Arizona Chickens

[EmeraldClutch]

Thanks everyone! I think I will try kale, clover, and alfalfa. What about bushes? Are there any native berries or something that are edible?

 

[moms3cuties]

Check out the passionfruit I got from the vine that I got from gallo in Tucson! It's the second summer in the ground and it's producing fruit now. I got to taste a couple and they are way better than any store bought passionfruit I've tasted. I was in doubt if it was going to pass the taste test so it gets to stay in the yard, otherwise it would have been replaced by grapevines.

while I was stationed in Hawaii I lost a foot race to a passion fruit on a March in kole kole pass. I know I saw it first. I had no idea they would grow here.

that is so neat! Saw them first on Oahu before inthe 90's. I too didnt know it was possible! I planted mine from Gallo but I need to move it to a sunner area or one with more water!

 

[DesertChic]

Thanks everyone! I think I will try kale, clover, and alfalfa. What about bushes? Are there any native berries or something that are edible?

Good question!

Since I've no idea myself, I'll anxiously await a response from someone in the know.

 

[moms3cuties]

Thanks everyone! I think I will try kale, clover, and alfalfa. What about bushes? Are there any native berries or something that are edible?

Good question!   Since I've no idea myself, I'll anxiously await a response from someone in the know. 

x2 good question!

 

[MagicChicken]

Thanks everyone! I think I will try kale, clover, and alfalfa. What about bushes? Are there any native berries or something that are edible?

Don't know of any berries. My favorite chicken-friendly landscaping plant is Ruellia. Ruellia is heat tolerant, grows like crazy, has lush green leaves, and pretty purple flowers that come and go for most of the summer. Chickens love it. I had to fence it off or they would have mowed it to the ground. It's a perennial that grows a couple of feet high and will take over whatever space it's put in. Now the chickens eat whatever they can get through the chicken wire. It freezes back some in the winter in Tucson but it comes right back in the spring. In this heat I've been watering it a couple of times a week, but most of the year it's once a week. Even less in cold weather. I've seen Ruellia for sale at Home Depot and other nurseries around town. I don't think it is native but it does well here. I got mine from a friend.

Lemongrass does surprisingly well here too. I cut it back in the winter so it comes back full in the spring. The chickens eat whatever grows through the fencing. I have my lemongrass planted near the Ruellia and they take similar conditions. In my yard they get morning sun and afternoon shade. It suits them.

In the fall I plant swiss chard, bok choy, and kale in the garden. Chard is heat tolerant and will survive the summer. My chard tends to get gnawed down to the roots by wild birds and bugs in the summer so I don't get much in the way of summer greens. But the chard comes back from the roots in the fall. I've had individual chard plants produce for 2-3 years.

Bok choy and kale usually bolt as soon as it warms up. They are great winter garden plants and chickens love them. I plant them in the fall. Usually mid September. And then I plant another batch in January.

If you plant kale make sure it is an edible variety, not an ornamental kale. Last fall I bought some lovely purple kale plants as an impulse purchase. Wasn't really paying attention when I bought them but they were in a different section at the nursery. Not with the veggies. That should have been a clue. That pretty purple kale grew well in the garden. But when I tried to cook it the leaves stayed curly and crunchy - even in soup - and it tasted like stiff paper. Yuck. One hen loved the stuff. She kept breaking into the garden to get that purple kale. One day I broke open an egg and discovered a yolk with a slight purple tinge. Double yuck. From now on I'm sticking with edible kale varieties. Green ones.

Good luck.

 

[EmeraldClutch]

Don't know of any berries.  My favorite chicken-friendly landscaping plant is Ruellia. Ruellia is heat tolerant, grows like crazy, has lush green leaves, and pretty purple flowers that come and go for most of the summer. Chickens love it. I had to fence it off or they would have mowed it to the ground. It's a perennial that grows a couple of feet high and will take over whatever space it's put in. Now the chickens eat whatever they can get through the chicken wire. It freezes back some in the winter in Tucson but it comes right back in the spring. In this heat I've been watering it a couple of times a week, but most of the year it's once a week. Even less in cold weather. I've seen Ruellia for sale at Home Depot and other nurseries around town. I don't think it is native but it does well here. I got mine from a friend.

Lemongrass does surprisingly well here too. I cut it back in the winter so it comes back full in the spring. The chickens eat whatever grows through the fencing.  I have my lemongrass planted near the Ruellia and they take similar conditions. In my yard they get morning sun and afternoon shade. It suits them.

In the fall I plant swiss chard, bok choy, and kale in the garden. Chard is heat tolerant and will survive the summer. My chard tends to get gnawed down to the roots by wild birds and bugs in the summer so I don't get much in the way of summer greens. But the chard comes back from the roots in the fall. I've had individual chard plants produce for 2-3 years.

Bok choy and kale usually bolt as soon as it warms up. They are great winter garden plants and chickens love them. I plant them in the fall. Usually mid September. And then I plant another batch in January.

If you plant kale make sure it is an edible variety, not an ornamental kale. Last fall I bought some lovely purple kale plants as an impulse purchase. Wasn't really paying attention when I bought them but they were in a different section at the nursery. Not with the veggies. That should have been a clue.  That pretty purple kale grew well in the garden. But when I tried to cook it the leaves stayed curly and crunchy - even in soup - and it tasted like stiff paper. Yuck. One hen loved the stuff. She kept breaking into the garden to get that purple kale. One day I broke open an egg and discovered a yolk with a slight purple tinge. Double yuck. From now on I'm sticking with edible kale varieties. Green ones.

Good luck.

wow! Awesome information, Thanks!

 

[ejcrist]

Thanks everyone! I think I will try kale, clover, and alfalfa. What about bushes? Are there any native berries or something that are edible?

One berry that does very well here is blackberries but there are only 2 varieties that do exceptionally well. One is Roseborough and I can't think of the other one at the moment. The two that do well were developed at Texas A&M. All the varieties developed at OK State will grow but only have marginal performance. I got my first Roseborough roots from Womack Nursery in Texas. They're not all that expensive. I started with 15 and during April I've been getting about 8 pounds of berries per day. I liked them so much I planted an additional 30 cuttings this past April and they're doing good. They will need irrigation so you'll have to take that in consideration. They also have thorns but birds seem to avoid them; I don't know how because I certainly can't. So anyway that's one berry I can think of.

Magic Chicken is right about the lemon grass too. You can buy some at the Asian markets such as Mekong and put a couple in water and watch them root. I love these varieties the best because we use them for cooking. Lemon grass will need irrigation too but it's extremely drought tolerant.

 

[dnx717]

Looking for where to buy a small, specific, set of chicks. Smallest order online is IdealPoultry.com. I bought my first flock from them. That ended up being 9 pullets. I am looking to get my second flock now but I only want 3 birds, two Americauna and one Welsummer or Maran...

Any idea where I can get such a small quantity of birds?

 

[cyborg]

Looking for where to buy a small, specific, set of chicks. Smallest order online is IdealPoultry.com. I bought my first flock from them. That ended up being 9 pullets. I am looking to get my second flock now but I only want 3 birds, two Americauna and one Welsummer or Maran...

Any idea where I can get such a small quantity of birds?

MyPetChicken.

 

[dnx717]

I ran across them after posting on here but they don't have the breeds available that I want and they don't have suspected dates when they will. I found a couple of people on Craigslist that I'm checking out now. I want utility and egg color, so I don't have to get a show quality bird. Thanks for the info though!