Arizona Chickens

[K9Dave]

I wish I had geese!  I'm in the thick of the city so just chickens and quail.   Thinking of some muscovy ducks though...

Is that a xolo in your avitar? 

You can always just to some large pots, throw in some potting soil and seeds or starts.  It can just be temporary to get your hands dirty before you put in a garden.

Lucky DW!  That is one of the things on my bucket list.



Texas root rot is everywhere here.  Symptoms are sudden wilting and loss of leaves despite watering.  It can actually be caused from too much water since that can give the fungus a boost in power with ground that never dries out.  Deep infrequent watering is best for trees here, which can be difficult if the tree is in turf.  Applying hydrogen peroxide to the root zone can help kill the fungus, but it also kills beneficial microbes too.

My buddy loaned me his little AeroGarden 6. Ever used these before? I wanted to play with it and it seemed like a good way to start seeds off.

I love Xolo's. They crack me up.

My chicken lover Camo. It's a bad pic but they walk together around the yard sometimes. Lol

 

[K9Dave]

 o  man , thanks  for that info.  but thank goodness  we  dont  have  any  of  that  here, or even  visitors  from  that  area,  gosh , that  sounds bad...? but  i was told that fleas cant live in the  normally  dry conditions in  AZ , maybe  thats  happening  up there  because they have a lot  of shade from  trees & large  Forrest  areas  and  maybe  its not  sooo dry up  there...?   so  hmmmmmm....????   what i used in  FL to kill off  fleas , since im allergic  to  most  any chemicals & so to kill the  fleas  down  there,  &  god  FL  has  a lot of  fleas &  all other  bugs  geezzz ,  but  I  used  salt  & lots of  chopped  tobacco  on  all the  floors leave  on  over night or even longer  then  vacuum  a  lot,  for  days  after  &  burn  the vacuum  bag each day...! &  so  that  helped  if they got in to your  house , but   time  will  tell  i  guess...? about  the life of fleas in AZ  but  also  Guinea hens eat ticks and fleas. we have a group of  wild Guineas in our neighborhood, some time we have like 50 of them  around , they have  been here  for  years & have  been  up in numbers & down in numbers  but my neighbor  who tries  to care for them tells me they had  been killed off by some thing , and  now  their  are  only  2 young  males left  living in his trees  this year , so  i  might  just  call around to see  who has a  few Guinea  hens  i can  buy  and  let  them go  with those  wild  guys ...? to help keep them  going,   so  yeah  more Guineas  around  here  should help  to safe guard  our neighborhood...!!!  from any  bugs....lol....  with the Guineas around  most  bugs  dont stand a chance.......lol...   

Ok Now I want Guineas again. Thank you. At a boarding/training facility I'll take all the help with organic pest control I can. Didn't know that about them. Thank you.

 

[K9Dave]

I'm still trying to figure out this whole "reply" deal.
But the ch-rampoline thing....

Glad somebody got it. Lol

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

I had my first non-domestic predator attack last night. All the birdies were in their coop, locked in, last night when I came out this morning, they were all out, except Annapurna, my new Brahma, who was locked in Mr. Darcy's old XL wire dog crate because of a boo-boo. The aviary netting was ripped and down, but none of the fences were breached. It must've been an aerial predator, or one who jumped in via the Mesquite tree. I don't know how the coop door opened. It can be sticky and maybe when the predator was in the pen outside the coop, they panicked? The door is not warped or broken. There are feathers everywhere in the pen and blood on a 6" x 3' area of the fencing. One of my new hens, the EE, is gone. I don't even see feathers of her color. Pepito Feo, the mixed runner I just got, is tramatized. He will barely raise his head. I looked him all over and couldn't find a feather out of place. I put him in the nesting box part of the coop in the shavings to be comfy. He can move a little; he is just so weak.

I am so depressed. I feel like I've let them down. And worst of all, I don't have the means (money, tools, material, or skills) to put a roof on the pen.

Alright. I have to pull it together to finish a paper on Gothic heros.

 

[chicksurreal]

I have one that I'm not sure if it is going to make it. Sleeping a lot, not really eating or drinking. Then a few minutes ago, I saw him drinking. Yay!

Oh, good!

 

[chicksurreal]

I had my first non-domestic predator attack last night. All the birdies were in their coop, locked in, last night when I came out this morning, they were all out, except Annapurna, my new Brahma, who was locked in Mr. Darcy's old XL wire dog crate because of a boo-boo. The aviary netting was ripped and down, but none of the fences were breached. It must've been an aerial predator, or one who jumped in via the Mesquite tree. I don't know how the coop door opened. It can be sticky and maybe when the predator was in the pen outside the coop, they panicked? The door is not warped or broken. There are feathers everywhere in the pen and blood on a 6" x 3' area of the fencing. One of my new hens, the EE, is gone. I don't even see feathers of her color. Pepito Feo, the mixed runner I just got, is tramatized. He will barely raise his head. I looked him all over and couldn't find a feather out of place. I put him in the nesting box part of the coop in the shavings to be comfy. He can move a little; he is just so weak.

I am so depressed. I feel like I've let them down. And worst of all, I don't have the means (money, tools, material, or skills) to put a roof on the pen.

Alright. I have to pull it together to finish a paper on Gothic heros.

So sorry. It's really hard when you do everything you can and something like this happens.

 

[aviddamy]

That's so sad. Sorry to hear you lost one of your hens and that Pepito is feeling so bad. Hopefully he will be okay in a few days since you don't see any injuries.

On a good note, they all survived the first 24 hours. I've been checking butts today and everyone looks good.

 

[Stynch]

Quote: She laid another one this morning. She does seem to be laying them a bit more frequently, but without a yolk, they are kind-of useless!! She is by far our friendliest chicken, so I really hope that she kicks into gear soon!

 

[MaddBaggins]

First, a lot of hens just don't lay well in the heat and it has still been very hot here.
Second, if your hens are hatchery stock, most likely leghorn has been bred into them at some point in time to boost egg production. White leghorns are known for being extremely good layers but also burn out after 18 months. That tendency to lay really well and then quit is in the production birds hatcheries sell.
There are also chicken diseases that can lay dormant, like Mycoplasma, not seeming to affect the bird too much outwardly but will contribute to poor egg laying.
I've personally been doing some selective culling on poor producers, especially birds I have no intention of using for breeding. I butchered 3 EE hens 2+ years old recently, hadn't seen an egg from them in months. All the ova inside were tiny so they were not getting ready to start laying any time soon, either.
For most of my non-productive hens, I know it is this heat that is doing it. If they don't start again when it cools down AND I put them on a light cycle, they are out of here.

I didn't know that hatchery birds are only good for such a short time. Thats a bummer. I expected to get at least 3-4 good years. Instead, I got one good year then fizzle. No eggs at all yesterday. So in 5 days I got 4 eggs out of 8 hens. Everything I've looked into doesn't seem to help. They are healthy happy birds, just not producing. Thanks for the response!

Where would be a good place to get new birds from? You?

 

[MaddBaggins]

so good to have you back on.. It could be from the heat.. Get some pullet's that are just about ready to lay.. @desertmarcy has some beautiful birds.. She is in Tucson.. Keep us all posted..
What beer are you brewing this week?

Taking this week off brewing. I have a nice Belgian Quad that is almost ready to bottle. It's at 10.2%abv already and very tasty.

I think I will get with desertmarcy.