Arizona Chickens

[ejcrist]

I like what you have done with building your new multi-pen coop. I bet you have put a lot of money into it. Yes, I know that it can get hot here very early. Last year I barely got the misting system up before it hit, and I didn't even have the timer set up for it yet. I am interested in seeing how you are going to build those breeding pens that you mentioned for the individual hens.

Also I forgot to mention the breeding pens will be a simple gable roof frame that'll be around 8'-9' at the peak sloping down to around 7', and it'll have three 5'X5' pens back to back with their own walk-in entry doors. I'm thinking to cover the bottom 2' with siding to protect from sun/wind and the top 5' covered in hardware cloth. The roof will be corrugated metal with a 1' overhang - I like metal roofs as long as they have enough height. A lot of people say they get pretty hot but the newer material sections I got reflect heat really well and are a lot cooler than the first roof I built on my first coop which is asphalt shingle. My plan is to put the hens in each pen and rotate the cock among them daily. That way I can ID which egg came from which hen and mark them. I have a Sportsman hatcher so I can separate each hens' eggs in different trays and then toe punch them as soon as they come out of the hatcher so they don't get mixed up. That's the plan anyway. With my luck though they'll jump down to the next tray and I won't be able to tell one from another.

 

[BlueBaby]

Thanks. Actually it wasn't all that bad cost-wise. I haven't tallied up the grand total yet but I think before the run doors I was up to somewhere around $2,800, and that was offset with egg and garlic sales so it wasn't all that bad. I've seen a lot of those kit sheds for sale over at Homeless Depot and they cost around the same amount for an 8'X10'. And gosh if you have Tuff Sheds build a 12X16 they'll want around $7,500 - I know because I considered getting one a couple of years ago. Maybe I should go in the coop building business after I retire one day - they'll be redneck engineered but they work ok.

You do a good job, and those pre-made coops that people can buy are so cheaply made. I had one that I got a hold of before, and before I got my first chicks into it we had a day that the wind gusts were 40 mph. Needless to say, the wind blew it over, and pieces of it busted off. I would have lost my chicks from that if they still had not been in the house in the brooder.

 

[deserteggs22]

That's pretty neat. On another note my wife and I finally finished the multi-pen coop w/attached runs we started late last year. Gosh I'm glad that's done. Next up is two banks of six breeding pens so we can breed the hens individually. I need to get those done before say mid February or so since it gets hot early here in the valley. Wish me luck.

That looks really good! Do you have any written blueprints for it? I've been wanting to build a big breeding pen like that.

 

[BlueBaby]

@ejcrist I feel the same as desserteggs22... I hope that you made a blue print for what you are building there with those.

 

[ejcrist]

That looks really good! Do you have any written blueprints for it? I've been wanting to build a big breeding pen like that.

Thanks. I have my hand-written "chicken scratch" notes and drawings that I always save when building stuff like this but not electronic prints or anything. I always wanted to get a drafting or CAD program so I can have a permanent record and even tweak it along the way. Anyway, I always start with the end product of what I want conceptually, like with the multi-coop I wanted four 6'x6' pens with a 4' wide hallway to access the pens and store stuff, so the building interior dimensions had to be 10X24. And then I decided on a 1:10 sloped roof since we don't have any snow load here and I wanted to keep the peak under 10'. I also learned after building the first coop that a 1' overhang is really nice to have because it keeps the rain away from the building and runs so that was something I wanted too. Once you know the big picture of what you want in the end it's just a matter of planning each piece on paper before getting any material, that way if something doesn't gel you can figure it out before you buy the first board. Also you can make a bill of material for each piece and get the cost off the Homeless Depot site so you'll have an accurate estimate of what the whole project will cost. Surprisingly the two coops/runs I built turned out to be a lot less expensive than what I originally guessed. Once everything goes together ok on paper you just buy the material for the first section - complete, then move on to the second section and on and on till done. Like with the breeding pens I'm starting this weekend, I'll get the 2X8's and plywood for the base and put that together, and then get the 2X4's for the walls and erect them, etc. My wife says I should get all the material at once so I don't have to run to the store for each phase but I have a pretty shallow brain so I can't think much beyond each individual phase. But yeah, when you break it down into sections it's a lot less stressful and easier to manage.

