Arizona Chickens

[chicksurreal]

You better cover that seedling with a wire basket or something or a rodent will come along and nip it right off. I had some foot high or so in one gallon pots and one night a packrat nipped a lot of the branches right off. One was nipped and only had a stem left, no leaves. They all came back and Monday I repotted them all into 5-gallon containers.

Oh, I know it! I've got them covered with a wire mesh hoop until they get too big for the little buggers to damage. Something nipped off the top of one of them before I even knew it was through the ground. Hopefully it will come back.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

And DesertMarcy is closer to Eloy than most other folks in the Tucson area. I live in southwest Tucson. It takes me 40 minutes to get to her house. 30-60 minutes to get to most other places in Tucson. Pima County is twice the size of Connecticut and the Tucson area takes a big chunk of the eastern end of the county.

Both Nichols Heirloom and Texas Wild Cherry tomatoes from Native Seeds Search have done well in my garden, and are now the only tomatoes I grow. Mostly because they keep volunteering whether I want them or not. The plants usually produce a short spring crop before it gets too hot. Most of them hang in through the summer without producing much, then give me a great fall crop. Sometimes the birds even let me have some of the fruit.

I planted a small patch of panic grass the other day as an experiment. I screened the seeded area from birds. Found it swarming with ants yesterday. Hope there are some seeds left to germinate. Also planted amaranth and desert chia. Hope something will grow. It's been a rough year for the garden.

The ground squirrel population has exploded here. Squirrels have tunneled up into two of my garden beds, under my chick brooder, and under my air conditioner slab. Haven't succeeded in trapping them. Starting to feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack. Outwitted by rodents.

Back in my great-great grandfather's time lobster was considered poor people's food. It was abundant, easily caught, and the rich people wouldn't touch it. Not any more.

Yeah, I'm about 40 min or so from desertmarcy too.

I first planted the Nichols and Texas wild cherry tomatoes about six years ago here on this property and I still get volunteers from those original plants. If it weren't for them and a couple Punta Bandas we wouldn't have any tomatoes right now. We do have to pick them right as they start to turn in order to get them before the wild birds. I used to have better luck with the Punta Bandas, but not this year for some reason. Heck, my whole garden has suffered this year. I don't know what's going on but it's not producing at all like years past. The egg plants are starting to produce well though.

Ugh, ants! I'm tired of the ants.

When we were young my wife and I worked summers on Martha's Vineyard to save and pay for college and we lived very frugal lifestyles amongst the rich. We would get all kinds of incredulous looks when we collected mussels from the rocks to eat. People thought we were savages for eating them; nobody there ate them. Now I see them in restaurants all the time.

 

[carnivore]

Ok Gallo and any other aquaponics ppl I have a question. When I build mine how do I get the bees to go in and pollinate for me? I am allergic so I cannot take them in there but I have a friend that is wanting to set up bee boxes on my property. I really want natural pollination if possible but we are planning to have it in a temp controlled structure. any thoughts will be appreciated

I don't have a problem because I always leave my greenhouse doors open, and also built a nesting box for mason bees nearby. A friend told me I could put a "bee tube" on the greenhouse, but I never tried it. I also saw a video of a woman that has a closed greenhouse in Julian (in the mountains east of San Diego). She would go out in the morning to work in the greenhouse, and the bees would rush in as soon as she opened the door.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Yeah, I bet they wouldn't like the vermiculite, too much moisture retention with it. They really seem to like getting O2 to the roots and keeping them in too much moisture is trouble. I had some I transplanted in the garden soil without perlite and they didn't do as well as those with it and I think it was mostly due to drainage.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

had internet for almost 15 min. But I took to long trying to say and upload pictures.

Writing a head so all I have to do is upload and past. I know it would be fleeting and I needed to read and type fast. I have 2 more pages left to get up to date.

Yes it is pokeweed. He boiled it and the suture fired it with butter. He said only use the young and tender leaves.

The milk is wonderful, rich and creamy as I remember it with yellow tint. I will be got 2 gal. I tried to make cottage cheese. I got something that tastes and feels like mozzarella cheese? What did I do wrong? I made it before with store bought whole milk. Did everything the same. It tastes good but not cottage cheese. Not giving up. Will try again. Keep a gallon to drink. One gallon had about 3-1/3" of butter fat cream at the to, the other about 2", it was fresh that morning she milkes, I was told at 5 AM and PM. So the milk was very fresh at 9-10 AM. I think I could give a good guess as to witch was Holstein and Jersey. You can taste the difference, not much difference, but a little. Today when I made the cheese I tasted both again and I could not tell the difference. But my stomach I can say is a lot happier with cows milk that is raw. I love milk and I drink goats milk because I like it and it sets well on my stomach. Now I can drink all tge cows milk I want to, I spoon of about half the cream for my coffee.

