Arizona Chickens

[Arizona Son]

I live not too far north of you, and over the last week, I have seen 2 different dead raccoons on the bridge over the Santa Cruz on Trico Marana Rd. I think the recent heavy rains have made many 'coons relocate their dens. Either way, I haven't seen this many this often in quite a while.

This concerns me! I have never seen a raccoon out here in Avra Valley, but I guess they are here, since you've seen them twice already. I wonder if they are staying localized to the Santa Cruz riparian area or do they venture further away from the constant water source?

About two years back, I was heading westbound on Avra Valley Road and right about where the big curve is, west of the airport, I saw a weird looking animal attempt to run across the road & was hit by a car & killed. I pulled over to see what it was and to my surprise it was a badger!!! Never knew those were out here either! It is amazing how much wildlife this area supports. So far I have seen Bobcat, Mexican Wolf, Fox, Skunk, Mule deer, Javelina, Coyote, and Badger if you count that dead one. All within the valley here.

 

[cyborg]

@Arizona Son No, they don't just stick to the river area. They follow the irrigation canals too. I have seen them previously at the big canal at Sandario and the freeway, in "downtown" Marana. If there is a steady supply of water and enough brush for cover, they will make themselves a home.
If you know where Maggie's Farm is, that is ideal habitat for them. (about 3/4 mile southwest of Avra Valley regional airport).
BTW, you can add ring tailed cats to your bucket list.

 

[City farm]

I would take photos of them and hand it over to P.D. Get a night vision game camera. Don't mess with them in a way that will end you up in court.. Now if they enter into your home, that is different.. Even then you never want to have to deal with a dead body in your home.. Get a large dog..

I lived in a sketchy area of Tucson for the first 4.5 years I've lived here. Houses around us got broken into--even the landlord's 1 BR casita. We never had a problem and I'd even forget to lock the door often. We have a 110 lb lab and a very skinny, but tall greyhound, who apparently is intimidating. I've never owned a gun, and never shot one. I don't begrudge anyone mentally sound, trained, and liscenced having one. Just don't want one of my own in a house with an autistic kiddo.

It is so funny how bad guys are afraid of dogs.. They are well worth it!! When I was growing up, we had a dog & when ever I would say "sick em" he would go after their ankles.. It was mostly a joke, just to show them that he would really do it...

 

[mom-to-5]

It is so funny how bad guys are afraid of dogs.. They are well worth it!! When I was growing up, we had a dog & when ever I would say "sick em" he would go after their ankles.. It was mostly a joke, just to show them that he would really do it...

Long ago, when I first moved out I had a Saint Bernard. I taught him to growl at "bad guy". He wouldn't hurt a fly and would rather slobber people but when you said "bad guy" he played the part. It was hilarious to open the door to strangers and have a 170 pound dog growling at them. They often didn't knock a second time. Small, young female in the middle of downtown San Diego, never had a problem or was messed with...it had a lot to do with that very good dog!

 

[cyborg]

Long ago, when I first moved out I had a Saint Bernard. I taught him to growl at "bad guy". He wouldn't hurt a fly and would rather slobber people but when you said "bad guy" he played the part. It was hilarious to open the door to strangers and have a 170 pound dog growling at them. They often didn't knock a second time. Small, young female in the middle of downtown San Diego, never had a problem or was messed with...it had a lot to do with that very good dog!

Agreed! I have a chow, a chow/golden retreiver cross, and a pink pit bull. Sweethearts all, but when anyone approaches the house, they make enough noise that any and all visitors get very respectful.

 

[mom-to-5]

I have one of those, she sounds like a sick or dying cow!  At least here I can keep her even if she is a bit noisy.  My coop is well away from my neighbors so they shouldn't find her too obnoxious.

I have one of those too! My 1 yr old BO is obnoxious. She's a docile hen and sweet but sick cow would describe the sounds she makes every morning very well. The coop is very close to my neighbors too, ugh! I'm hoping we get to keep her. I keep telling her to be quieter but she doesn't seem concerned. If she weren't so close to the neighbors house it wouldn't be so bad. I was trying to build the coop in the shade and didn't think about having a very noisy hen.

