Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

Awesome!!!! Congrats to the daddy, mommy(ies) & you! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All 4 are done hatching now. 9 more from group #2 are due on Monday or Tues.

 

[Sill]

It is right up to one nostril & the edge of his beak. Surprisingly he is. He's in FULL, LOUD voice in the morning too. He is such a sweet, spoiled little thing too. Turns out his little girl carried him everywhere, daily. Her Dad said the only place he thinks he ever walked was in the coop. So, he's a perfect friend right now for Sherlock. Soon as Sherlock's Den is finished they'll be outside. They stay in their area which is nice. Well, since the 1st morning. I woke up to find him checking out my bedroom. I think he was looking for his family.

He sure got a good home with you! I'm hoping his beak bump doesn't affect his health.

All 4 are done hatching now. 9 more from group #2 are due on Monday or Tues.

Congrats on the new chicks!

 

[ejcrist]

As a general rule, roosters don't seem to molt as heavily as the hens do. Let's face it....their bodies just don't have to work as hard as the girls' do.

Age of the bird isn't necessarily the most important variable when deciding when to use a bird's eggs. If you're dealing with a larger fowl that will lay large to jumbo eggs when mature, I would recommend not hatching anything weighing less than 1.8 ounces. It's also very important to pay attention to egg shape and shell quality. Torpedo shaped eggs generally don't hatch well because there's not enough room inside for the chick to move around properly and it will often suffocate. Excessively porous eggs may dry out too quickly. And yes, the bulls-eye is a good indicator, especially if it's very prominent.

I know of a few people who hatch out half a dozen eggs in one of those little Brinsea incubators and rave about them. As far as the larger Brinsea are concerned, I've read both good and bad reviews. My personal choice was the Rcom Max 20 because it's "dummy proof", which is precisely what I needed. It does an excellent job of maintaining both humidity and temperature, but I also had a very successful hatch in the inexpensive Hovabator.

Here's a really good page to get you started: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

Thanks for that link. I'm going to get an incubator as soon as I finish my breeding coop/runs setup. I have an order of birds coming the week of 10/24 so I gotta stick to my construction plan since the clock is ticking. I should have the multi-coop building done tomorrow or early next week - I can set the chicks up in there while I'm working on the 4-bay runs since the chicks won't be ready to go out for a few weeks anyway. Here's the coop as of today. I fabricated and installed the double doors this afternoon. The only thing left to do on the building is lay the linoleum and put up the interior coop walls, pen doors, and chicken wire. Chicken wire will be ok in this case since nothing can get in the building unless it can fit through the 1/2" hardware cloth windows. I learned a lot building the first coop so this one is a lot better.

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

All 4 are done hatching now. 9 more from group #2 are due on Monday or Tues.

Congrats!!!

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

He sure got a good home with you! I'm hoping his beak bump doesn't affect his health.

Congrats on the new chicks!

Thank you. I don't think it will...so far so good. I'm keeping an eye on it. I've use a sterilized pin to scrap/pick some of the stuff off...it's like a scab kind of thing. I think he got hurt & this is the result. I'm putting hen healer on it & will try the pin as best/much as I can. Slow process though...don't want to hurt him or anything of the sort. So far hasn't hurt him & he doesn't mind unless it's pressure on it...so at times the worst is making sure I have him held snugly. I'm wanting to see if I can reduce the size of this thing so it'll recede from the beak & nostril edges. Wondering about drawing salve on it...if it's based from an injury or the like. I'm kind of winging it here with some idea from very few posts.

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Thanks for that link. I'm going to get an incubator as soon as I finish my breeding coop/runs setup. I have an order of birds coming the week of 10/24 so I gotta stick to my construction plan since the clock is ticking. I should have the multi-coop building done tomorrow or early next week - I can set the chicks up in there while I'm working on the 4-bay runs since the chicks won't be ready to go out for a few weeks anyway. Here's the coop as of today. I fabricated and installed the double doors this afternoon. The only thing left to do on the building is lay the linoleum and put up the interior coop walls, pen doors, and chicken wire. Chicken wire will be ok in this case since nothing can get in the building unless it can fit through the 1/2" hardware cloth windows. I learned a lot building the first coop so this one is a lot better.

