Arizona Chickens

[rhondita55]

Thank you. My Mother raised chickens up in Holbrook, but being a teenager I never paid attention. I've kept my granddaughters Leopard Gecko alive now for 5 yrs so maybe there is hope.

 

[City farm]

Quoit from City Farm: When I get home I will look up the benefits of taking oregano essential oil, however I do believe it does the same as neem, but more.. We put it in a capsule, so there is no taste..

Not really, when i burp I get the full flavor of my herb and oil cocktail..... Just lucky, I can enjoy over and over again. Kind of like a White Castle. Burp! There it is again, hours layer.

By the way, I would like to know if your girls like the coop?

I think my D.H. likes it more than the chickens do.. I haven't put it back there yet. I have to move The other stuff 1st. Day project. will need thr boys to come help lift heavy stuff

 

[desertmarcy]

Can I plant in my duck run?

Cattails normally grow in water or boggy wet soil. If that is what your duck run is like...yes you could.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Depends on ambient temperature. At this time of year I only give lights to the outside birds at night, and the birds inside only for the first week.

 

[flower]

Coming from PA where we would never see that fungus to AZ and working in a teaching hospital was a real eye opener. When I first started working here, there was no good definitive lab method of identifying the valley fever fungus. A lot of molds can be "white and fluffy". The fact that we saw the right kind of spores under the microscope wasn't good enough for a teaching hospital lab. Since we also had a virology lab, and they maintained a mouse colony, we would "convert" the mice. You see, there are only 5 molds, if memory serves, that infect humans that are what are called dimorphic molds. That means they take one form in the environment, and another form in the human body. Valley fever is one of them. So we would wash the surface of a mature culture with saline--highly infective--and draw it up in a syringe. Then inoculate mice intraperitoneally (and be VERY careful not to stick yourself with that needle!!), wait a couple weeks for the mice to look sick, then sacrifice the mice, dissect out the lung, spleen, and liver, and look for the classic and diagnosic form of the fungus that is produced in the body. That completes the life cycle and proof of the mold species. Imagine how hazardous that procedure is! None of us ever stuck ourselves with a needle full of valley fever spores. I am glad there are now serological methods of identification that don't involve injecting mice! And even more glad that I'm not working in the lab anymore

Two things in common with you. Lived in Pa for most of my life and worked around microbes while they were incubation in the human form for plus four decades. Before Aides diagnosed and then afterward many in the health business were quite cavalier about working without universal precautions. Over the span of my work years I was stuck many times with used needles boy am I lucky. working with microbes should be considered one of the most hazardous jobs !!!!

 

[flower]

New and a Newbie here. Just moved from Mesa to East Apache Junction on some horse property. I know NOTHING. But I really want to get some Layers. Is it to late? Do I need to keep a heat light on the chicks if they are in the house or garage? I could use all the info you can dish out.

I live in North where the nights are colder. I have two chicks three weeks old that are outside all day in the warm sun and at night I bring them inside in a closed container without heat. They are doing well. I am guessing that the inside temperature at night is in the mid to low sixties. But yes the general rule is to use external warmth until fully feathered but I do know some chicken people who do not use external warmth for their chicks.

 

[K9Dave]

I live in North where the nights are colder. I have two chicks three weeks old that are outside all day in the warm sun and at night I bring them inside in a closed container without heat. They are doing well. I am guessing that the inside temperature at night is in the mid to low sixties.  But yes the general rule is to use external warmth until fully feathered but I do know some chicken people who do not use external warmth for their chicks.  

It's def warm enough here in the Phx area now to just put them out with no lamp IMO. I have 3, 4 week old chicks that have been outside with the others for almost 2 weeks now. No problem. I just have to pick them up and put them in the coop at night as they're too small to remember how to get in the door. (It requires them to jump into the coop as I don't use a ladder or steps for them to get into coop). My others are about 9 weeks old and they have been going into the coop on their own at sundown pretty much everyday since I got them. Now they like to fly to the top of the run (approx 7 ft off the ground) and roost up there so I have to pick the hens up and put them in the coop while I have 2, 9 week old Roos who now sleep seperately from the hens, outside the coop.

 

[rhondita55]

It's def warm enough here in the Phx area now to just put them out with no lamp IMO. I have 3, 4 week old chicks that have been outside with the others for almost 2 weeks now. No problem. I just have to pick them up and put them in the coop at night as they're too small to remember how to get in the door. (It requires them to jump into the coop as I don't use a ladder or steps for them to get into coop). My others are about 9 weeks old and they have been going into the coop on their own at sundown pretty much everyday since I got them. Now they like to fly to the top of the run (approx 7 ft off the ground) and roost up there so I have to pick the hens up and put them in the coop while I have 2, 9 week old Roos who now sleep seperately from the hens, outside the coop.

Thanks for the help. We don't even have the coup finished yet. Thought I'd get a start on the chicks. We keep the AC turned on 80. Sounds warm, but Phx people understand. Now the question is What kind and where. DH says no roosters. The neighbors roosters can't tell time.

Are Ground Squirrels/Prairie Squirrels a problem for the coop? We have a ton of them. A lot of quail too, but I love watching those. 4 Pair and at least 21 babies. Our cats have now become "indoor" only cats.

 

[Macboat]

I'm looking for a home for some eight week old rabbits, Pm me if you are interested.

What breeds are they? I am very interested but.... still debating if I want more animals.

 

[City farm]

Hola! Its been a while since I've checked in here. Atleast a year or so. Life got pretty distracting for a while, but I am back in the game. I've still got the goats (but I am down to a easier number (4, and I am planning to sell one of them) and I have two pens of chickens (Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and a pair of Blie Wheaten Ameruacanas with a couple assorted hens in there to bring the male to female ratio up) and the bunnies are all gone (maybe it was a hasty decision on that-live and learn). I'm hatching out some eggs that a friend gave me and so far its been a good hatch for the most part. I have to admit, I'm a bit excited.

Who all is still here?
I see lots of new names I don't recognize too! Glad to see more chicken people!

Glad you joined back in.. Got any photos of your wonderful animals?