Arizona Chickens

[arizona_chicken_noob]

If anyone would like a blue Australorp rooster, I have a spare that I don't need. Hatched Nov 10, he's young and still polite. Located in Scottsdale.

Blue Australorp

• arizona_chicken_noob
• Mar 31, 2025

 

[WhiskeyTheRedd]

Hey guys ) Im looking into heat management for my babies. Im getting 8 next week. The coop and run have been redesigned and am rebuilding them this week. (somehow the pen was upturned and it caught their coop with such force that it flipped it over and killed at least one. Then with them free, My two Bully breed doggos got the rest.) So with that,i have a bunch of questions on how people take care of the birds when its in the high triple digits

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

My go-to tactic is having enough shallow plastic trays, each with water and 2 bricks in them, so that each bird can stand on a brick and get a little cooling. It works well!

 

[igorsMistress]

Hey guys ) Im looking into heat management for my babies. Im getting 8 next week. The coop and run have been redesigned and am rebuilding them this week. (somehow the pen was upturned and it caught their coop with such force that it flipped it over and killed at least one. Then with them free, My two Bully breed doggos got the rest.) So with that,i have a bunch of questions on how people take care of the birds when its in the high triple digits

My go to is mud puddles that will be nice places to bathe, ice blocks in a couple of kiddie pools, cubes melt fast so blocks are better. Don’t put water in there, it’ll just make the ice melt faster. Also deep shade, cool treats, and electrolytes on the regular.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Hey guys ) Im looking into heat management for my babies. Im getting 8 next week. The coop and run have been redesigned and am rebuilding them this week. (somehow the pen was upturned and it caught their coop with such force that it flipped it over and killed at least one. Then with them free, My two Bully breed doggos got the rest.) So with that,i have a bunch of questions on how people take care of the birds when its in the high triple digits

We use tarps on top for shade and in the run there are also lots of places the chickens can go under for shade. We also use fans, cobra misters (don't use them in the shape of a snake as that can frighten the chickens), ice in the waterers, ice in tubs and trays to wade and sit in, frozen water bottles to lay against, frozen treats like peas and berries to pick at, plus we add electrolytes to the water.

I bought a bunch of plastic 10"x13"x5" trays. I fill them with water and keep stacks of them in our chest freezer. We set them out around the run and swap them for new ones throughout the day as they melt. The chickens stand on the ice, then in the cool water as it melts, and they also drink the cool water.

We also have cameras in the coop and run to keep an eye on everyone while we're indoors. We keep "hospital" cages in the house where it's cool. If any of the chickens look like they're really struggling in the heat we can bring them indoors where they can recover. The hospital cages are just 18 gallon storage tubs with pine shavings, water with electrolytes, and cool food (pellet mash or something similar). We cut the lid and replace most of it with hardware cloth so we can aim a fan into the box if need be.

It's stressful keeping an vigilant eye on the chickens and managing all the hot weather stuff all day, every day, month after month. Sometimes despite your best efforts chickens die in the extreme heat. Do not blame yourself. We live in an extreme and often brutal environment and there's only so much you can do. Just do your best.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Caught another squirrel in the Squirrelinator. Four down, probably a few dozen to go. Wish we could trap the males. It was a male! Roommate took care of it this afternoon and didn't tell me it had been a male until she got back from work tonight.

For anyone who has dogs: you can encourage them to drink cool water in hot weather by adding a teaspoon of bone broth (or chicken or beef broth) to their water bowl.

Looks like it's going to stay relatively cool ("non-hot?") for about a week, woohoo!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

This report has been circulating on social media. I'm assuming it's true. Be careful out there!

 

[cavemanrich]

This report has been circulating on social media. I'm assuming it's true. Be careful out there!

View attachment 4089814

Thieves have no pride or limits..

 

[EmmaDonovan]

We have locks on our coop and pens but I'm aware that would deter only the most casual thief.

I feel awful for Jennifer Stephens. I can't imagine what she went through going out to see her birds and finding them gone.

 

[BenisonsChickns]

Rats!!!
Well I went to let the dog out back this evening and saw something running through the garden, big ol rat….. I have some mouse traps but doubt that’ll work anyone have ideas on good trapping techniques?