUR 14x20 NOT FINISHED SHED THAT JOE SMOE WHO LIVED HERE BEFORE US HALFWAY BUILT...