Wow! Looks awesome. You should have some very happy chicks. Give me bit of an idea to think about for here. Thanks for sharing the pics.

 

[ejcrist]

Wow! Looks awesome. You should have some very happy chicks. Give me bit of an idea to think about for here. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Thanks for the nice compliment. Some general concepts I learned while building coops is that #1, I prefer walk-in style coops/runs for ease of cleaning since I'm not getting any younger. For me walk-in coops make cleaning a breeze and I don't end up feeling sore afterward. #2, a gable (pointed peak) roof works for a single or double bay coop/run but for 3 or more coops/runs in one a sloped or saltbox roof works best because you can keep the height around 7' at the highest point whereas a gable would have to be around 11' minimum at the peak to accommodate the attached runs which would start at around 7' at the low point of a gable roof and end at 6' since they need to be sloped. #3, we're fortunate in parts of AZ that we don't need a steep slope due to snow load. A 1 in 6 slope is fine to allow for rain runoff.

Also, I found I like corrugated metal roofs better than asphalt shingle because they're more durable, easier to install, less expensive, and reflect heat much better. I've read where some people say they get hotter during the day but that has not been my experience. It may be the case if you use not-reflective panels but the stone brown panels I ordered from Home Depot reflect heat very well. They're much cooler during the day than the asphalt shingles I have on one of my coops and a shed. In addition, if your roof is 6' or higher, the birds are a good couple of feet below the roof so any heat trapped on the roof will be way above them, and it will cool off quickly after the sun goes down.

Anyway that's just my thoughts. If you need any info when you get ready to build or buy let me know and I'll certainly be happy to share anything I learned. Designing and building coops is as much fun as raising chickens. Maybe when 'm retired I'll be a coop building contractor. I'll name my company "Cluck Builders, LLC"

 

[bunsnpupsnchick]

Thanks for the nice compliment. Some general concepts I learned while building coops is that #1, I prefer walk-in style coops/runs for ease of cleaning since I'm not getting any younger. For me walk-in coops make cleaning a breeze and I don't end up feeling sore afterward. #2, a gable (pointed peak) roof works for a single or double bay coop/run but for 3 or more coops/runs in one a sloped or saltbox roof works best because you can keep the height around 7' at the highest point whereas a gable would have to be around 11' minimum at the peak to accommodate the attached runs which would start at around 7' at the low point of a gable roof and end at 6' since they need to be sloped. #3, we're fortunate in parts of AZ that we don't need a steep slope due to snow load. A 1 in 6 slope is fine to allow for rain runoff.

Also, I found I like corrugated metal roofs better than asphalt shingle because they're more durable, easier to install, less expensive, and reflect heat much better. I've read where some people say they get hotter during the day but that has not been my experience. It may be the case if you use not-reflective panels but the stone brown panels I ordered from Home Depot reflect heat very well. They're much cooler during the day than the asphalt shingles I have on one of my coops and a shed. In addition, if your roof is 6' or higher, the birds are a good couple of feet below the roof so any heat trapped on the roof will be way above them, and it will cool off quickly after the sun goes down.

Anyway that's just my thoughts. If you need any info when you get ready to build or buy let me know and I'll certainly be happy to share anything I learned. Designing and building coops is as much fun as raising chickens. Maybe when 'm retired I'll be a coop building contractor. I'll name my company "Cluck Builders, LLC" 

Lol. You might be into something for a retirement career.

I've been wondering about the clear or colored corrugated type of panels for roofs. I see those in stock at home depot. I'm guessing those are different. Slope style is what I'm thinking just for ease. Definitely walk-ins as my neck doesn't even like the ones where I can do most from outside or slightly bent.

