Arizona Chickens

[pimachickens]

Maybe we can have a Tucson meet up for all us Tucsonians one of these days. 

I would definitely be up for that!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: I've also never ordered from a hatchery, and don't plan to. However, they have a place: utility birds; if you want a bird bred to its standard, get them from a breeder. The exception would be for waterfowl; there are a couple of very reputable waterfowl hatcheries whopay more attention to quality and health than to sale numbers: Holdereads and Metzger Farms.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Take some time to familiarize yourself with BYC. There is an entire forum dedicated to the topic. You'll find enough reading there to keep you busy for months.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:

The first one was great fun!

 

[Sill]

I'm the cook here for my wife and I and basically can only cook rustic Cajun dishes. They call for a lot if celery, bell peppers and onions. I tried growing my I onions but they died. Red and vidalia all grew shoots but ten the shoot dried up and died. Maybe I water too much or not enough. Prob too much with me. All were in 1 gal containers. Now I have some peppers going, corn is prob 18" high, squash is sprouting already and it's very small. Should I clip the fruit until it gets bigger. Only like 5" tall. Some big was eating on my beans (only maybe 6" tall) so I sprinkled DE because I didn't know what else to do. Thanks for the gypsum tip. I've started a compost pile in the run so I can hopefully jeep the chickens happy for the month I'll have them cooped up while I let the grass grow. Just keep adding stuff at night and they spend the day digging through it. I already asked but again has anyone used Buffalo Grass here?

Never used Buffalo Grass. Maybe there's a reason it's not common here?
Shade for squash is a must in summer. 50% or less works good for plants if they get afternoon shade. That being said I've never had squash make it through summer. They wilt terribly when it's over 110, then leaves get crispy, flowers only can stay open a few hours before they wilt too and production stops. Then it's time to feed them to critters or the compost bin. For summer squash start it as early in winter as you can so they are at their peak for spring weather. For winter squash start by the end of August (yes it will still be hot) so you can get fruit set before frost.

At my house, I have found that the caliche isn't a problem at all. It's all the gosh-dern rocks that kill me! Our area use to be orange groves many years ago, so it's semi-decent dirt. It's abundantly clear they weren't properly taking care of the soil, or it'd be far more fertile, but at least it isn't clay. We are right along the Agua Fria River, so we get huge boulders in the yard. I've pulled out ones the size of my head when we were removing truckloads of dirt to level my parents' yard and again when I was tilling my yard for grass. I've sent two truckloads of river rock over to a friend's house because she has a big residential wash near her house where people keeping taking the rocks from. So she ever-so-kindly refills them with what we've removed. It's a nice plan.

Preaching to the choir here, but the chicken manure has been the best fertilizer ever for my yard. My grass is coming in so lush and green, it's absolutely amazing. I have to mow every three or four days, despite only watering every two weeks or so, usually just backwash from my pool filter randomly over the last two months. It gives me really high hopes for working that holistic ranch I want, based on Joel Salatin's management methods! Really high hopes! On the bad side, that's one of the problems CPS is making a point of with my case right now. The fact that we free-ranged chickens and rabbits. Because they are such dangerous, horrible and disgusting creatures with highly contaminated feces that are stupidly dangerous to children. So just be warned that they, too, are on the lookout for all of us natural homesteading types.

Yikes! Now CPS is worrying about kids exposed to dirt and livestock? How did any of the pioneer kids ever grow up?

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

That's funny! Sadly funny. Research is finding that the lake of exposure is the prime reason all the allergies and illness. Weak immune systems that never learned how to respond. According to the resource by the time a kid is 3 the must take in enough bugs to train their body's. Fram kids are healthier, they wondered why! That's why.

 

[City farm]

I think all the posters on this thread need to have a meeting at the community feedback meeting. I won't buy anything from the supermarket that I don't have to, I simply don't trust the government, FDA, or big ag. I like to KNOW what is going in my gut. Time to stand up for our rights. I believe I have the right to grow my own food, and KNOW it is safe to eat.

X2.. They, who ever they are, there are so many different "they" almost not even human...
Here is a good documentary .. " the oiling of America" I could only get threw about 3/4.. I do need to re-watch it..
I think I will have a get together to watch it..

 

[City farm]

 
Happiness is getting waked up at 1 am by a bunch of roosters crowing, and realizing that - for once - it isn't YOUR roosters waking up the 'hood.

Even happier when you realize the crowing is coming from several different directions, so there must be a lot more chicken people in the neighborhood than there used to be.  
Life is good

I live out of town in SW Tucson near Bopp and San Joaquin and I put a Roo in my duck run as he and my other roo were fighting and over breeding my girls. I love his coloring and I want to retain him as a breeder. The other morning I am working in my garden and working in the duck run which is next to my  garden and my neighbor asked me WHY there is a rooster in with my ducks. I said because he didnt play nice with my other roo. They then asked WHEN he was returning to the flock and I said umm never. She got angry and said well...he is very loud!!! I said yes roosters can be. 

I got upset because I have lived here 10 years. They own the property and house in front of me and they moved out 4 years ago and sold it but the people defaulted so they moved back however they have 2 families living in their house and they put a 5th wheel next to my fence for them to live in and they have another motor home some man is living in on another part of the property. That is 4 families on less than one acre and the only reason they hear MY roo crow is because they decided to put their 5th wheel there. It is frustrating. why do people move to the country if they do not want to be around animals?

Wish I had other Roosters crowing my my neighborhood. :/

I can't remember who it was that posted up that photo of a large bill board that said something about animals & the smell... Blablabla. It was so funny.. I did look for it on my save photos.. Could not find it.. Lady was it you that posted it??? It was so great..

 

[City farm]

 
  It takes a bit to get me riled up but she did it.   Requiring gardens to have fences?     I'll shut up now before I get myself in trouble.

OMG, YES THAT IS WHAT DID IT!!!!!!  I was reduced to sputtering.  We were all in the car, dropping my kid off at school, and my husband turned to my daughter and said, "Well, we know where mom is going to be on Tuesday. Sigh." 

Sweet good for you.. Gosh it is so much work keeping these freaks at bay.. How do they get to say these things... Crazy.. Those people.
Go in numbers.. It helps..

 

[City farm]

Ha ha ha. I agree. I'm going Tuesday. I read the proposed changes and it seemed that the city council wanted to make things EASIER for urban farmers. Did I read this wrong? According to the current laws on the books, I'm way over the chicken limit. And the coop isn't far enough away from my neighbors house. And I think I have too many bunnies ....

That's my take on it too, but it seems there will be opposition and if people don't speak out in favor nothing will change.

City council in my opion can be tricky.. Sometimes their language & the meaning is not the same as others... Have neighbors add their opion in wrighting,
Ask them to add it to the minutes before the meeting.. This is a city council meeting right?? Shoot I am so tired from family in town...