Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

I seen some black smoke over here near me this morning. It turned out that it was at the local food bank over here that's behind a church. The fire is out now. They had been storing food in some trailer's behind the church. The trailer with that food was what got burned up. That's the same place that I had donated all of those egg's to before a couple of years ago when we were all on Covid lock down, and food shelves were getting sparse.

 

[springvalley123]

I seen some black smoke over here near me this morning. It turned out that it was at the local food bank over here that's behind a church. The fire is out now. They had been storing food in some trailer's behind the church. The trailer with that food was what got burned up. That's the same place that I had donated all of those egg's to before a couple of years ago when we were all on Covid lock down, and food shelves were getting sparse.

that's too bad, people could use the food.

 

[BlueBaby]

that's too bad, people could use the food.

I know what you mean. There's a lot of elderly and poor people that live out this way, and there's already talk about an upcoming food shortage. The dock worker's are also thinking about going on strike.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

I know what you mean. There's a lot of elderly and poor people that live out this way, and there's already talk about an upcoming food shortage. The dock worker's are also thinking about going on strike.

It just keeps getting crazier and crazier.

 

[Coffee N Chickens]

Hi!
I'm new here and even after looking at the tutorials am not totally sure I'm doing this right, so please forgive me if I goof this up! I was searching for some answers to a question I have about our desert heat, and I saw a couple of replies that directed the original poster to the AZ state thread. I can't post a new thread in here, though, and it looks like it's one humongous set of 'replies,' so I'll try and see how it goes.

We are in Casa Grande and would like to start a backyard flock. I have been looking at some hatcheries online to get a good idea of what breeds would be best here. We are looking for breeds that can handle our heat, that are good around kids, and that can handle confinement well. If you are in this area, can you let me know what breeds you have that have done well? I'd like to see if they match my list. For the record, my list includes: Red Star, Welsummer, Easter Eggers, Golden Campine (but I can't find the answers to all of my questions for each breed). We will only purchase one breed once we have done our research and have a good set up for them in the backyard.

Thank you for your help!!
Debbie

Hello Debbie, good luck in your search. There are going to be pros and cons with every breed, and there are always chickens that don't quite fit the breed description.

I have odd colored Leghorns from a show breeder, so they will be a little different than the hatchery ones. They do OK in the heat, but last winter both of my boys ended up with frostbitten combs when it got really cold. Extra large combs are a Leghorn feature. As far as kid friendly, the girls won't hurt anybody, but they would prefer that people just let them alone. Their breeder's kids were picking up and handling the original ones that I bought, so they got used to that. My roo doesn't go along with the mean rooster stereotype. He comes up to me to "talk" and doesn't mind his feathers stroked. Leghorns are supposed to be really good with confinement, which is one reason they use them for battery chickens, but how confined do you want them to be? They need room to scratch and peck, and they will fly out of runs that don't have a top. They are excellent egg layers, but have so little meat on their bones that they're hardly worth processing. Some people still process them.

 

[CGChickies]

Hello Debbie, good luck in your search. There are going to be pros and cons with every breed, and there are always chickens that don't quite fit the breed description.

I have odd colored Leghorns from a show breeder, so they will be a little different than the hatchery ones. They do OK in the heat, but last winter both of my boys ended up with frostbitten combs when it got really cold. Extra large combs are a Leghorn feature. As far as kid friendly, the girls won't hurt anybody, but they would prefer that people just let them alone. Their breeder's kids were picking up and handling the original ones that I bought, so they got used to that. My roo doesn't go along with the mean rooster stereotype. He comes up to me to "talk" and doesn't mind his feathers stroked. Leghorns are supposed to be really good with confinement, which is one reason they use them for battery chickens, but how confined do you want them to be? They need room to scratch and peck, and they will fly out of runs that don't have a top. They are excellent egg layers, but have so little meat on their bones that they're hardly worth processing. Some people still process them.

Hi!

I guess by confinement I just mean that they will need to be in a run all day long. We’ve been looking at how much space is needed and will definitely go on the high end of the recommended square footage.
Thank you for your input. It sounds like chickens are like any other creature: they’ll have their own personalities!

 

[CGChickies]

Don't worry, you've done it right. Welcome to our AZ. thread!

Make sure that whatever breed of your choice that you go with will have plenty of shade and water in our hot summer's. Some people put out shallow pan's of water that the chicken's can stand in to help cool them off. Other's put up a small misting system. Make sure that your coop and run is predator proof, including the top to keep them safe from hawk's. Coyotes can jump a 6 foot fence. Many predator's also dig.

Thank you! Even though we aren’t really near getting our chickens, we’ve been looking a lot about how to keep them cool. The shallow pan idea is one I’ll remember.

As far as predator proofing the coop, we saw hardware cloth (I think that’s what it’s called) is better than just chicken wire.

Thank you again!

 

[CGChickies]

I believe there are a few local people, so you may be able to avoid the shipping of mail order chicks. However if you end up buying from a mail order hatchery, my mistake was in choosing a hatchery in the south, thinking that the birds would have an easier trip and less chance of a delay from Texas as opposed to coming from Iowa. WRONG! My local post office explained that due to USPS consolidations, the birds from Iowa were actually making it on time, while the birds from "the south" like mine, took a third day.

That’s good to know. I hadn’t considered changes in the post office perhaps delaying their arrival. Thank you!

 

[BlueBaby]

Thank you! Even though we aren’t really near getting our chickens, we’ve been looking a lot about how to keep them cool. The shallow pan idea is one I’ll remember.

As far as predator proofing the coop, we saw hardware cloth (I think that’s what it’s called) is better than just chicken wire.

Thank you again!

You can also add some ice to that shallow pan, but in the heat that we get, the ice won't take long to melt. You might also use one of those kiddy swimming pool's for that, just not filling it up all the way with water.

Chicken wire does nothing but to keep the chicken's in, but it does nothing to keep out a predator.

 

[springvalley123]

Hi!

I guess by confinement I just mean that they will need to be in a run all day long. We’ve been looking at how much space is needed and will definitely go on the high end of the recommended square footage.
Thank you for your input. It sounds like chickens are like any other creature: they’ll have their own personalities!

Confinement means that they are in a run rather than free range. Some birds, and especially some breeds, don't take confinement well.
Somewhere you'll find the often quoted 4 sq ft per bird in the coop, 10 sq ft in the run, etc. I'd recommend going higher especially with our heat. And if you have misters, or any other moisture like monsoons, the run can get icky in a hurry if you push the capacity or even approach it. I spend some time watching my birds, and I can't imagine a single bird being in a 10 sq ft area during the day, so there should be a starting point for how small a space a bird can be in. Lots of people use 1-2 10x10 dog runs and modify for security.