Arizona Chickens

[cyborg]

I missed out on some of the breeds that I wanted this past spring, so this year I got my order in as soon as Meyer opened up ordering I got Egyptian Fayoumis, Easter Eggers and Red Sex-links. As always, I ordered more than I need so that I'd get the bulk discount and save on shipping, so I'll have extras. My order is scheduled to arrive in the middle of June. Since its so far out, I can also add extra chicks onto my order, if anyone wants to get chicks from Meyer in mid-June.

No crowing from my Jersey Giant cockerel yet, which is a good thing. I'm hoping that he'll stay quiet for another month, since I'd like to invite him to dinner on Christmas Eve.

My Giants started crowing at about 5 months. How old is yours?

 

[aviddamy]

Hi

Hi Arizona peeps! I live in Yuma. With the heat of the summer I am considering a 3-sided coop. I'm concerned about The occasional cold or freezing temps we have. Any comments or suggestions?

.

Hi! I live in Yuma too. My coop which is still in process is two sides. I have the solid sides facing west and south and the screened in sides facing east and north. I have shade cloth I can cover it with as well. I think before summer I'm going to paint everything white. I'm also going to use sprinklers/misters on the roof which my FIL recommends to cool things off.

 

[LilnAz]

Hi! I live in Yuma too. My coop which is still in process is two sides. I have the solid sides facing west and south and the screened in sides facing east and north. I have shade cloth I can cover it with as well. I think before summer I'm going to paint everything white. I'm also going to use sprinklers/misters on the roof which my FIL recommends to cool things off.

There are so many options to making a coop. I want to build one that will be best for our hot climate. Thanks for the suggestions and sharing your ideas. Sounds great! When you get done with your coop I'd love to see photos. How many do you have in your flock?

 

[LilnAz]

What breeds of chickens do you have or want? 3 sided is a great idea, along with tons of shade, frozen treats & saucers full of water for them. As for the cold, honestly I think they will be fine. However unless we have a blizzard..
Love your avatar

I'm new to all of this. I'm trying to reply with quotes and copying and such. I'll get it one day!

I don't have chickens yet but hoping to get some chicks today while in Phoenix area. I am hoping to get barred rock, Rhode Island reds, and/or buff Orpingtons. Thank you for those suggestions for keeping my flock cool during the summer heat.

 

[ChuskaMtns]

A BIG THANK YOU@desertmarcy. I stopped by her place and picked up 5 SQ Black Ameraucanas this morning. I didn't have the money when she was ready to sell them, so she held them for me until I got paid. (Thanks again, Marcy!). I picked up one cockerel and 4 pullets to add blue eggs to my current laying flock. With the partridge Cochins, Black Giants, golden sex links, Black Copper Marans, and barred Rock, I'm getting a dozen to a dozen and a half eggs a day of every shade of brown from cream to chocolate. Can't wait to add some blues!

Oh how pretty your collection of eggs will be! You'll have to post a picture for us to admire when they all start laying.

 

[ChuskaMtns]

I lost one of my 7 week old chicks to a cooper's hawk this morning.
We had just named them Penny, Amy, Bernadette and Emily.  The hawk got Amy, the BR.  :-(
I didn't see her get taken but I saw the hawk in the yard and a couple of feathers from Amy. The other 3 are hunkered down in their grow out coop with Penguin.  I guess no more free-ranging for the chickies. Penguin is going to go crazy in there, though.  She'll probably leave the chicks sooner now.

So sorry for your loss! There isn't much to combat the flying predators except for locking them up.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
Short story:
We got the chick back but she is injured!

