Arizona Chickens

[igorsMistress]

Hi everybody

@MissLavender welcome to the AZ thread . Cooked eggs have more protein than raw. My flock likes them scrambled or hard boiled. They love cooked hamburger, canned salmon but not tuna, cooked turkey and chicken too. My husband wasn't thrilled about dried mealworms in the frying pan though

@BlueBaby are your yard roosters still around? If so, haven't they grazed on that green? I have NO WEEDS because the chickens free range and ate all the seeds left from last year. Even with all the rain

What's everyone up to today? It's my day off so I'm taking the dogs to the park first thing, need to get a few things at the store and I have oleanders that I still need to plant if I have enough time.

 

[meetthebubus]

@MissLavender Welcome you got good tips from every one my tip is if you go with featherfixer get a small bag to try it out for mine they wouldn't eat it and it ad strong odors but that could jyst of been my experience my buffs are picky lol

I also have a "power hour " about an hour or more before roost time i go with all the treats, the majority of treats they get in a day is at this time. They learn this quickly and expect it it's so cute

My observance is this is one of the times they hurriedly look for anything. they want to go to bed with a full crop and they just love it. in the mornings they know they only get feed and they gobble that up too bc they are hungry again. And when I visit them throughout the day they get a little treat. That always leaves them running to me when they hear me, it's fun


Anyhow however you schedule yours is cool but I like to share my method


@igorsMistress I'm off to the city today for the morning, it makes me nervous now, haven't gotten over the collision a month ago, yet, the I 10 is dangerous

@FeatherPugs Your van looks nice I'm glad you found something

I'm staying away from the city this Friday though

Have a good fall day!

 

[Sodell]

Good thing that I'm taking a break from incubating egg's, or I'd probably end up with more than that! I'm a hatch-a-holic.

Me too lol I have two incubators loaded right now.

 

[cactusrota]

My hubby started dragging the yard because the dirt is still moist enough that the weed's pull out of the ground easier. I took the hoe to get the one's that were closer to the coop and run where he couldn't get in good to drag.

See, I never really understood the insistance that people do these things. Those weeds are the groundcover that keep the dust down. This is one of the main reasons the valley keeps getting the huge dust storms every year. We didn't used to get much dust around here until someone bought the property behind us, put cows on it, and dragged it for training horses. Now the dust in our neighborhood picks up like it never did before. I prefer to take a weedeater to them to keep them short, and go around hand pulling or hoeing the most invasive ones like the goatheads. It keeps our dust down tremendously, we only get it blown at us from the properties that do drag.

 

[DesertChic]

Thanks everyone for the accident concern. No injuries - just my vehicle was totaled and unfortunately I really liked that vehicle!! I did find one that was what I needed - has a ramp in back so my DH can ride his power chair right up the ramp and lock down. Still has second row seats, blue tooth, backup camera and the price was right. Now just waiting for them to put the lockdowns in the proper spots and get the check from the credit union. It is a speciality vehicle so looks like sometime between Wed to Fri to pick it up. Just have to get to North Phoenix Valley again! Crazy stuff we have to do.
@Geranium No expert here until the saddle feathers come in or the crowing starts but I'm thinking those look like pullets. Relax, watch them grow, be amazed - I always am.
@Sodell - I'm off Hanna Road and my yard is totally wet too PLUS I sprung a leak in my coop roof, its 10 years old, - couldn't do it today but tomorrow, fingers crossed, I'll tarp it! The rest I've put down straw for now, don't like straw but it does what @igorsMistress says it does. We'll get some more dirt in there later. This is the wettest October I think I've ever seen down here and we've been in AZ over 30 years. Even the Verde Valley wasn't this wet in October. Crazy weather.

I'm so sorry to hear about your accident, and so relieved that nobody got hurt.

 

[DesertChic]

Hello fellow Arizonians! I just got my first flock of hens back in mid September, and they're ALL molting, so I'm getting almost zero eggs at the moment. Haha. For some of them, this is their first molt and for others it's their second. It's a mixed flock of 2 BC Marans (2 yrs), 2 Dixie Rainbows (18 mos), 3 Ameraucanas (2 yrs) and an Olive Egger (18 mos). I do have one Dixie Rainbow who is laying 5 eggs a week RIGHT through a hard molt. But other than that, production has come to a screeching halt.
So my question is: about what time of year do they start laying again in this region?