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

This concerns me! I have never seen a raccoon out here in Avra Valley, but I guess they are here, since you've seen them twice already. I wonder if they are staying localized to the Santa Cruz riparian area or do they venture further away from the constant water source?

About two years back, I was heading westbound on Avra Valley Road and right about where the big curve is, west of the airport, I saw a weird looking animal attempt to run across the road & was hit by a car & killed. I pulled over to see what it was and to my surprise it was a badger!!! Never knew those were out here either! It is amazing how much wildlife this area supports. So far I have seen Bobcat, Mexican Wolf, Fox, Skunk, Mule deer, Javelina, Coyote, and Badger if you count that dead one. All within the valley here. 

A BADGER??? Those are scary strong critters. I had no idea we had those around.

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

It is so funny how bad guys are afraid of dogs.. They are well worth it!! When I was growing up, we had a dog & when ever I would say "sick em" he would go after their ankles.. It was mostly a joke, just to show them that he would really do it...

I have little 12lb Italian Greyhounds. People are afraid of them. I'm like are you kidding me? They are small. I guess when all 4 swarm around someone barking like maniacs they are intimidating to some folks.

 

[a little chiken]

A bit of a sad day around here. We have had our chickens for just over a year. Sisters, RIR hatcheries all raised together. My Snoop lately has just been WAY too loud. She molted in some lighter feathers a couple months ago and has since become our transvestite. I swear she thinks she is a rooster. She squawks at the top of her lungs every morning for well over an hour. A squawk with every breath. Seriously it sounds like you are torturing a cat! It is the most god-awful sound! My neighbor called me and said her bug lady thought there was a sick bird over here and thought she should check it out. We aren't zoned for chickens and I had them growing up and never remember any chicken screeching the way she does.

We have tried a number of methods and nothing works. She just squawks for no reason. Food, no food, treats, in the coop, out of the coop, free range all day, it doesn't matter. We finally came to the conclusion she either goes to freezer camp or gets rehomed. Other chicken owners in my area are rare, but thankfully the gal who owns the feed store offered to take her.

Prior to the noise problem she was my husband's favorite chicken. She learned to follow him around when he was skimming the pool waiting for him to give her some bugs. She was the most curious, most adventurous, but also the bossiest of the 4. She will be missed for sure. I think hubby even got a little tear in his eye when we bid her farewell.

Marcia, I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you can find a solution. My one chicken leaving the homestead seems miniscule in comparison.

I have had a hen for 4 months that I bought as a rooster. It is a NN and it never crowed or mounted the hen it came with. I was out there the other day and realized it does not crow but talks all the time. It finally dawned on me its a hen. lol

Thanks for the info. I took the doe to the buck. He is 5 months old. I'll give it another shot with a different doe tomorrow to see if he figures it out or I'll wait till their ready. I just thought it was strange.

http://www.rabbitgeek.com/breedingtips.html this is a great site with lots of breeding info. It also explains how to make sure your doe is ready to breed. hope this helps. we had 300 rabbits in our rabbit tree growing up. I showed them and was involved in the breeding and caring for them. I now have Rex and Lionhead rabbits. I will breed in the spring.

We had them on the farm growing up but they were seperated in hutches. We would bring the buck to the doe and leave him there for a day or three. We kept only good social bucks who did their business and nothing more.

Now we have 5 rabbits that are fairly young and we're setting up the chicken coop and run so that they can cohabitate in there. We'll have tunnels and stumps and such for entertainment but I'm wondering how I'll deal with their breeding? I'm not against it because we have the room and the demand (dog food). Also they're extremely cool to watch hop around and be friends with the chickens. I put some mesquite stumps in their area earlier and they love chewing on them. That's another thing, I've noticed a couple of their teeth are longer then should be. Is this because they haven't had anything to chew on or?? Asking here is better than looking it up.

