Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

Ooooo, photos? They sound beautiful..

I have found when introducing it is best to let free range in a large area.. We keep our in a run the length of our home.. Then open up the back yard around 4:30..

They just put themselves to bed., lock up the gate and so far no miss haps when we have integrated other hens..

. Our Moma hen Cheryl and the babies are in a screen'd in tractor in the run.. e
I let the hens co-mingle the other day and 2-3 of the other hens went right for Cheryl. It was awful!! Cheryl can not see, her feathers are like a polish.. She

is the lowest in the pecking order. I plan on cutting all of her top feathers in the next few days.. The babies need to get a bit bigger.. Then we will open up the gates..

My silkie-polish mix has been raising some meat chickens for the past 5 weeks.  She's been separated from the flock since then, but they all 'free-range' together.  One barred rock, I'm guessing it's the brat Daisy Mae, lol, goes after the silkie everytime.  It really is awful.  She's tiny compared to the barred rock, and the barred rock really chases her down.  The silkie's topknot isn't in her eyes, so she can see fairly well, but the barred rock goes after her when her head is down pecking at scratch.  Occasionally, I'll see the barred rock chase after her and I get in there and whoop at her with my 5-gallon bucket lid.  I hope I can get the little silkie back in the flock without a huge issue.  She can't raise chicks indefinitely! 

Oooohhhh, poor Cheryl, her "do" is awful.. She would not sit still.. She looks like david Bowie gone wrong..

 

[roostereggs]

@LadyKotaDoria and
@Demosthine

So sorry to hear of all your struggles lately!

 

[sklendworth]

Building first coop...

Those of you who use the misting system in your coop, do you have a problem with mold inside? Don't want to fix heat problem just to cause another one.

Also, I want to build a water system with the chicken nipples. Should I put water spouts in coop or just out in the attached run? If I have water nipples in the coop, will the water that the chickens drip cause mold?

I read on one of the other posts that the coops get very humid from the chickens. Will any of the above make that worse? Or is that not a problem in Az since it's so dry?

Thanks!!

 

[kpgoldstar]

We own a business open M-F. Not home during the day. We get home anywhere between 5:15 and 6:30 every night. Our 4 RIR 6 month old girls get let out to free range when we get home. They started laying about a month ago, it has been over 2 weeks now that all 4 are laying every single day. I can't believe how many days in a row I have gotten 4 eggs.

Today when I fed around 8:30 there was an egg in the nest box. I had laundry and a bunch of indoor chores in store so I didn't check the coop until after noon. There were 2 eggs. Since I was home I decided to let them out around 4:30 and there was not another egg, so I figured this was going to be the first day in a long time that I was only going to get 3 eggs.

Come about 5:30 this evening and Lemon is just acting completely crazy! It was warm today 85+ but not hot, she was storming around the backyard with her wings spread out and her beak wide open. I could not figure out what was wrong with her. She flew up against a shed and nearly knocked herself out. Then she flew up to the top of the coop and was just a nut case pecking at the corners. I thought she was hot so I carried her back to the water that I always put out when they free range. She took a couple sips and was off again. She got behind the shed and couldn't get out from there. I figured she needed to lay an egg, so I rescued her and put her in the nest box. She was having none of it! I could not get her calmed down. She tipped over one of the roost bars, back out of the coop and again she tried to get behind the shed and was tripping all over the place. I was really worried about her behavior especially with the open beak. There was no way she could be over heated. Her sisters were dust bathing in a hole they had dug that I filled with water last night so it was nice and cool. I picked her up and placed her with her sisters and she wanted nothing to do with it.

I was at a loss, but still so worried. Still thinking she needed to lay an egg, I put her in the coop and closed the door. I felt bad since this was her free-range time but I felt it was the best option. She went from nest box to another, back again, down the ramp, asking to get out. I let her out again and she was just as crazy!! Trying to get behind the shed, flying up to areas where she will only get hurt, what is her problem? I locked her back in the coop.

Finally about 15 minutes later, I peeked in and she was sitting in a nest box, relaxed and nibbling on the straw. She laid an egg and didn't do an egg song. I think her effort made up for it.

I'm kind of glad that I'm not home to watch the egg-laying drama. I was beside myself today and am so happy it all worked out for the better.

 

[azelgin]

Building first coop...

Those of you who use the misting system in your coop, do you have a problem with mold inside? Don't want to fix heat problem just to cause another one.

Also, I want to build a water system with the chicken nipples. Should I put water spouts in coop or just out in the attached run? If I have water nipples in the coop, will the water that the chickens drip cause mold?

I read on one of the other posts that the coops get very humid from the chickens. Will any of the above make that worse? Or is that not a problem in Az since it's so dry?

Thanks!!

The first question I ask, is where in AZ are you?

