Arizona Chickens

[AngBantamLuv]

Oh I know,, When I was in Phoenix, the hottest I ever encountered was 118°F
I was wearing sandals, of course, and when walking on the asphalt, it felt like this.
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When i was crossing the street in Hawaii at one time, the concrete was so hot, the glue melted on my shoe and the sole fell off!! i know better than flip flops here!

Oh forecast temps are always lower than actual temps. I need to replace the battery on my outdoor weather station. It's tended to run a few degrees cooler at my house because of farms down the road.. but those have been built over and paved in the last 6 months. Not looking forward to the heat effect.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I have three missing chicks that are a couple months old. I was gone for a couple hours and got home at dusk yesterday and noticed they were gone. My birds free range during the day and cooped at night. I haven't seen any hawks lately with the heat and haven't seen a owl yet this year. Coyotes possibly but they stay away due to my four dogs. I don't see any feathers anywhere either. The three liked to hang out together so I'm guessing they ran off. I have open fields next to me filled with those dead yellow balled weeds so it is hard to search.
No luck this morning and too much time has passed without them having water so I'm kinda bummed. Is it likely a predator(s) would take three at a time?

My thoughts are always thefts from horrible people.

 

[cavemanrich]

I have never tried this, but know that it can be done..

 

[N_Phoenix]

My thoughts are always thefts from horrible people.

You know I thought that too as the ones missing were my favorites, my only two Salmon Faverolles and a white leghorn. Then again I live off an isolated dirt road so I find that unlikely. People really steal chickens though?

 

[AngBantamLuv]

You know I thought that too as the ones missing were my favorites, my only two Salmon Faverolles and a white leghorn. Then again I live off an isolated dirt road so I find that unlikely. People really steal chickens though?

I have been reading posts of that happening lately, unfortunately.

 

[springvalley123]

Hey guys. Do any of you keep a compost pile? I have a fairly new one started in a 65 gallon upright container, that is not sealed at the bottom. Well, i have little mice visiting and digging in it.. so if i can't figure it out, its going to have to all go in the garbage. I did some reading and sprinkled a LOT of black pepper in and around it (im still sneezing, so i know its peppery enough). Do you know if that ACTUALLY works? I don't want to introduce poisons or pesticides onto my property. I want to eventually use this in my garden beds, one of which will be chicken salad specialty (not including any actual chickens).

I had decent luck with a mixture of oils: rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint, cedar in a spray bottle. A few drops or fraction of a teaspoon of each oil, fill the bottle with water. At least it kept the squirrel/rodent from a repeat chewing an extension cord. Hope that helps.

 

[springvalley123]

You know I thought that too as the ones missing were my favorites, my only two Salmon Faverolles and a white leghorn. Then again I live off an isolated dirt road so I find that unlikely. People really steal chickens though?

Sadly, disgustingly, etc, it is possible. Chicks are in demand, hatcheries are behind, people are panicking about food shortages... Not that there's any excuse, but years before all this covid, riots, etc started, we went to thanksgiving, and I padlocked my ducklings in their covered run. The threat of people stealing fowl for food has been around a very long time.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I had decent luck with a mixture of oils: rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint, cedar in a spray bottle. A few drops or fraction of a teaspoon of each oil, fill the bottle with water. At least it kept the squirrel/rodent from a repeat chewing an extension cord. Hope that helps.

I need to buy those.. ive been seeing rats on the backyard wall too.. i suspect its due to my loser neighbors who leave their barking dog out and never pick up dog crap. But if i can deter them from my yard, that's fine.

 

[BlueBaby]

You know I thought that too as the ones missing were my favorites, my only two Salmon Faverolles and a white leghorn. Then again I live off an isolated dirt road so I find that unlikely. People really steal chickens though?

Have you checked the ground around there to see if you see any strange track's, or shoe print's?

 

[N_Phoenix]

Sadly, disgustingly, etc, it is possible. Chicks are in demand, hatcheries are behind, people are panicking about food shortages... Not that there's any excuse, but years before all this covid, riots, etc started, we went to thanksgiving, and I padlocked my ducklings in their covered run. The threat of people stealing fowl for food has been around a very long time.

Have you checked the ground around there to see if you see any strange track's, or shoe print's?

Any traffic we get back here is a neighbor so I'm almost certain they weren't stolen. I'd like to see a thief catch them anyway as I have a hard enough time as they were very skittish.

I'll look for tracks but the only predator I've seen are hawks (not recently). I would suspect to see some feathers if it was a land predator. Maybe the predator will return this evening.

If they did run off, is that common? I can't imagine them wanting to go far from the flock or water in this heat.