Also if you want some ideas on the basic structures, you could do what I did and get a book on building sheds/outdoor storage which'll have the framework illustrated so you can see how it all goes together. There's also a really nice video series called iCreatables (https://www.youtube.com/user/icreatablestv) that has all the details you'll need to build whatever you want be it a barn, gable roof, or sloped roof building. Personally I'm not much for working off of plans that I got somewhere else because they're rarely what I have in mind, but I'm all for reviewing them and then designing what I want based on the plan's concepts. Also you can easily modify or add to your own plans, like in my case I ended up adding brooding pens (4X6) at the ends of the hallways - I have to enter the brooding pens to walk into the regular pens on the ends but that's not an issue for me and it gives me more space to keep the chicks separated until their old enough to go into the flock.

Anyway, if you ever have any questions that I might be able to help with just send me a pm or ask here and I'll be glad to tell ya what I know. I'm certainly no expert but I can at least tell you what's worked or hasn't worked for me.

 

[Christoffking]

I been reading thru several pages, it seems like the RIR are pretty good in this climate as well as friendly and less noisy then other chickens. Is there another breed of chicken that would be MORE friendlier then the RIR?

Off topic ish, which breed of duck does well in southern Az?

 

[Banaynaychicken]

I been reading thru several pages, it seems like the RIR are pretty good in this climate as well as friendly and less noisy then other chickens. Is there another breed of chicken that would be MORE friendlier then the RIR?

Off topic ish, which breed of duck does well in southern Az?

Muscovys and Runners do pretty well as well as call ducks. The whites are DOLLS

As for chickens, Barred Rocks and Leg Horns are super chill and GREAT layers throughout the year ^^

 

[ejcrist]

I been reading thru several pages, it seems like the RIR are pretty good in this climate as well as friendly and less noisy then other chickens. Is there another breed of chicken that would be MORE friendlier then the RIR?

Off topic ish, which breed of duck does well in southern Az?

Regarding friendly chickens that do well in the southern AZ climate, do you mean friendly towards people, as in personable or toward other birds? Also, are you wanting to get your birds from a hatchery or a breeder? Assuming you mean personable toward people, there are quite a few breeds that'll do well here that are friendly (as a general rule).

Some that I have experience with are Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Orpingtons, and most recently Naked Necks/Turkens. I can't say every bird of those breeds would be friendly since each is an individual, but I found in most cases they seemed to be friendly. The reason I asked where you plan to get your birds from is because my Rhode Island Reds are from a local breeder and I'm planning to breed toward the SOP with them, and the trio I have are exceptionally friendly, however; I've come across many that people got from hatcheries that were pretty aggressive. I'm not saying all RIR's from hatcheries are that way but that's what I've observed. Some hatchery birds were sold as/labeled RIR and some as Production Reds but all the birds I saw were Production Reds by their type.

So far I've never met an Orpington that wasn't friendly towards people, and the hatchery Orpingtons are a lot more slender than the Orpingtons I got from a breeder so I believe the hatchery version would do well here. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the Orpington trio I have for breeding because they are fairly large and have a lot of fluff and feathering. I think they'll be fine since the breeder I bought them from raises them in Safford which isn't a whole lot cooler than it is in North Phoenix during the summer but I plan to do everything I know how to keep them cool this summer.

I bought 10 Naked Necks from a hatchery back in November and they've all been very friendly as well. On top of that they are known to be exceptionally hardy and can tolerate the heat here very well. DesertChic turned me onto them a while back and they have proven to be everything she said and more. At first I didn't care for them due to their looks but they grew on me after a while and now I think they're quite attractive - beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. I took a leap of faith with them and I'm glad I did - I owe DesertChic for that one. Also they're reported to be one of the most tastiest chickens around in case you ever plan on BBQing them. I highly recommend getting at least one with your new flock and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. I love my hatchery NN's so much I'm now looking for SOP NN's from a breeder because I'd love to breed some of them to the standard. Like DesertChic has been saying, I think they are way under-rated and I'd love to do my part by growing and showing them. They really are an outstanding breed for this part of the country.

Like Banaynaychicken said, Leghorns are excellent birds to raise in Southern AZ; they do extremely well in the heat of summer but mine are all pretty flighty and don't want to be anyone's friend. I give them the respect they want and we all get along fine. They are prolific layers throughout the year but they lay white eggs which for some reason I found a lot of people don't want. Personally I like eggs of any color so it doesn't matter to me but I have some egg customers that insist on brown eggs only. I haven't been able to find any Brown Leghorns bred to the SOP yet but I plan to get a trio, quad, or two if I can ever locate any available for sale. I don't know if they'll lay as much as the hatchery Leghorns but I'm sure they'll be every bit as tolerant of the summers here. The only downside to prolific layers is they tend to burn out faster so you'd likely have to replace them sooner - higher turnover. I'm speculating SOP Leghorns would lay slightly less since production isn't the only thing they've been bred to, but I think even a moderate laying Leghorn would out-lay most other breeds.

