Arizona Chickens

[mearpond]

I'm looking to buy some Sussex reds or speckled anyone knows someone local I can buy them from. I hear they lay well in the heat. I'll have a ton of questions coming up here soon lol
thanks in advance

 

[Diannastarr]

I'd say it's procrastination and cautious hesitation. My coop design has been modified at least four times, and while looking at them again yesterday and today, I found some details/steps that I overlooked, which could cause some issues down the road.

Back to the drawing board for a little tweaking. Oh, and I thought that Homemade vs Store bought forum was great and there were a lot of neat ideas on re-purposing stuff.

I think a person has to be inquisitive/curious (or nosy like me) to start with, asking a lot of questions and get those creative juices flowing. Knowledge of a few tools is a plus. It reminds me of that son (Noah) and the Alaskan Bush People.

My second hobby is bringing old electronics back to life. They were well made and seemed to last forever. Years ago, I took a stereo to a shop and they flat out told me they don't work on stuff like that. It really ticked me off, so I bought a bunch of electronics books and joined electronics forums and learned a lot over the past 20+ years.

Many parts are still available and not expensive, depending what you need. The biggest investment is your time. Most of my repairs were under $10 dollars.

They are a nostalgic piece of history and are making a comeback, and I'm fortunate to have several thousand vinyl LP's.

This is my next project that needs minor restoration and want to get rid of because there are twelve more in the house and a few out in the garage.
View attachment 1253218

 

[BlueBaby]

I'm looking to buy some Sussex reds or speckled anyone knows someone local I can buy them from. I hear they lay well in the heat. I'll have a ton of questions coming up here soon lol
thanks in advance

Welcome to BYC, and our AZ. thread. I don't know of anyone that is working with breeding the Sussex's. Go ahead and ask your question's. Someone here will answer you.

 

[Diannastarr]

well WOW THAT STEREO LOOKS BEYOND AMAZING your an artist give your self time to day dream ,every thing comes in its own good time , & in the meantime stop & smell the roses, because pushing our selves will only ground out our creative flow, but wow hey you sure are multi talented artist, thats so wonderful & repairing old electronics that is really great..! i see that we are both multi talented creators and its fun...!!! & i totally agree about the older stuff made in the past and boy you have it all set up right...! thats very good, but its true they are truly so much better made ,i even look for the older 1940s kitchen tools and working electronics they are always soooo much better made, all of it made with American pride to last for ever...! my goodness whats being sold today is not worth buying and i believe all of whats being sold today by most every store , i will eventually be jamming up all our city dumps and its not even worth the cost of recycling it , since its just all garbage from other countries like china ,& they are selling us their garbages...? gosh , well thats one of my pet peeves sorry HA , im an artist and i work in several different types of mediums my self , i love to invent stuff & i invented my own south western style jewelry out of used copper from electric motor winding's and minerals i found on the ground in Bisbee HA , and i love re-purposing stuff, i see different things in stuff meant for other purposes. to me its such fun HA well we certainly think alike, its nice to know the kool things each of us enjoy doing & have a lot more going on its all so very interesting to say the least..! plus the really good part about every one here on the BYC we all love chickens

 

[BlueBaby]

@Diannastarr I'd like to see some of that southwestern jewelry that you made. Do you have any pics of them?

 

[SonoranChick]

One of these early mornings I swear I will catch one of you night owls as you are leaving your evening BYC shift To jump in on the topic, it is amazing how much cheap junk is out there for sale, and labor charges are ridiculous most times! I'm so lucky my husband is a great welder, and we both see recycling and repurposing things as a way of life. The entire chicken coop is made of refurbished stuff from when we remodeled the house, and the run is mostly recycled metal. The garden is made of old railroad ties and the fence is made of our old pipes from when the well broke down. Everything looks perfectly mismatched and pieced together in a way that we appreciate so much more than if it came from a store. Plus, no one else has the same stuff!
@mearpond welcome to the thread I have always wanted a speckled Sussex, but I don't know anyone locally who has them. Good luck finding what you want and we would be happy to answer any questions you have

 

[mearpond]

@BlueBaby and @SonoranChick thanks for your warm welcomes!

I guess I'll do my introduction here considering this is where I'll be posting the most.
My name is Clint, I'm 36 years old and I'm a recent transplant from Portland Oregon (don't judge me LOL). We moved to Maricopa in November, and I love it here. (and yes I've been here before during the months of hell LOL) I'm just getting our garden running and I'm planning out building our fully automated coop here in the next few months. When I mean automated I mean dawn opening coop doors temperature readings and mobile access to the stats inside of the coop if I had it my way wifi connected webcam just in case we're out of town. I'm a man that researches everything way in advance to help set myself up for success. I've heard that the Sussex Chickens are great layers in the heat as well as great temperament. I want to find some bad, but I would like to get them somewhat local. As I'm a business owner and I know what it means to get local business.
So, it's crazy to me that I can't find them local considering their reputation I would think they would be great Az birds. I have family in San Diego too to my reach to pick up chicks would go that far.

Any suggestions on egg layers here that lay great in our heat?

 

[cactusrota]

You know if you just want the sussex as layers, I would suggest just getting them from Tractor Supply. The ones around here get their chicks from Privett that's just next door in NM, so they've been bred in a similar climate, and TSC will usually special order as long as you buy at least 6 of them when they show up. Now, for someone that wants a true dual purpose bird for eggs and meat, or a show bird, then that's definitely NOT the way to go. I consider Privett "local" enough in NM.
Also, if you're on facebook there's a good number of poultry groups just for Arizona that are very active and would be good places to ask.
If you do find a good AZ source, please post it here. I could be talked into some nice Columbian Sussex...

