Arizona Chickens

[Demosthine]

There is no such thing as "too much city" for any predators. I've seen owls, hawks, and coyotes in my neighborhood when I lived at 27th Avenue and Indian School Road.

And in regards to CPS, just watch the news and read AzProject.Org for a lot of information. I was the one dealing with CPS currently, but my wife is sending copies of every post I make to the caseworker hoping she'll use it against me, so I have to be very careful in what I say. There are eyes and ears everywhere.

Just stay strong, and have faith that God has a plan for everything. He will take every bad situation and give it a good outcome. We may not see it because of our shortsighted ideals, but He works miracles.

 

[Timskins]

I've been out of the loop for a while, I don't think I have been on BYC in at least a month or two but I just needed some advice. I'm going to go back and read through the thread in a little bit so I can catch up.

We had 4 adult laying hens, and 15 chicks that I got from Meyer back at the end of March and everything was going well. I went to Texas for 2 weeks to be with my husband while he was working out of state, and had a high school gal checking on my chickens daily. Her parents have chickens as well, so I knew she would do a good job. Well we just got home this evening and every single one of my chickens is dead. Some are missing, some are still in the coop, and I can tell it was a predator because there is some wiring torn off a corner of the coop. It happened within just the past 24-48 hours. We've never had a problem with predators, but we have also never been gone this long before with the house empty and our dogs not at home. I feel so defeated. I don't really want to start all over again, but we had just spent time and money adding on to our coop for the new chickens we had got.

So. What would you do? Would you start all over again from scratch? I don't know if I want to get chicks again and start from the beginning, but I don't know anyone with pullets either and our local feed store only has chicks (we are an hour south of Tucson). This is just not what I wanted to come home to after a 6 hr drive in a van with my 3 children and a dog.

Of course you gotta start over. You have the major investment already made, the chickens are the cheap part. Plus desertmarcy has just what you're looking for.

 

[primaknits]

That's the pits, sorry for your loss! I am a little ways from you, being on the northwest side of Tucson, but I have a TON of extra hens and pullets to sell right now. The hens, a lot of them are too broody for my liking and if I don't sell them soon, they will be stewing hens. Olive eggers and blue egg mix mostly, since I used a terribly broody Black Ameraucana as their mother--now all her offspring are broody. REALLY nice hens, nice dispositions, mellow---olive eggers are from last year's hatch and the others are Ameraucana X Orloff and have sweet Orloff disposition--kind of hate to butcher them, but I don't use broody hens for hatching and they are kind of driving me nuts. Also have some nice New Hampshires, some other ones too.

Young pullets, I have a lot of them that are extras. Mostly around 3 months old, Black Copper Marans, Delaware, Heritage Barred Rock. All organically fed. I'm pricing them pretty low for what they are right now because I have too many birds and need to thin out drastically. Also have 6 nice red sexlinked pullets, from heritage parents (not hatchery), those are the youngest, about 5 and 7 weeks old.

IF you decide to get more birds, PLEASE give me a call! And anyone else who wants more layers

Of course you gotta start over. You have the major investment already made, the chickens are the cheap part. Plus desertmarcy has just what you're looking for.

THANK YOU. As soon as my husband comes home this next weekend we are going to assess the chicken coop and see what needs to be done before we get more chickens. The part that got ripped open is just 2x4's and wiring so the chickens wouldn't get to hot but maybe we need to put some plywood or something along the bottom for the first 2 feet?

desertmarcy, thank you SO much for your offer. I will probably be contacting you when we get things sorted out. We were expecting to start getting more eggs by September and I don't know if I can wait that long all over again!

 

[Timskins]

THANK YOU. As soon as my husband comes home this next weekend we are going to assess the chicken coop and see what needs to be done before we get more chickens. The part that got ripped open is just 2x4's and wiring so the chickens wouldn't get to hot but maybe we need to put some plywood or something along the bottom for the first 2 feet?

desertmarcy, thank you SO much for your offer. I will probably be contacting you when we get things sorted out. We were expecting to start getting more eggs by September and I don't know if I can wait that long all over again!

