Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

LOL! I’ve heard that.. Do you let hens do the hatching or incubate them? Curious as to what is typically more successful in your experience?

I prefer to hatch them out myself in an incubator. I have 2 incubator's. That way I don't have to pull a broody hen away from the flock and section her off, and I don't have to fight a broody to to take the egg's to candle them. My incubator is in the house, so I can do it on my own time at night indoor's.

 

[petcu87]

I prefer to hatch them out myself in an incubator. I have 2 incubator's. That way I don't have to pull a broody hen away from the flock and section her off, and I don't have to fight a broody to to take the egg's to candle them. My incubator is in the house, so I can do it on my own time at night indoor's.

Makes sense! If you can recommend a good incubator that would be wonderful. If I get BCMs I need to decide whether to hatch them or order chicks.. might be more fun to hatch!

 

[BlueBaby]

Makes sense! If you can recommend a good incubator that would be wonderful. If I get BCMs I need to decide whether to hatch them or order chicks.. might be more fun to hatch!

I'm about to send you a pm through this site.

 

[Chikibabymom]

Hello! I don’t raise bantams either but will see if anyone up my way (north) would like to adopt them! Good luck

Thanks!

 

[cactusrota]

hello all! new to the site & wanted to sell hello to my fellow Arizona chicken folks. i'm in New River (north of Phoenix), & have a small flock of 6 hens & 1 rooster. i have a nice group of different breeds, & i'm interested in getting some black copper marans. does anyone have any experience with marans in the AZ heat? looking forward to sharing experience & making some new friends!

Welcome!
Marcia Lincoln in Tucson has been breeding high quality BCM's (and turkeys) for many years and does very well with them. She is actually liquidating most of her flock so she can travel more and is selling off more breeders (blue and black). She posted about it very recently in a facebook group I'm in. I bought some of her cull (non-breeding quality) hens a while back and they did very well. They were very gentle, easy going hens, too. I ended up rehoming them though because I'm focusing on Naked Necks instead, but I do have one pullet that is a cross from one of them and a NN and she is doing very well.

If you want BCM's that you know will handle our heat you might want to hit her up before she sells out.
http://featheredreptilesfarm.weebly.com/black-copper-marans.html

 

[petcu87]

Welcome!
Marcia Lincoln in Tucson has been breeding high quality BCM's (and turkeys) for many years and does very well with them. She is actually liquidating most of her flock so she can travel more and is selling off more breeders (blue and black). She posted about it very recently in a facebook group I'm in. I bought some of her cull (non-breeding quality) hens a while back and they did very well. They were very gentle, easy going hens, too. I ended up rehoming them though because I'm focusing on Naked Necks instead, but I do have one pullet that is a cross from one of them and a NN and she is doing very well.

If you want BCM's that you know will handle our heat you might want to hit her up before she sells out.
http://featheredreptilesfarm.weebly.com/black-copper-marans.html

Oh my gosh, this is so wonderful. I will reach out to her. Thank you so much!!

 

[BlueBaby]

I guess that the Newcastle disease is in Minnesota now, too!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/virulent-newcastle’s-disease-in-minnesota.1325141/

 

[igorsMistress]

Hello AZ.

Bluebaby mentioned vND was found in MN, which why I stopped in. It was found in a cormorant, those cute birds that you see diving under the water in our local riparian areas and fishing ponds. They migrate along rivers and coastal areas.

Pigeons and doves are reservoir species for virulent strains. I mention this in case you let your birds free range...

There was an outbreak of vND in AZ back in 2003 so keep an eye on your flocks and the wild birds that visit. This is endemic to Mexico and since we're a border state we likely have higher risk than other states not as close.

Good luck.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello AZ.

Bluebaby mentioned vND was found in MN, which why I stopped in. It was found in a cormorant, those cute birds that you see diving under the water in our local riparian areas and fishing ponds. They migrate along rivers and coastal areas.

Pigeons and doves are reservoir species for virulent strains. I mention this in case you let your birds free range...

There was an outbreak of vND in AZ back in 2003 so keep an eye on your flocks and the wild birds that visit. This is endemic to Mexico and since we're a border state we likely have higher risk than other states not as close.

Good luck.

How have those NN's that you hatched out doing now? How big are they getting?

 

[igorsMistress]

How have those NN's that you hatched out doing now? How big are they getting?

There's a chorus of crowing every morning

4 boys will be processed shortly and a couple of the girls are a good size. A couple are quite petite still, hanging on to those until next Spring as they should keep us in eggs this winter. Keeping the little black roo that's slow feathering and the big blue boy for now.They are the most easy going of all the boys.