Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

Geez, those poor people in Globe are dealing with flash floods again. The town was built in a floodway before they knew it was a floodway. There's also a burn scar above them so there's nothing to stop the water from pouring down the mountains. There are quite a few historic buildings in Globe that are 100+ years old.

I was considering camping near Pinal Peak next week. That's about ten miles south of Globe so I think it'll have to wait for another time.

I know, and I think that very few if any at all had flood insurance.

 

[BlueBaby]

This morning I mixed some of the feed into some of that rain water for the chicks from the August hatch. They went to town on it. Why waste the water?.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I know, and I think that very few if any at all had flood insurance.

I heard that, too. It's supposedly prohibitively expensive because they're in a floodway, just like earthquake insurance is ridiculously expensive in southern California.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

This morning I mixed some of the feed into some of that rain water for the chicks from the August hatch. They went to town on it. Why waste the water?.

View attachment 4232204

Such beautiful colors!

As we get into fall/winter I'll go back to making a warm mash with our flock's feed pellets. I bet they've missed that.

 

[cavemanrich]

I heard that, too. It's supposedly prohibitively expensive because they're in a floodway, just like earthquake insurance is ridiculously expensive in southern California.

In my area,, if you live in a Floodplain, you have to have flood insurance, to be able to get a mortgage. Yes,, it is pricey.

 

[moms3cuties]

Does anyone know where I can find baby chick or pullet marans? I'm in Peoria.

I would try a pet barn or local tractor supply sometimes has baby chicks. I live in Mesa so I’m not sure what you have over there.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Okay, AZ peeps, I need some help.

We're building a new (and I hope final) run. There's no separate coop, they'll have open roosts inside the run.

We have a huge rock squirrel infestation. They burrow up into our existing runs and pens and steal feed/eggs/chicks/etc.

The only solution I've come up with is completely encasing the new run in 1/2" hardware cloth on all six sides to keep out squirrels and other pests and predators.

This requires putting hardware cloth in the ground underneath the run, deep enough that the chickens can't dig down to it for dust bathing, etc. I'm guessing that'll be about 12"-18".

That means digging out a lot of dirt from ground that hasn't been moved or tilled in at least 15 years, probably much longer. It's level ground, no plants/rocks/gravel, no structures, just desert dirt.

This part of the property is surrounded by a concrete block fence with a 23" wide gate. We can't use construction equipment because we can't get anything through that narrow gate.

A tiller is about the only thing we might be able to get in there and we can't find a rental place that will rent a tiller for dirt that hasn't been tilled in 15+ years. That would only loosen the dirt, we'd still have to move it out somehow.

There might be caliche although I've dug down 2' with a shovel without hitting anything. If there's caliche we're going to just leave it in place and dig around it, we won't be jackhammering or anything like that.

Landscaping companies want thousands of dollars which we don't have. They also balk at not being able to get their equipment inside the fence.

It's looking like we may have to hire people to dig it out by hand (?!). That would create a number of other issues.

Questions:

1. How do you all keep ground squirrels out of your runs?

2. How deep do we need to put the hardware cloth so chickens won't dig down to it?

3. What's the best method of removing all that dirt?? We're two middle-aged women with bad backs and knees, we can't do it ourselves.

 

[cavemanrich]

I have some ideas that don't require digging, and most likely less cash than the hardware clothe.
Post in a day or two.

Basically tell me the floor plan size

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I have some ideas that don't require digging, and most likely less cash than the hardware clothe.
Post in a day or two.

Basically tell me the floor plan size

Approx. 25'x10'.

 

[NestingMillenial]

Would it be possible to not dig, but instead add?
So you'd put the run on the floor, bottom hardware cloth being on ground surface, then you'd add floor/litter inside the run on x inches (might mean that your run would likely need some siding all around its base, so that the elevated flooring/litter doesn't leave through the side mesh, maybe cinder blocks all around for example?)