Arizona Chickens

[igorsMistress]

Nothing here at my house in North Phoenix but not far from here there was some, always seems to go right around my house, the garden was pissed

Yeah, that’s what happens over here too. I’m on the west side and I literally watched on radar as it split and went around. I had some choice words for Mother Nature.

 

[igorsMistress]

We had a nice steady rain without wind tearing up the yard. I was glad because I had just cleaned out the pen. I know chickens don't like change but I swear they're happy and dance around when everything is clean and fixed up and they have fresh pine shavings and some new natural perches (tree branches) and extra treats. Now that I think about it, it's probably just the treats.

The rain also invigorated the weeds which are all over the yard. The chickens love them and since they can't free range I pick a bunch every day and stuff them into three or four suet cages for them to peck at.

Here are our first two dozen eggs, everything we've collected since they started laying on July 29th:
View attachment 3915647

That’s a pretty egg bowl!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

That’s a pretty egg bowl!

Thank you, I love that bowl, too! We got FIVE eggs today, a new record. My gosh they were loud this morning so I knew something was up.

Today was our first light brown egg! I think it came from one of our RIRs, Ruby, a very sweet and friendly hen. She comes up and waits patiently for neck scratches when I'm in the pen.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I think we got our first Bielefelder egg yesterday! It's light brown with that slight pinkish hue that their eggs have. It likely came from our beautiful girl named Hope. She's been ready to lay for a while now.

I'm a nerd so I've been tracking egg production and weight. As of yesterday we've collected 42 eggs since July 29th. Not too bad considering how hot it is and they are all new layers.

The largest egg we've had so far was 68 grams and that was our first egg. I'm pretty sure it came from our olive egger named Casey as she has been consistently laying our largest eggs. That first one must not have been very comfortable for her, poor girl! Yesterday her egg was 64g.

I have a question. Our two white leghorns have huge combs which flop over (one flops left and one flops right; they look so emo). I noticed yesterday both combs appear to have a slight tear or split near the base. Is that normal/okay?

Both hens are rather aggressive compared to the rest of the flock. I don't know if the little tears are from skirmishes or maybe their combs have dried out? Humidity hasn't been terribly low lately, though. There's no blood or anything and their combs look healthy otherwise. Eyes, feet, feathers, everything else looks good. They both consistently lay cute little white eggs.

 

[cavemanrich]

EmmaDonovan​

Large combs are associated with warm climate chickens. The comb kelps the chicken dissipate body heat, and stay cool. The large flopped over, just means too much weight to stand erect.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Oh I know the flop is normal (it's so cute).

I'm concerned about the little tears at the base.

 

[cavemanrich]

I'm concerned about the little tears at the base.

If it is a wound that opens, it will also grow shut. Of course keep an eye on anything suspect, and if wound develops, treat with Blu_Kote, or Vetericyn. Mostly keep it clean. That is a good practice with all wounds, Chickens,,, dogs,,, and us people.

 

[igorsMistress]

I think we got our first Bielefelder egg yesterday! It's light brown with that slight pinkish hue that their eggs have. It likely came from our beautiful girl named Hope. She's been ready to lay for a while now.

I'm a nerd so I've been tracking egg production and weight. As of yesterday we've collected 42 eggs since July 29th. Not too bad considering how hot it is and they are all new layers.

The largest egg we've had so far was 68 grams and that was our first egg. I'm pretty sure it came from our olive egger named Casey as she has been consistently laying our largest eggs. That first one must not have been very comfortable for her, poor girl! Yesterday her egg was 64g.

I have a question. Our two white leghorns have huge combs which flop over (one flops left and one flops right; they look so emo). I noticed yesterday both combs appear to have a slight tear or split near the base. Is that normal/okay?

Both hens are rather aggressive compared to the rest of the flock. I don't know if the little tears are from skirmishes or maybe their combs have dried out? Humidity hasn't been terribly low lately, though. There's no blood or anything and their combs look healthy otherwise. Eyes, feet, feathers, everything else looks good. They both consistently lay cute little white eggs.

Is it an actual injury to the combs or simply a here the fold is? It would be unusual for them to hurt each other in that way without a serious fight going down.

You can use some Sylvex from Walmart for that if you don’t want to get something specific to chickens that you might not use before it gets too old. Then finish the sylvex on your own wounds.

Whatever you do, I remember reading that the neosporin with pain reliever is not ok.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

One of our RIRs laid a softish egg and seems to be sick. I made a thread about it here. Any ideas what's wrong with her?

Update: she was awake and active by 4AM so we put her back into the coop. Maybe she just overheated a little and needed to cool off. She seems to have fully recovered from whatever it was. I'll check on her again after the sun comes up.

 

[igorsMistress]

We got rain, FINALLY. If you need some, go buy some chicks and make their temporary brooder in a spot in your yard with no solid roof. Guaranteed to work.

That being said, the babies are fine because they have a shelter with a solid roof inside the shelter with just shade cloth. They are snuggled in a corner in their bin. But we got enough rain to make puddles that the ducks are playing in as I type. Crazy quacks. Radar shows we possibly had thunder/lightning but since I can’t hear it I dunno what the night was like.

Hope everyone is in good shape today.