Arizona Chickens

[cavemanrich]

Hello all,

Looking for some advice. It appears it is past time for me to refresh my stock of egg-layers. Only my 2 younger hens are laying. So rather than getting a few chicks from Cal Ranch as before, I decided I will try to hatch some of my own eggs for the first time.

My question is if I need to do something with the eggs before it is time to load them into the incubator. I know this is really basic, but do I simply collect eggs daily as usual and just keep them indoors at room temp until I have collected enough to incubate? I was thinking of incubating 10-12 ? with the hopes of ending up with around 5 hens.

Is this correct? Any other suggestions?

Are your eggs fertile??? Just because you have rooster,, is no guarantee of fertility, BUT A GOOD LIKELIHOOD.
Gather eggs, and you may also choose to keep pointy egg end, down in egg carton. Keep on kitchen counter in room temperature. Try to gather your quantity in under 2 week period. Don't wash, even if slightly soiled from muddy chickens' feet. If heavy duty poop,,, then pass on those. The older eggs tend to not develop as well.
When your chicks hatch, keep all. When the cockerels do reach problem maturity, Eat them.
I know it seems like a cruel option,, but it is a reality. Cockerel/rooster still enjoys a good life,, with one bad moment.
I don't want to elaborate what hatcheries do.
Or donate to families that have no problem eating chickens.

 

[Happy Novogens]

Are your eggs fertile??? Just because you have rooster,, is no guarantee of fertility, BUT A GOOD LIKELIHOOD.
Gather eggs, and you may also choose to keep pointy egg end, down in egg carton. Keep on kitchen counter in room temperature. Try to gather your quantity in under 2 week period. Don't wash, even if slightly soiled from muddy chickens' feet. If heavy duty poop,,, then pass on those. The older eggs tend to not develop as well.
When your chicks hatch, keep all. When the cockerels do reach problem maturity, Eat them.
I know it seems like a cruel option,, but it is a reality. Cockerel/rooster still enjoys a good life,, with one bad moment.
I don't want to elaborate what hatcheries do.
Or donate to families that have no problem eating chickens.

Thank you for your reply!

I guess I can only hope that my roo has been doing his duty.

Hopefully my estimate of hatching around a dozen will result in close to 5 hens. I'm probably down to getting 10-12 eggs in a 2 week period anyway right now. And I suppose I can always do more than 1 batch if the results are less than hoped for.

I ordered the Chickcozy incubator which can handle up to 25 eggs. Once it arrives I'll be testing it sans eggs.

thanks again!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I didn't see any mice inside the coop last night although two were scurrying around outside. Ten mice have been trapped so far, all females.

Most of the bait just gets eaten without triggering the trap - bait thieves! It's not always mice that eat it, either. Sometimes crickets eat it. Who knew crickets liked peanut butter?

Cactus mice are so incredibly tiny and lightweight that they often don't trigger the standard commercial traps. I even adjusted the release wire to be super sensitive and still they evade it about half the time.

I'm going to try a bucket trap tonight and see how that works.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Nothing in the bucket traps. The peanut butter is still there.

I was working outside most of the night so maybe it wasn't quiet enough for the mice to come out. Maybe I'll catch some tonight.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Got a few mice in the buckets and snap traps last night. I guess it's just going to have to be a multi-trap effort. I don't even want to think about spring coming and the squirrel population waking up. At least the mice don't try to steal our eggs.

Did anyone see the article the BBC released a few days ago titled "The 25 best places to travel in 2025?" Tucson was #7. Of all the places on the planet why is Tucson even on that list? Weird.

The most disturbing line from the article is this:

Visitors throughout the year can explore Tucson's miles of desert hiking trails

No no no no no!! Do not encourage people to hike here in the summer! That's the last idea we want to put in the heads of tourists, especially ones from Europe.

We get quite a few Europeans on their summer vacations. There's a log book at Saguaro National Park to write your name and where you're from and if you look through it during the summer, most of the visitors are from European countries.

This is no place to come in the summer. They have no concept of what a vast, brutal and unforgiving wilderness the Sonoran desert is, let alone our deadly heat.

It seems like every summer there’s at least one news story of tragic hiking death involving Europeans. I wonder if now we're going to see an uptick in hiker rescues next summer.

 

[BenisonsChickns]

I hear of mountain rescues all around my side of town all summer long and it’s always out of towners

 

[cavemanrich]

Did anyone see the article the BBC released a few days ago titled "The 25 best places to travel in 2025?" Tucson was #7.

If the article named Grand canyon, I would understand. Or Sedona area, which is not scorching HOT in summer.
I could agree with autumn, winter, and spring for Tucson area.
Those trails one can also encounter Coyotes,,,, the 2 legged version.

 

[igorsMistress]

If the article named Grand canyon, I would understand. Or Sedona area, which is not scorching HOT in summer.
I could agree with autumn, winter, and spring for Tucson area.
Those trails one can also encounter Coyotes,,,, the 2 legged version.

Add the increased temps lately, total lack of humidity and the constant wind and those areas are becoming problems as well. People are dumb. They go hiking at like 10 in the morning with just one bottle of water, no hat or shade, and they take kids and pets out in it.

I’m not sure if it happens in Tucson, but in the Phoenix area the hiking trails are closed during certain hours once it hits a certain temp during the day.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I’m not sure if it happens in Tucson, but in the Phoenix area the hiking trails are closed during certain hours once it hits a certain temp during the day.

I haven't seen that around here but it's an excellent idea. I hope people obey the signs!

People who haven't lived here do not grasp the power and brutality of our summers. I know because I was one of those people. It's one of those things you can't describe, you just have to live through it to understand it.

 

[igorsMistress]

I haven't seen that around here but it's an excellent idea. I hope people obey the signs!

People who haven't lived here do not grasp the power and brutality of our summers. I know because I was one of those people. It's one of those things you can't describe, you just have to live through it to understand it.

I agree, you gotta live it to get it. Sure it’s a dry heat, but when it’s 117 during the day and low 90’s at night that doesn’t matter.