The lady were I get the milk has oxen, donkeys, chickens, turkeys and goats along with I think 8 cows.

I will be staying here for a few weeks more. I ha been working on my camper, making it more effect and easier to live in. Doing a little at a time. Right now, as long as I need an A/C unit I will not be able to use some of my space very well. The unit is in the way. I still do not need it at night. The rain is still refreshing to me, a novelty living in AZ. I have had to put my unit on dehumidify. I have had no nose bleeds out here and no runny nose. My health is returning. My stomach pains are gone, as well as the headaches. Stress is a killer.

I really miss everyone there. I ness not having internet. I am going to check in to a few options that might improve my connectablity.

Oh! By the way any BIRDERS out there? I saw yesterday a small bright yellow bird I have not seen sense the 50's. It once was part of flocks 50 to over 100. 4-1/2"-5" long, black on its wing and I believe it had a black crown. It was moving very fast and I did not get a good look at its head or beak. It did not land, but I am most excited about it. If I see it again with a better view I should be able to make corrections to my observation. Also a vivid blue bird who's feathers flashes purple in the sun. About the same size.

PS: don't post so much! I get in town 2 or 3 times a week, get internet 10 min ore less when I can hock up at home. I have soooo much to read NAND not enough time.

 

[pipemum]

Yellow bird: goldfinch? warbler? oriole?
Purple bird: eastern bluebird? purple martin?

Used book stores sell bird guide books for super cheap.

Your adventures sound fabulous so far! I've been offline a couple of weeks and missed your start. Do you really have your chickens with you?

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

[COLOR=141823]Ok Thanks to Mary Mavros (on Tucson clucks) asking about egg production phone app, I have asked my brother in law to make me an app. He can do android and possibly iphone. WHAT would we like to see on this app? egg production per flock, egg production vs temps, egg production by breed, egg production vs feed costs, amount of feed per pen. what else??[/COLOR]

Greet! I will buy it. You might be surprised at the interest. BYC is international... Built in possible costumers. I, at different times want to keep track of all that. Mostly food vs eggs, also condition of my girls. I used to do things by the calendar, such as dusting and such. Sometimes I am late because I forget the date. Not really a buggy. I use my app on the calendar to remind me most of the time. Attached to the app fertility tracking of eggs/hen/rooster, male and female per clutch. To many times I hear this rooster give more pullets. This way you will have proof. If you have only a hand full of pullets it is easier to just mentally keep track. But it is also convenient to put in data in an app that will do it for you. A feature of a graph is what will make the data come to life. You can see just how much you are spending per eggs, meat or both. Another thing is miles on travel to feed stores. If you have to go 20 miles (round trip) that is $3.xx to $4.xx a trip depending. I drove 80 miles round trip every 2 months. At $3.XX - gallon, at 14 miles per, I figured that into the coast of feed. Also time, if you place value on your time. Not including just fun time with chickens. There are supplements and treats... I want that APP. let me know when he puts it out. I will be happy to help use it and trouble shoot, even though at the moment I have only 2 pullets (Margaret is doing fine in her new flock) at the moment, I will be back and have a flock again.

 

[LadyKotaDoria]

Yellow bird:  goldfinch?  warbler?  oriole?
Purple bird:  eastern bluebird?  purple martin?

Used book stores sell bird guide books for super cheap. 

Your adventures sound fabulous so far!  I've been offline a couple of weeks and missed your start.  Do you really have your chickens with you?

Paul said it was a canary, yes I have seen all of those, but more. I have an app, but it need internet access, I found out to use it. As I said I have seen dozens of different birds. I am between 2 Marten houses, a lot of purple martens. Yes, I really have them with me. I have had no problem with RV parks so far. They are pets. I am hoping to find an EE or a NN that is young enough and tame enough to take Margaret's place.

 

[K9Dave]

I've been asked to be a Lead on this years Tour de Coops and would like to ask all my Az peeps who's already signed up or plans on signing up? Has anyone participated in it in previous years?

@LadyKotaDoria do you have any pics of your coop in the bed if your truck? If so I'd like to possibly use them for a display on the Tour de Coops if it's alright with you? Glad you're having fun.

 

[K9Dave]

Did y'all see this yet? Lmao