Arizona Chickens

[NuggetMama]

You better hope that she doesn't eat it and clog her system up.

She will eat paper towel if I don't watch her! I pick up her poo with it and she tries to eat the darn paper. With the toilet paper as long as we don't take the tiny pieces away while she is looking she just tears it up and spreads it all over the dang house like a cat.

 

[BlueBaby]

Hi there! New here. My son and I are in the research phase, so no chickens yet. But I do have a question. We are planning to use the side of my house for a chicken run. It is east facing, and I have a 2 story house next to me. So that area gets a bit of morning sun, and shaded the rest of the day. Anyone build a run on the side of their house? My house is stucco and the wall is a cinder block wall. I want to build a little house (for nesting boxes and nighttime) at one end, and enclose the whole area with chicken wire. They will also be able to use my backyard when we are able to watch them. Anyone done something similar? Pics to share? Thanks!

Welcome to our AZ. thread! I just said hello to you in the newby welcomes. I do not free range mine. If you have any predators over where you are at, chicken wire will only keep the chicken's in but it won't keep what wants to eat them out.

 

[NuggetMama]

Hi there! New here. My son and I are in the research phase, so no chickens yet. But I do have a question. We are planning to use the side of my house for a chicken run. It is east facing, and I have a 2 story house next to me. So that area gets a bit of morning sun, and shaded the rest of the day. Anyone build a run on the side of their house? My house is stucco and the wall is a cinder block wall. I want to build a little house (for nesting boxes and nighttime) at one end, and enclose the whole area with chicken wire. They will also be able to use my backyard when we are able to watch them. Anyone done something similar? Pics to share? Thanks!

Hello and welcome ! Which part of Arizona are you at ? I am personally in Sierra Vista and I am setting mine up the same exact way! We are just fighting with the fact that this housing tract has rocks all over the gosh darn yard. We are removing that and then doing the exact same thing you are ! Fingers crossed it works out for the both of us! I'm pretty sure it will as long as it's enclosed and the wire is down at least a foot and a half under ground so nothing can dig into their run area!

Also because BlueBaby pointed it out to me , watch out for snakes and ants. You can get some nasty ants that will attack your babies and of course the snakes will go in and eat whatever they can get their mouths around!

 

[Hollymccluskey]

Hello everyone! I just found this thread and was excited to see one specific to Arizona! We are in Duncan, AZ (rural town in southeastern part of the state almost into New Mexico) and we are on our second year with chickens, my youngest daughter started raising them last year for 4H and she loves them! We have both a coop everyone gets locked up in at night to protect from predators, we live in town but it’s not uncommon for us to have javelinas come through our front yard and then a pretty big fenced in backyard they get to free range in during the day. Our biggest issue seems to be during the summer ants getting into the coops last year.

This year she has Wyandotte and Sussex that were sexed then Orpingtons, Barnevelders and maybe Old English Game Bantams (we aren’t quite sure on breed for those yet) that were straight run My daughter is planning on this year holding back some of her flock from the fair auction with the goal of breeding her own for next years fair. But we are keeping our fingers crossed right now that we didn’t end up with to many roosters in the straight run buys lol

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello everyone! I just found this thread and was excited to see one specific to Arizona! We are in Duncan, AZ (rural town in southeastern part of the state almost into New Mexico) and we are on our second year with chickens, my youngest daughter started raising them last year for 4H and she loves them! We have both a coop everyone gets locked up in at night to protect from predators, we live in town but it’s not uncommon for us to have javelinas come through our front yard and then a pretty big fenced in backyard they get to free range in during the day. Our biggest issue seems to be during the summer ants getting into the coops last year.

This year she has Wyandotte and Sussex that were sexed then Orpingtons, Barnevelders and maybe Old English Game Bantams (we aren’t quite sure on breed for those yet) that were straight run My daughter is planning on this year holding back some of her flock from the fair auction with the goal of breeding her own for next years fair. But we are keeping our fingers crossed right now that we didn’t end up with to many roosters in the straight run buys lol

Hello, and welcome! Yes, ant's in the summer can get pretty bad, and you have to keep on top of them by finding where the anthills are at. There are 2 types of ant's; one type likes sweet's and the other likes meat although both will eat grains. You have to figure out what type that you have so you will know what to use for bait if you use bait. Ant's breathe through their feet.

Good luck with your flock!

 

[Hollymccluskey]

Hello, and welcome! Yes, ant's in the summer can get pretty bad, and you have to keep on top of them by finding where the anthills are at. There are 2 types of ant's; one type likes sweet's and the other likes meat although both will eat grains. You have to figure out what type that you have so you will know what to use for bait if you use bait. Ant's breathe through their feet.

Good luck with your flock!

Yes! It was a constant battle with them last summer until we figured out what to do. I feel we are a little better prepared this year, last year a lot of the time it felt like we had jumped off the deep end and I would question why we let our daughter join 4H and do the poultry project lol

 

[BlueBaby]

Yes! It was a constant battle with them last summer until we figured out what to do. I feel we are a little better prepared this year, last year a lot of the time it felt like we had jumped off the deep end and I would question why we let our daughter join 4H and do the poultry project lol

Sometimes you just have to learn as you go as everyone's situation's are different. I buy the Permethrin concentrate by the gallon and then mix it up as needed. I dump a bunch of that right on the anthill to saturate it, and when more ant's come out of the hole, I make sure I get them too.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

of course the snakes will go in and eat whatever they can get their mouths around!

Also if you have ground squirrels they will dig holes under and into your coop, and snakes will also use those squirrel holes to get into your coop.

We are planning on using a layer of 1/4" hardware cloth under our coop to prevent that.

 

[CaroleW]

Hi there! New here. My son and I are in the research phase, so no chickens yet. But I do have a question. We are planning to use the side of my house for a chicken run. It is east facing, and I have a 2 story house next to me. So that area gets a bit of morning sun, and shaded the rest of the day. Anyone build a run on the side of their house? My house is stucco and the wall is a cinder block wall. I want to build a little house (for nesting boxes and nighttime) at one end, and enclose the whole area with chicken wire. They will also be able to use my backyard when we are able to watch them. Anyone done something similar? Pics to share? Thanks!

Make sure you can keep them that close to another persons house. Some jurisdictions regulate the distance. Even if there is no regulation be prepared to move them if your neighbor complains of noise or pest problems (rodents, flies, etc...) due to locating coop so close to the house. You want to be a good neighbor.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Hello everyone! I just found this thread and was excited to see one specific to Arizona! We are in Duncan, AZ (rural town in southeastern part of the state almost into New Mexico) and we are on our second year with chickens, my youngest daughter started raising them last year for 4H and she loves them! We have both a coop everyone gets locked up in at night to protect from predators, we live in town but it’s not uncommon for us to have javelinas come through our front yard and then a pretty big fenced in backyard they get to free range in during the day. Our biggest issue seems to be during the summer ants getting into the coops last year.

This year she has Wyandotte and Sussex that were sexed then Orpingtons, Barnevelders and maybe Old English Game Bantams (we aren’t quite sure on breed for those yet) that were straight run My daughter is planning on this year holding back some of her flock from the fair auction with the goal of breeding her own for next years fair. But we are keeping our fingers crossed right now that we didn’t end up with to many roosters in the straight run buys lol

Sounds like a fun project for your daughter . I have old English bantams too and just love them.