I think key to cooling too would be the ventilation. I'm thinking either similar to the, I forget the term sorry, boards with the holes used in houses & or open sections just under the overhang that are closed with hardware cloth. Provided the overhang was enough to prevent rain from entering. Plus windows or similar lower in the walls too.

One thing I'm planning on is a separate food & water area. I want to have it in the coop space so it's protected, but out of the roosting space. I have an idea for just having the birds in the yard, but not yet for those who'll be in coop-run setups. I do plan on the auto-water system coming from the sprinkler feed pipe, with separate shut off valve & access port to run acv or anything else thru. Also auto-feed that can hold at least a few weeks worth of food if not a month. Right now my best thought for that is storage bin with PVC piping coming from it. Since I have various sizes of birds I'll need to have variable heights & size of openings for the feed. It'll be a slow process & learning experience.

First I'll be building Sherlock's den. Going to size for 6, but plan on 2-4. That should give me wiggle room. Figure that'll be part template part "oh, should've done x" when I'm done. I'm watching how the sun & shade are in the yard trying to decide where to put it. Also if I'd have to alter my sprinkler system placement, cap one off, etc.

I already have a spot for the big coop setup. That was planned before I got any chicks & I learned about chicken math & addiction.

 

[DesertChic]

Lol. You might be into something for a retirement career.

I've been wondering about the clear or colored corrugated type of panels for roofs. I see those in stock at home depot. I'm guessing those are different. Slope style is what I'm thinking just for ease. Definitely walk-ins as my neck doesn't even like the ones where I can do most from outside or slightly bent.

I think key to cooling too would be the ventilation. I'm thinking either similar to the, I forget the term sorry, boards with the holes used in houses & or open sections just under the overhang that are closed with hardware cloth. Provided the overhang was enough to prevent rain from entering. Plus windows or similar lower in the walls too.

One thing I'm planning on is a separate food & water area. I want to have it in the coop space so it's protected, but out of the roosting space. I have an idea for just having the birds in the yard, but not yet for those who'll be in coop-run setups. I do plan on the auto-water system coming from the sprinkler feed pipe, with separate shut off valve & access port to run acv or anything else thru. Also auto-feed that can hold at least a few weeks worth of food if not a month. Right now my best thought for that is storage bin with PVC piping coming from it. Since I have various sizes of birds I'll need to have variable heights & size of openings for the feed. It'll be a slow process & learning experience.

First I'll be building Sherlock's den. Going to size for 6, but plan on 2-4. That should give me wiggle room. Figure that'll be part template part "oh, should've done x" when I'm done. I'm watching how the sun & shade are in the yard trying to decide where to put it. Also if I'd have to alter my sprinkler system placement, cap one off, etc.

I already have a spot for the big coop setup. That was planned before I got any chicks & I learned about chicken math & addiction.

I'd stay away from the clear and translucent corrugated roof panels out here. Not only do they let in A LOT of solar heat, but they also don't last very long. We used some on a storage area at our business and had to replace it in less than two years because the sun beat it up so badly. Metal roofing may cost a bit more, but it lasts a whole lot longer.

You're coop is looking great! Nice work!

 

[BlueBaby]

Thanks for that link. I'm going to get an incubator as soon as I finish my breeding coop/runs setup. I have an order of birds coming the week of 10/24 so I gotta stick to my construction plan since the clock is ticking. I should have the multi-coop building done tomorrow or early next week - I can set the chicks up in there while I'm working on the 4-bay runs since the chicks won't be ready to go out for a few weeks anyway. Here's the coop as of today. I fabricated and installed the double doors this afternoon. The only thing left to do on the building is lay the linoleum and put up the interior coop walls, pen doors, and chicken wire. Chicken wire will be ok in this case since nothing can get in the building unless it can fit through the 1/2" hardware cloth windows. I learned a lot building the first coop so this one is a lot better.

Nice idea and work on the coop! What type or breed of birds are you getting?