 

[cactusrota]

Yes, I know what you mean about photobucket. I used to play with paintshop pro and make graphics and signature tags for people. I still have the paintshop pro on this computer.

Are my 2 or 3 girls in that batch of chicks that you just hatched out?

Edit: I still have a friend that puts together those digital scrapkits too.

My plan with these is to keep the majority of the cockerels for freezer camp (and maybe a couple for breeding), pick out the pullets I want for breeding, and the rest will all be available. Possibly some of the white ones.....

 

[Diannastarr]

I'd say it's procrastination and cautious hesitation. My coop design has been modified at least four times, and while looking at them again yesterday and today, I found some details/steps that I overlooked, which could cause some issues down the road.

Back to the drawing board for a little tweaking. Oh, and I thought that Homemade vs Store bought forum was great and there were a lot of neat ideas on re-purposing stuff.

I think a person has to be inquisitive/curious (or nosy like me) to start with, asking a lot of questions and get those creative juices flowing. Knowledge of a few tools is a plus. It reminds me of that son (Noah) and the Alaskan Bush People.

My second hobby is bringing old electronics back to life. They were well made and seemed to last forever. Years ago, I took a stereo to a shop and they flat out told me they don't work on stuff like that. It really ticked me off, so I bought a bunch of electronics books and joined electronics forums and learned a lot over the past 20+ years.

Many parts are still available and not expensive, depending what you need. The biggest investment is your time. Most of my repairs were under $10 dollars.

They are a nostalgic piece of history and are making a comeback, and I'm fortunate to have several thousand vinyl LP's.

This is my next project that needs minor restoration and want to get rid of because there are twelve more in the house and a few out in the garage.
View attachment 1253218

@Diannastarr I'd like to see some of that southwestern jewelry that you made. Do you have any pics of them?

i sure do , but o golly dont get me started....lol..HA

ok i will go look for a few pics to post, this first necklace above was from my goddess collection i made from used electrical copper wire & Bisbee blue turquoise, its my favorite and i kept it for my self , i hand made all of it including the chain & clasp. i made some very heavy copper belts, of this type design but with some larger turquoise nuggets on them .next i made a lot of art frames out of dried desert weeds & using an old x mass card of angles, i also made a cuckoo clock like that same type design of dried desert plants sticks vines & twigs with tiny elves walking up a real quarts crystal stair case leading to the door way under the clock face were the elves that keep the clock running live ..lol.. i just though id toss in some other pics, of the mediums i worked in, over the years, i also have worked in clay, metal, wood, plaster, rocks, feathers Ha yeah right feathers , most people dont usually have lots of feathers lying all around their yard...lol.. & lastly in art photography & even more i have created over the years as gifts , and creative gifts of food HA but i cant remember it all HA, plus some was lost when we moved from state to state , so the list goes on , into infinity for me since its always all about the next design from an un tapped medium for me , its what makes me happy , i tend to make several pieces in a row of the same medium & type of design form , then i get tired of it , so there are just a few pieces left of each as all good things must come to an end...lol... and then the next art design wants to come into the world and so it goes, any thing found i like i use as or in an art project..lol.. i never buy any thing from the store for my art protects & use only what i find , except for maybe a tiny bit of paint that some one years ago had gifted me , but i have made my own paint to , since im pretty driven when the art energy comes around & some thing from out of the ether's wants to come into physical form & picks you to be its creator...lol.. im sure all you artists out there know exactly what i mean , & when that happens i dont eat or sleep & forget to drink water ...lol.. nothing like getting really involved...lol.. right HA, well so these are only pics i have of some of my different art, plus shadow boxes i made with dried flowers & leaves & other desert dried plants along with the image of a flower fairy princesses out of the realm of dreams , sorry that pic was not coming up..? , plus i also made round boxes in this same type art form they were my fairy boxes but not one is left they were all sold and not one pictures exist of then , next is my yule solstice card, i just wanted a different kind of holiday card...lol.. so from the last of my flying saucer squash & tiny tomatoes in my garden that year, i created this yule solstice card, but sorry im still looking for my other jewelry pics, i think i have them all on a different CD some were...????? i will look for them . i dont have pics of all the jewelry i made over the years since some sold before i could take pic's of them, & because i didn't have a good working camera at the time.

One of these early mornings I swear I will catch one of you night owls as you are leaving your evening BYC shift To jump in on the topic, it is amazing how much cheap junk is out there for sale, and labor charges are ridiculous most times! I'm so lucky my husband is a great welder, and we both see recycling and repurposing things as a way of life. The entire chicken coop is made of refurbished stuff from when we remodeled the house, and the run is mostly recycled metal. The garden is made of old railroad ties and the fence is made of our old pipes from when the well broke down. Everything looks perfectly mismatched and pieced together in a way that we appreciate so much more than if it came from a store. Plus, no one else has the same stuff! WOW I DESERT CHICK , THATS SO COMPLETELY AMAZING YOU ARE LIVING IN YOUR OWN ART PROTECT THAT MUST BE SO TRULY AMAZING TON SEE IT ALL, AND WHAT YOU GUYS CREATED FROM ALL YOUR HARD WORK YOU PUT INTO YOUR DESIGN AND IT SURELY IS A ONE OF A KIND , I MUST SAY , SORRY IM NOT YELLING IM JUST SHOUTING ABOUT YOUR GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENTS...!! now you will have to show us all some of your pics...!!!
@mearpond welcome to the thread I have always wanted a speckled Sussex, but I don't know anyone locally who has them. Good luck finding what you want and we would be happy to answer any questions you have