The misting systems cool by evaporation, so, If it's hot enough for the misters to work, you're not going to have any condensation to cause mold.

As for the water drinking system, I don't have any advice on that. I used to have an automatic dog bowl, on a float. It just got too gross, from the water not being changed. I can't see your nipples dripping enough from the chickens drinking, to get things wet. Our water system is now an old feed bowl, that gets filled every morning when the chickens get let out of the run.

My coop never gets very humid. When it gets down to the teens during the winter, its too dry for that to happen. When the summer monsoons come, all the windows are open. I have no heat, or, cooling in the coops. But, I live at 5200 foot elevation.

 

[mckenzy]

Hey all, long time! Hoping for some knowledge. My newly added PBR hen is now an accepted member of the flock. She laid about 4-5 small brown eggs over a week then all of a sudden, she stopped laying all together. Has been about a month without any more eggs.

Secondly, all 4 ladies are refusing to sleep in their coop anymore. They started getting up on my patio table and won't sleep anywhere else. What gives??

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Hey all, long time! Hoping for some knowledge. My newly added PBR hen is now an accepted member of the flock. She laid about 4-5 small brown eggs over a week then all of a sudden, she stopped laying all together. Has been about a month without any more eggs.

Secondly, all 4 ladies are refusing to sleep in their coop anymore. They started getting up on my patio table and won't sleep anywhere else. What gives??

Not sure about the no egg layoing. Maybe someone else can assist with that.

Have you checked the coop for any unwanted inhabitants...snake, mice, mites or any other creature? Is one hen a bully at night? Do they go in and lay during the day?

 

[chicksurreal]

We own a business open M-F. Not home during the day. We get home anywhere between 5:15 and 6:30 every night. Our 4 RIR 6 month old girls get let out to free range when we get home. They started laying about a month ago, it has been over 2 weeks now that all 4 are laying every single day. I can't believe how many days in a row I have gotten 4 eggs.

Today when I fed around 8:30 there was an egg in the nest box. I had laundry and a bunch of indoor chores in store so I didn't check the coop until after noon. There were 2 eggs. Since I was home I decided to let them out around 4:30 and there was not another egg, so I figured this was going to be the first day in a long time that I was only going to get 3 eggs.

Come about 5:30 this evening and Lemon is just acting completely crazy! It was warm today 85+ but not hot, she was storming around the backyard with her wings spread out and her beak wide open. I could not figure out what was wrong with her. She flew up against a shed and nearly knocked herself out. Then she flew up to the top of the coop and was just a nut case pecking at the corners. I thought she was hot so I carried her back to the water that I always put out when they free range. She took a couple sips and was off again. She got behind the shed and couldn't get out from there. I figured she needed to lay an egg, so I rescued her and put her in the nest box. She was having none of it! I could not get her calmed down. She tipped over one of the roost bars, back out of the coop and again she tried to get behind the shed and was tripping all over the place. I was really worried about her behavior especially with the open beak. There was no way she could be over heated. Her sisters were dust bathing in a hole they had dug that I filled with water last night so it was nice and cool. I picked her up and placed her with her sisters and she wanted nothing to do with it.

I was at a loss, but still so worried. Still thinking she needed to lay an egg, I put her in the coop and closed the door. I felt bad since this was her free-range time but I felt it was the best option. She went from nest box to another, back again, down the ramp, asking to get out. I let her out again and she was just as crazy!! Trying to get behind the shed, flying up to areas where she will only get hurt, what is her problem? I locked her back in the coop.

Finally about 15 minutes later, I peeked in and she was sitting in a nest box, relaxed and nibbling on the straw. She laid an egg and didn't do an egg song. I think her effort made up for it.

I'm kind of glad that I'm not home to watch the egg-laying drama. I was beside myself today and am so happy it all worked out for the better.

Isn't it crazy? Some of ours will act like that when they are wanting to lay, others just calmly go in the nesting box and lay an egg. I guess it depends on the individual chicken.

I have one that literally runs from box to box and if the run gate is open she will run all over the place for about an hour until the egg basically just falls out wherever she happens to be at the time. It would be comical except she seems distressed about it while she's trying to find a spot to lay. Lots of noise and rushing about. Total drama!

 

[Timskins]

I have a black australorp that is mounting other chickens. It looks identical to my other black that I know is laying and it hasnt crow'd or anything. The only thing that makes me think its a roo is the mounting. Twice now I have had 10 egg days (I have 10 chickens). How common is it to lay 2 eggs in one day? Or could my girl just like other girls?

 

[lovemyzoo]

we are new to the AZ area. We are up in the white mountains, moved here from NY. Right now we have 22 chickens, not sure how many hens/ros, since most are straight run. We are getting ready to hatch more also. I dont think we will raise tukerys here, main reason I cant find any. We raised them in NY along with our chickens.