Go with hardware cloth, and make sure you have a decent in ground barrier. I have used bricks in ground as my foundation but some people just baury fencing in ground to deter the diggers.

 

[City farm]

I am a cantankerous person by nature. You would think this would keep me safe....for the past 29 years I have been the recipiant of many an errant child. Why people think this is a good idea, I will never know. I have never gotten a child from the state, but through the church and word of mouth. I've taken in more than one child or dog in the middle of the night. I can't count the number of dogs or cats or horses, but there have been 21 foster children. I have a small house. Funds are always tight. I make them do chores. I MAKE them behave. I scold them, reprimand them. I'm a slave driver. I made them go to church, volunteer, go to bed on time, and dress like a respectable human being. And on the inside I might cry for them, because their life is crap, but I wouldn't ever tell them that. I tell them if they don't like their life...fix it. They have choices.

How wonderful you have opened your home and heart 21+ times to those in need. Your place might have been the first place they ever had discipline, rules, boundaries and routines. I'm sure that some of what you taught them has stuck with at least some of them and hopefully helped them make better choices and have a better life down the road. Bless you.

X2!!

 

[City farm]

 
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So glad to have you back..

This is another reason that we love our ducks.. e They are not as mean...

Thanks!  I lurk.....most of the time.  I joined the GA thread but just don't find the right mix there.  I really like the mix of AZ peeps...useful information, interesting stories and good times. Miss you guys!  

Hope the little chick turns out ok.  I only have the one hen that has a mean streak, and it's only when she has chicks. (We don't let her brood/hatch any more).  We keep debating on the ducks...I keep thinking yes...then no.. Can't decide 

The ducks are layers.. We have a ton of trees, so we pump out their water to the trees & plants.. Not wasted.. Go look at different set ups, that might change your mind.. I said no to chicken's then yes, then no, then 5 banty's.. Agh, now we have extra chicken's.. No, no, no, to ducks.. Now love, love, love them...

 

[primaknits]

This is a picture of the damage to the coop.

 

[City farm]

I've been out of the loop for a while, I don't think I have been on BYC in at least a month or two but I just needed some advice. I'm going to go back and read through the thread in a little bit so I can catch up.

We had 4 adult laying hens, and 15 chicks that I got from Meyer back at the end of March and everything was going well. I went to Texas for 2 weeks to be with my husband while he was working out of state, and had a high school gal checking on my chickens daily. Her parents have chickens as well, so I knew she would do a good job. Well we just got home this evening and every single one of my chickens is dead. Some are missing, some are still in the coop, and I can tell it was a predator because there is some wiring torn off a corner of the coop. It happened within just the past 24-48 hours. We've never had a problem with predators, but we have also never been gone this long before with the house empty and our dogs not at home. I feel so defeated. I don't really want to start all over again, but we had just spent time and money adding on to our coop for the new chickens we had got. 

So. What would you do? Would you start all over again from scratch? I don't know if I want to get chicks again and start from the beginning, but I don't know anyone with pullets either and our local feed store only has chicks (we are an hour south of Tucson). This is just not what I wanted to come home to after a 6 hr drive in a van with my 3 children and a dog. 

You are not to close to us here, but I think we could all share a chicken with you to get you hens.. Intergrating different chicken's from different flocks do take a while to figure out the pecking order..
There is always free chicken's somewhere.. Don't give up, you just added to your coop.. It will all work out.. Take a few days to figure it out.. They will come your way..
Condolences from us..

 

[City farm]

First a broody, now a different sex link hen of mine is starting to try to crow!   It sounds more like a sick cow, but her posture as she is doing it is pure rooster.  I had not seen her at the nest boxes for a while, maybe her ovaries are shrinking?  Any advice? Why is this happening??

What?? How old?? That is weird..

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

This is a picture of the damage to the coop.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

I agree with the others that you should get more chickens--right after the wire is secured. Thank you for posting this picture, I think it will help other people and save birds. I think the risk of this sort of damage might be mitigated by screwing in boards over top of the wire, after you have stapled it in. I used 1X2 wood strips (which are relatively inexpensive at Home Depot) along every place the edge of wire met wood. Sandwiched in between the two pieces of wood, it would make it much more difficult to pull the wire out.