Anyway that's my $0.02. I don't know anything about ducks so I can't help you there. I'd like to get some at some point but I got my hands full juggling chickens at the moment. Good luck in your search.

 

[DesertChic]

I been reading thru several pages, it seems like the RIR are pretty good in this climate as well as friendly and less noisy then other chickens. Is there another breed of chicken that would be MORE friendlier then the RIR?

Off topic ish, which breed of duck does well in southern Az?

I'm always going to herald the benefits of the Naked Neck Turken. My NN hens lay upwards of 200+ eggs per year, lay different colored eggs, and come in a variety of color with the friendliest of temperaments. My NN roosters are wonderfully gentlemanly, take amazing care of their girls, are very human friendly and taste amazing. They're also extremely heat tolerant, very cold tolerant, and exceptionally hardy and healthy.

Here are some of my favorites from my flock:

 

[Christoffking]

Regarding friendly chickens that do well in the southern AZ climate, do you mean friendly towards people, as in personable or toward other birds? Also, are you wanting to get your birds from a hatchery or a breeder? Assuming you mean personable toward people, there are quite a few breeds that'll do well here that are friendly (as a general rule). Some that I have experience with are Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, Orpingtons, and most recently Naked Necks/Turkens. I can't say every bird of those breeds would be friendly since each is an individual, but I found in most cases they seemed to be friendly. The reason I asked where you plan to get your birds from is because my Rhode Island Reds are from a local breeder and I'm planning to breed toward the SOP with them, and the trio I have are exceptionally friendly, however; I've come across many that people got from hatcheries that were pretty aggressive. I'm not saying all RIR's from hatcheries are that way but that's what I've observed. Some hatchery birds were sold as/labeled RIR and some as Production Reds but all the birds I saw were Production Reds by their type. So far I've never met an Orpington that wasn't friendly towards people, and the hatchery Orpingtons are a lot more slender than the Orpingtons I got from a breeder so I believe the hatchery version would do well here. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on the Orpington trio I have for breeding because they are fairly large and have a lot of fluff and feathering. I think they'll be fine since the breeder I bought them from raises them in Safford which isn't a whole lot cooler than it is in North Phoenix during the summer but I plan to do everything I know how to keep them cool this summer. I bought 10 Naked Necks from a hatchery back in November and they've all been very friendly as well. On top of that they are known to be exceptionally hardy and can tolerate the heat here very well. DesertChic turned me onto them a while back and they have proven to be everything she said and more. At first I didn't care for them due to their looks but they grew on me after a while and now I think they're quite attractive - beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess. I took a leap of faith with them and I'm glad I did - I owe DesertChic for that one. Also they're reported to be one of the most tastiest chickens around in case you ever plan on BBQing them. I highly recommend getting at least one with your new flock and I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. I love my hatchery NN's so much I'm now looking for SOP NN's from a breeder because I'd love to breed some of them to the standard. Like DesertChic has been saying, I think they are way under-rated and I'd love to do my part by growing and showing them. They really are an outstanding breed for this part of the country. Like Banaynaychicken said, Leghorns are excellent birds to raise in Southern AZ; they do extremely well in the heat of summer but mine are all pretty flighty and don't want to be anyone's friend. I give them the respect they want and we all get along fine. They are prolific layers throughout the year but they lay white eggs which for some reason I found a lot of people don't want. Personally I like eggs of any color so it doesn't matter to me but I have some egg customers that insist on brown eggs only. I haven't been able to find any Brown Leghorns bred to the SOP yet but I plan to get a trio, quad, or two if I can ever locate any available for sale. I don't know if they'll lay as much as the hatchery Leghorns but I'm sure they'll be every bit as tolerant of the summers here. The only downside to prolific layers is they tend to burn out faster so you'd likely have to replace them sooner - higher turnover. I'm speculating SOP Leghorns would lay slightly less since production isn't the only thing they've been bred to, but I think even a moderate laying Leghorn would out-lay most other breeds. Anyway that's my $0.02. I don't know anything about ducks so I can't help you there. I'd like to get some at some point but I got my hands full juggling chickens at the moment. Good luck in your search.

This is awesome thank you, I was planning to get from a breeder or hatchery but I'll probably just hatch them now, I did duck before so chickens should be a problem.