Long story:
When we went out the first time the hawk was out there, we couldn't find the chick, Amy. Amy didn't come out when Penguin called them out of hiding and my husband and I looked in all the bushes and under all of the the trees around that area. All we found were a few BR feathers, one of them mangled. We both thought the hawk had taken her and come back for another one. I finally locked Penguin and the other 3 chicks up and gave up looking. I even went out there a few more times to look over the next couple of hours just to make sure.
About noon (just before I needed to leave the house) I heard Penguin making lots of noise and looked out there to see the hawk was back and this time she had Amy. I went running out there. I was pretty sure Amy was dead, but I didn't want the hawk to have her. The hawk tried to take off with Amy but couldn't clear the wall and ended up dropping her in the pool. When I went to fish her out, I saw that she was alive and just floating there looking at me. I brought her in the house and put her in a box with shavings. I had to leave and fully expected her to be dead when I returned. She was in shock, her left wing was injured and she couldn't seem to stay upright. When I got home she drank a little water, but wouldn't eat anything.
This morning her condition hasn't changed much except that she is more alert and she ate 6 mealworms and drank some water.
She can move her wing but acts like she doesn't want to. She has a hard time staying upright and tends to list to the left. If I move her at all it takes her a few minutes to recover, like it's really painful.
My daughter and I put betadine on the one small abrasion on her wing and looked for other injuries but couldn't find any.

I feel so bad that she was out there hiding the whole time and we didn't find her!
I know chickens can recover from some pretty bad injuries so I'm hopeful, but not overly optimistic.

 

[rhondita55]

Have to start with a Sigh................. My chicks are 6 months old now. Well, they will be in a couple days.
2 RSL and an Easter Egger............. not a single egg to date. Everyone I know that got chicks when I did have eggs galore.
They are in a little commercial roost built for up to 4 chick with an 8' x 2 1/2 ' run attached. Plenty of food and water. Giving them the layers feed now with treats like marigold flowers, basil and cilantro. In fact my basil is a few years old and was getting to big, so I placed the pot closer to the run..... boy did it EVER get a pruning.. they ate all the yellow Mums that were in the same pot too.

I even boiled a couple eggs and put them in the nests...... They look and act really healthy. I just find it odd that I pick out 3 chicks and they are all 3 non-layers or very late bloomers. Are they to confined? or Is it just my luck?

Don't you just love newbies.

 

[maryhysong]

Mary, is that a Kuvasz? Maremma? something else? Good looking dog either way!

He is gorgeous

Wow, your dog is big and beautiful. How much does he weigh? Is he full grown?

Thank you all. Giotto is a purebred Maremma, also known as an Italian Sheep dog; he is only about 7 months old and probably weighs between 80 and 100 pounds. He will not really be considered mature until he is at least 2, so not looking forward to another year+ of puppyhood, but he is doing an awesome job keeping things away even now. http://www.maremmaclub.com/faq.html

Barn cats; I got two kittens in the summer and they were doing fine living out with the chickens and Giotto but an owl took one and the other was terrified and has become a house cat. I got two more and they are locked into a large kennel at night until they are bigger. But the oldest is a great ratter; I have had a terrible issue with packrats this year and he has probably eaten close to two dozen in the past couple of months. It's been years since I had cats and yes I didn't like that they caught lizards and such, but I was being overun with the rats (which could steal bait and not trip the trap and they don't eat the poison bait blocks, they just put them in their nests). So far he doesn't seem that interested in lizards or songbirds so hope it stays that way.

 

[Stynch]

Have to start with a Sigh................. My chicks are 6 months old now. Well, they will be in a couple days.
2 RSL and an Easter Egger............. not a single egg to date. Everyone I know that got chicks when I did have eggs galore.
They are in a little commercial roost built for up to 4 chick with an 8' x 2 1/2 ' run attached. Plenty of food and water. Giving them the layers feed now with treats like marigold flowers, basil and cilantro. In fact my basil is a few years old and was getting to big, so I placed the pot closer to the run..... boy did it EVER get a pruning.. they ate all the yellow Mums that were in the same pot too.

I even boiled a couple eggs and put them in the nests...... They look and act really healthy. I just find it odd that I pick out 3 chicks and they are all 3 non-layers or very late bloomers. Are they to confined? or Is it just my luck?

Don't you just love newbies.

I don't even start looking for eggs until they are at least 6 months old - that way I'm not disappointed!! I have an 8-month-old RSL who, in an average week, lays 3 or 4 fairy eggs and 1 or 2 whole eggs (72-75 grams each!!). The Production Red I got at the same time started laying in late September, and from Oct. 1 until two days ago, never missed a day - 43 days straight!! We did not begrudge her the day off!! LOL

Do they look and act like they are getting ready to lay? Waddles and combs getting darker red, submissive squat when you hover over them, more vocal, etc.....

Just be patient. The first egg will come, and it is really so eggciting!