Arizona Chickens

[Stynch]

I think this is funny but I hope I do not offend anyone. Sry If I do.





Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?


Hysterical!!!!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Someone approached my wife yesterday at church to inquire if our flock was okay. apparently he saw a coyote running down the street with a chicken in its mouth. I can only recon that the Brahma that I found in the alley was from the same flock and had flown over the wall to escape the coyote.

I have an electric fence going around my coop and one crazy dog on patrol. I have little worry the coyote will get into my coop. If my dog cannot get in there then the coyote will have less luck.

As for misters, I use a single one in the back part of the run where I never put food. I have used it sparingly in an attempt to acclimatise them to the heat-only a few hours in afternoon when over 105. Next week it will be when over 106 and 107 the next.

That's exactly how two of my chickens ended up hiding down around the block, they flew out over the wall escaping the coyote in the back yard. It's good that your coop is secure from coyotes!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I've always worried a bit about the ants getting to my chickens, my yard is just filled with a variety of ant species. When I was planning my coop and reading this thread (and others) the stories of chickens killed by ants made me want to see if I could design the coop to promote antlion habitat around it. So, I built larger eaves on the two exposed sides of the coop. With the soil around the coop softened from the digging of the foundation and the laying of the apron, the eaves created the perfect sheltered area that antlions prefer to forage from and within a very short time after the coop was set in place they colonized that area. It only protects the coop on those two sides and ants can still get in through the side by the pop door and from behind over the wall, but I've never seen seen an ant inside the coop. Of course I probably just jinxed myself.



For those that don't know about antlions they are larval insects that make and maintain these pits while hiding burrowed at the bottom. When an ant gets crosses over an edge, the antlion pulls sand from below the ant, throwing it up over the ant and causing the ant to fall into the bottom of the pit. Once it's finished eating the ant, it throws what is left of the carcass up and over the wall of the pit. You can sometimes see the tracks of their wandering around in seemingly aimless loops as they search for new foraging sites. You can see short tracks in the pic above.

 

[Syl in Tucson]

Costs a bit to start, but I carpeted my whole run with a deep layer of mulch. I hose it down about 3 times a day to keep it cool. The chickens scratch themselves a hole and lay in it.

Carnivore, does your run get flooded when it rains? I'm dreading mucking out my critter pen. This is the first year in there so I don't know how well it drains.

 

[carnivore]

Carnivore, does your run get flooded when it rains? I'm dreading mucking out my critter pen. This is the first year in there so I don't know how well it drains.

Nope. Roof is tarped over (and sloped so my neighbor gets the runoff!). Back a few posts, I mentioned that my soil is very sandy (I am about 500 yards from the Santa Cruz, and before they diked it, I would probably have problems during the rainy season). My biggest problem is keeping it damp enough, because it has such rapid drainage, and the heat doesn't help. I can go out and give it a good soaking, and it will be dry again in 2 or 3 hours.
Using the Kellogg's mulch, combined with the rapid drainage, I have found that the carbonaceous material leaches out pretty quickly, leaving behind a litter of small woody bits. It is undoubtedly improving the soil, but I will be moving soon, so I won't enjoy any of the benefits from that.

 

[carnivore]

I've always worried a bit about the ants getting to my chickens, my yard is just filled with a variety of ant species. When I was planning my coop and reading this thread (and others) the stories of chickens killed by ants made me want to see if I could design the coop to promote antlion habitat around it. So, I built larger eaves on the two exposed sides of the coop. With the soil around the coop softened from the digging of the foundation and the laying of the apron, the eaves created the perfect sheltered area that antlions prefer to forage from and within a very short time after the coop was set in place they colonized that area. It only protects the coop on those two sides and ants can still get in through the side by the pop door and from behind over the wall, but I've never seen seen an ant inside the coop. Of course I probably just jinxed myself. For those that don't know about antlions they are larval insects that make and maintain these pits while hiding burrowed at the bottom. When an ant gets crosses over an edge, the antlion pulls sand from below the ant, throwing it up over the ant and causing the ant to fall into the bottom of the pit. Once it's finished eating the ant, it throws what is left of the carcass up and over the wall of the pit. You can sometimes see the tracks of their wandering around in seemingly aimless loops as they search for new foraging sites. You can see short tracks in the pic above.

I've seen the antlion pits, but I don't think I've ever actually seen an antlion to know what they look like. Another very effective ant predator is horny toads. Watch one parked next to an anthill, and you'll be shocked how many ants they can eat. I'm not sure if they bother with the pissants, though.

 

[Syl in Tucson]

"Practice laying"...I explained to my granddaughter that this is the chicken version of playing with dolls. Its practice for when you become a mommy. THEN we had to have the conversation about why the eggs we are getting won't turn into little chicks.
With a knowing look on her face, my seven year old granddaughter says "So as long as we don't have a rooster around, none of the girls will get in the family way?"
Oh my gosh. YES!

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Ok.
Fin nelly got pics down loaded.. Spent over an hour. Submitted and got a massage that I already submitted it.... NO I DID NOT. WILL TRY LATTER. JUST FRUSTRATED.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

[VIDEO]

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

More pics. Ethel, came in when the door opened, when I was napping. She really likes Ernie's bed. Sweetie, is the only one that stayed at the door. She know I would chase them all out. Ernie found shad and the girls didn't midge sharing it.