Arizona Chickens

[DesertChic]

Does anyone have trouble with their chicks eating the wood chips??

They will chew on the shavings, especially if its the finely flaked. If you buy the larger flakes they usually only scratch in it. Just make sure they have chick grit and they'll be fine.

 

[DesertChic]

I'm picking up my easter egger and rhode island red the 14th and then 2 orpintons on the 21st. From what I've read they are all fairly docile and friendly and decent producers. I have kids so having friendly pets is more of a priority. I would hate to have them afraid of my kids or my kids afraid of them.

Sounds like a pretty mix of birds, and yes, they're typically all docile and friendly birds. Are you getting chicks? The more you handle all of them the friendlier they'll become, though I've noticed that all of my chicks of every breed have become skittish from about 2 weeks up to 5 weeks, and then become friendly again, so don't be surprised if this happens.

Oh...and post pictures! We all LOVE to see photos of chickens.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Sorry I haven't been online here in a while ... a couple breeding questions:

I was wondering if you could guide me a bit. I am still having problems getting fertile eggs from my SLW hens. My SLW roo, whom I bought from Jim Monk, has about 90% fertility still with my blue copper Marans hen in the same pen. I'd pull her out, but she seems like a great gauge for rooster fertility. Do you have any suggestions? Should I put the roo with just one hen and see what happens? Do I need a "hornier" more aggressive rooster?

Anyone know any breeder quality west coasters or mountain zone breeders (of juvenile/adult birds) so the shipping trip would be easier as I am in southern AZ? It's getting hot here so if I were to get an adult, I'd need to do it soon.

Also, I saw some hatchery SLWs at the feed store and they were closer to black with chipmunk stripes. Mine have much more "roaning" (horse term from a horse girl) and very faint vestiges of chipmunk striping. Mine have a very fine mix of silver down and taupe (silvery brown) down. Is there a significance to this? My oldest juvenile just got his/her first crop of adult feathers. They are mostly white at the shaft. Is this to be expect in the first feathering? Is there anything I can look for?


PS: A chicken friend of mine was told by a judge out here that the hens should have white heads. That's not true, is it?

 

[desertmarcy]

Sorry I haven't been online here in a while ... a couple breeding questions:

I was wondering if you could guide me a bit. I am still having problems getting fertile eggs from my SLW hens. My SLW roo, whom I bought from Jim Monk, has about 90% fertility still with my blue copper Marans hen in the same pen. I'd pull her out, but she seems like a great gauge for rooster fertility. Do you have any suggestions? Should I put the roo with just one hen and see what happens? Do I need a "hornier" more aggressive rooster?

Anyone know any breeder quality west coasters or mountain zone breeders (of juvenile/adult birds) so the shipping trip would be easier as I am in southern AZ? It's getting hot here so if I were to get an adult, I'd need to do it soon.

Also, I saw some hatchery SLWs at the feed store and they were closer to black with chipmunk stripes. Mine have much more "roaning" (horse term from a horse girl) and very faint vestiges of chipmunk striping. Mine have a very fine mix of silver down and taupe (silvery brown) down. Is there a significance to this? My oldest juvenile just got his/her first crop of adult feathers. They are mostly white at the shaft. Is this to be expect in the first feathering? Is there anything I can look for?


PS: A chicken friend of mine was told by a judge out here that the hens should have white heads. That's not true, is it?

How many hens do you have in with this male? Some males will pick favorites, breeding some hens more often and ignoring others. So less hens or take out the Marans.

More likely, you need to trim the feathers around your hen's vent. The Wyandottes have a lot of fluffy feathers and sometimes the male just is not making contact when he breeds. Trim the feathers around the vent of your hens and you should see fertility.

If that does not work, how closely related are they? Sometimes too closely related birds will not produce viable offspring, in which case you need to bring in new blood.

If you are breeding these birds and trying to breed to show standard, you really need to buy yourself a copy of the APA SOP. It might seem expensive but it is well worth it and will help you out a great deal, especially if you study the first 40 pages. You can order it online from the APA. It is a must have for ANY serious breeder. And you would easily find answers to your color questions. SLW hen head color should be silvery gray.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Sounds like a nice mix. How old will they be? If they are chicks are they straight run or sexed? Can you have roosters where you live?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
You know, I read that about the Gulf Fritillary butterflies. I've seen them in the yard, but I've never seen a caterpillar on the vines. I wonder if the ants are keeping them at bay?. The ants eat the nectar from the extrafloral nectaries and they constantly patrol the leaves. They don't seem to hamper the green lacewing adults too much though. I'm really happy about that because it seems to be a fantastic food source for them. I have a vine or two here that you are more than welcome to, just PM me.

 

[desertmarcy]

@Sill had some good points. It depends a lot on the type of vine, how fast you want it to cover, how much you want to be trimming it, the soil in which it is planted and the watering regime. My biggest concern would be with access from the outside to the top of the run in the center, especially with any fruiting vine. While a passion fruit or grape vine would be wonderful for coverage, there would be the issue of getting the fruits off the top where it would be difficult to reach. You would also have the added issue of vine removal in the winter with something like a grape vine, which needs to be pruned back after the first frost. They have tendrils that grasp on and it would be difficult to pull the vines off. I would think more about a perennial vine that does does not produce fruit, something like cat's claw, tangerine crossvine or Cecil Brunner Rose. Very nice start to your chicken enclosure!

I'd think twice about the Cat's Claw, depending on where you want to put it. I planted several on the west side of my garage for shade years ago. It is very invasive. I didn't realize just how invasive, or would have chosen something else. It did make a solid wall of greenery, absolutely no sun hits that wall. But over the years, it has spread and roots along the way. It makes a large tuber underground and is very drought tolerant because of that, but also hard to eradicate. Now the darn thing is under and climbing my grapefruit tree and nearby saguaro. It also finds the smallest openings and has grown across the ceiling on the inside of the garage!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote: Well scratch cat's claw off the list then! That's good to know. We have one that came up on it's own on the north side of the house where it never gets direct sun and it hasn't been a problem all these years, but now you have me thinking I should eradicate it before it becomes troublesome. If it's not already too late.

 

[MagicChicken]

Quote: Well scratch cat's claw off the list then! That's good to know. We have one that came up on it's own on the north side of the house where it never gets direct sun and it hasn't been a problem all these years, but now you have me thinking I should eradicate it before it becomes troublesome. If it's not already too late.

I would hate to see you pull out an established plant that hasn't been a problem in years. Sounds like you've got the perfect location for it. Just don't let it spread from there.

Cat claw looks great when it's happy, but the one I had when we lived in the foothills would go dormant or freeze back in the winter. It was right near the back door and I was always getting caught up in the little cat claws. They're grabby little things. If they're out of the way where you can admire them from afar and they have nowhere to go to get into mischief, they're great plants.

 

[flower]

Oh dear , over five hundred unread posts................eeeek

Hello everyone, not internet, been furiously working in my yard planting flowers and vegetables for this season. My not have another season to plant at such a furious pace. My back is destroyed. A fusion that was done bak in 2012 did not take and now I am scheduled for three contiguous areas in lower back to be fused. So I image that will be the end of digging in my sandbox for me.

Three hens are sitting and I'll try to post their portraits if I can. But I'll never get to read up on all that has happened to everyone.

PS my surgery will be at St Josephs toward the end of June if anyone can visit me there ? Miss ya'll .........