Id love some ideas for rabbit and chicken toys for the enclosure. My wife doesn't want her cat outside but I feel bad so I'm throwing around the idea of making some cat walks in there too for him to hang out at night. He wouldn't hurt the rabbits, just not that kind of cat. Any other Ideas? The entire 20x30 area will be lined underneath with livestock panels and they will come up the sides of the chain link fence side and be tied in to prevent digging out. The chickens free range during the day so I will make a ramp that only chickens will be capable of climbing. That way they can climb out whenever they want to but I will of course have an access door I can close at night and such.

TIA

you should take the doe to the buck as doe's can be territorial and attack the bucks. I posted a great link above for breeding rabbits. I suggest tree stumps and even parrot toys work as great rabbit toys. My sons rabbit loves to play with small stuffed toys (cat and small dog topys work great) he throws them and chases them all over the place. we just moved all our rabbits to the chicken coops and all are doing great.

Thank you. I'll try to get some pics but I've tried before and it's hard because of the shadows thrown by the mesquite tree this is under. Bad photos. Any other suggestions on things I can find to let them chew on?

I have some 5 gal buckets that I'm gonna cut various wholes in and partially bury for them to have fun with running in and out of. I want to get some height in there because I know they like to be able to have a lookout. The key is making all this with no large obstacles for easy maintenance.

that sounds like a great idea. they love to hide. I even have a wooden spool in there with some planks out for mine to play in

Will the mother rabbit protect the babies from the others and the chickens? It's been 25 years or so since I've messed with them. Can you tell when a doe is prego by looking?

Thanks for the advice. My wife's books haven't been off the shelf in a bit. Lol.

if chickens can get to the kits they will eat them. they need a safe nesting area

My Pepito (the runner duck) is doing better. We think it was a head or neck injury. He can stand and stagger around a bit now, kind of like Falstaff. He's weak, but he hasn't eaten that much either. I tried putting him out in the pen today, but if he keeled over the hens (the little velociraptors that they are) ran over and pecked at him. He's definitely been out of the flock too long, plus he's the weak link. If my boyfriend weren't allergic to feathers I would put a diaper on him and make him a house duck. I don't know that I have the facilities to take care of a special needs duck long term. Would anyone on here be interested in taking Pepito under his or her wing (heh ... pun intended)? I don't want him to have to live in the old dog crate the rest of his time.

Sweet Pepito Feo:

If you need me to take him Jess I can. I am sry he is not feeling better. do you want a duckling?

This concerns me! I have never seen a raccoon out here in Avra Valley, but I guess they are here, since you've seen them twice already. I wonder if they are staying localized to the Santa Cruz riparian area or do they venture further away from the constant water source?

About two years back, I was heading westbound on Avra Valley Road and right about where the big curve is, west of the airport, I saw a weird looking animal attempt to run across the road & was hit by a car & killed. I pulled over to see what it was and to my surprise it was a badger!!! Never knew those were out here either! It is amazing how much wildlife this area supports. So far I have seen Bobcat, Mexican Wolf, Fox, Skunk, Mule deer, Javelina, Coyote, and Badger if you count that dead one. All within the valley here.

I once had a badger in my yard under my trash trailer. scared the crap out of me. they make crazy noises. My dogs went crazy trying to get to it but they would not get too close, even they were scared of it.

Agreed! I have a chow, a chow/golden retreiver cross, and a pink pit bull. Sweethearts all, but when anyone approaches the house, they make enough noise that any and all visitors get very respectful.

I have 3 that are mutts but they look rottie mix and everyone is terrified. the only one that is protective is my sons dog when my son is home. Other than that they are so lovey dovey and will lick you to death.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Long ago, when I first moved out I had a Saint Bernard. I taught him to growl at "bad guy". He wouldn't hurt a fly and would rather slobber people but when you said "bad guy" he played the part. It was hilarious to open the door to strangers and have a 170 pound dog growling at them. They often didn't knock a second time. Small, young female in the middle of downtown San Diego, never had a problem or was messed with...it had a lot to do with that very good dog!

I used to live in Cambridge, MA, which sounds all frou-frou, but there was a blue-collar area. It certainly wasn't a bad area, but I felt safe walking my first greyhound, Teddy Boy, anywhere. People gave me a wide berth!