Hello and welcome!

When they start up again depends both upon the breed and the individual bird. Last year I had many birds in my flock who stopped laying in November and didn't start again until January. I also had some that laid like gangbusters no matter what, including a girl who spent an entire year looking practically featherless because she molted but didn't regrow feathers until it warmed up. Some breeds are simply not winter layers while others don't care about the season.

You can use artificial light to encourage laying if you want. And upping the protein intake (especially by offering different types of protein) can help them get through molt faster, as does adding vitamins to their water. Then they may resume laying sooner rather than later.

Good luck!

 

[igorsMistress]

@MissLavender Welcome you got good tips from every one my tip is if you go with featherfixer get a small bag to try it out for mine they wouldn't eat it and it ad strong odors but that could jyst of been my experience my buffs are picky lol

I also have a "power hour " about an hour or more before roost time i go with all the treats, the majority of treats they get in a day is at this time. They learn this quickly and expect it it's so cute

My observance is this is one of the times they hurriedly look for anything. they want to go to bed with a full crop and they just love it. in the mornings they know they only get feed and they gobble that up too bc they are hungry again. And when I visit them throughout the day they get a little treat. That always leaves them running to me when they hear me, it's fun


Anyhow however you schedule yours is cool but I like to share my method


@igorsMistress I'm off to the city today for the morning, it makes me nervous now, haven't gotten over the collision a month ago, yet, the I 10 is dangerous

@FeatherPugs Your van looks nice I'm glad you found something

I'm staying away from the city this Friday though

Have a good fall day!

Be careful! I don't blame you for not wanting to drive in the city. People don't care for anyone but themselves it seems.
I like your power hour I do the same thing when I'm off early enough that it's still light outside. It's good to spend time relaxing at the end of the day and enjoy their company.

See, I never really understood the insistance that people do these things. Those weeds are the groundcover that keep the dust dust down. This is one of the main reasons the valley keeps getting the huge dust storms every year. We didn't used to get much dust around here until someone bought the property behind us, put cows on it, and dragged it for training horses. Now the dust in our neighborhood picks up like it never did before. I prefer to take a weedeater to them to keep them short, and go around hand pulling or hoeing the most invasive ones like the goatheads. It keeps our dust down tremendously, we only get it blown at us from the properties that do drag.

Agreed! Our dust here is far worse when the fields around us are bare. Our city did a neighborhood beautification thing and lots of people that had bare dirt now have rock including us. It helps a ton too. I only used to pull those low growing things that get the stickers. Everything else we kept wacked down and didn't let it bloom.

 

[nicollee]

@MissLavender
I also have a "power hour " about an hour or more before roost time i go with all the treats, the majority of treats they get in a day is at this time. They learn this quickly and expect it it's so cute
My observance is this is one of the times they hurriedly look for anything. they want to go to bed with a full crop and they just love it.
Anyhow however you schedule yours is cool but I like to share my method

Going to bed with a full crop, is that a desire? or a necessity in chickens?
I usually try to lure them into the coop to roost at night with food, and they always seem famished....

 

[igorsMistress]

Going to bed with a full crop, is that a desire? or a necessity in chickens?
I usually try to lure them into the coop to roost at night with food, and they always seem famished....

Both in a way I think. My flock eats the most first thing in the morning and just before roosting. They are certainly hungry when I let them out of the coop. I suspect at night they load up before they can't forage any more for the day. Most birds behave in this way.

 

[BlueBaby]

@igorsMistress Yes, they eat some in a general area only. They don't go far from the general area of the coop. My yard is big, so they don't get to all of it. I leave them a good patch of it. There's only 3 yard roosters out there.

@Sodell I have 2 incubators that are now sitting unplugged for awhile. By spring, I will have many more eggs to fill them.

@cactusrota The yard is full of rocks, and it would be hard to cut the grass anyway's, plus hubby is on the lazy side. It's easier for him to just drag the yard. He just attaches it to either the truck or the yard tractor and rides. Having just dirt makes it easier to see where the ant mounds are at also.