Arizona Chickens

[springvalley123]

Will you be moving again where you can have chickens or quail?

Well I've still got my quail enclosure, I keep hoping, but not sure. BTW, I have a few cats, and I've had to use my chicken pen/brooder enclosure skills to make gates to keep them where they belong. I do miss the birds.

 

[BlueBaby]

Well I've still got my quail enclosure, I keep hoping, but not sure. BTW, I have a few cats, and I've had to use my chicken pen/brooder enclosure skills to make gates to keep them where they belong. I do miss the birds.

It's great that you have learned those skills that can carry over to other thing's. When you are ready to move and start up again, I might be able to help you.

 

[Ma Delos Pollitos]

Good morning yll! Who's loving this 60°-79° weather?

Not me! I'm a sun child i need me 80-90° min.

And also my girls haven't laid since the rain started in Oct. it's my first winter with layers... do they completely stop laying in the lower temps? Please help!

 

[BlueBaby]

Good morning yll! Who's loving this 60°-79° weather?

Not me! I'm a sun child i need me 80-90° min.

And also my girls haven't laid since the rain started in Oct. it's my first winter with layers... do they completely stop laying in the lower temps? Please help!

Hello. How old are your girls? Have they gone through a molt? Some breeds take a small vacation during the winter.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I love it!! If we didn't have a few months of <80° I would lose my freaking mind. I'm not a desert girl, I'm a beach girl. I can barely make it through the other eight months as it is. The monsoons have shifted to the east so there's hardly any rain to break up the heat anymore.

I'm working now on trying to make a few more rooms in the house more comfortable during the hell months, otherwise I'm trapped in my bedroom for 3/4 of the year. It was 90° in March this year and it's coming back so fast!

Ever hear of prairie madness? Europeans were driven to insanity living in the Great Plains due to weather extremes, isolation, and monotonous landscapes. There's an equivalent desert madness for the same reasons: extreme weather, isolation due to being shut indoors for months at a time, and the dead, empty, endless beige landscapes.

Our twelve girls laid like gangbusters all through their first fall and winter last year. Now we're getting 0-3 eggs a day. The white leghorns and greens EEs are the only ones laying with any kind of regularity. The RIRs and Australorps are trying. One of the Australorps decided to start molting so nothing from her. Our one blue EE and the Bielefelders stopped laying a long time ago, they're basically just expensive pets now.

 

[Ma Delos Pollitos]

Hello. How old are your girls? Have they gone through a molt? Some breeds take a small vacation during the winter.

I have 2 that are a year old, a Rhode Island Red and an EE. They both layed a nice amount of eggs throughout the summer. I also have a sebright not sure of her age, she also laid religiously. I have a second EE who is 11 months; she has not laid at all.

How do I know if they are molting?

 

[Ma Delos Pollitos]

I love it!! If we didn't have a few months of <80° I would lose my freaking mind. I'm not a desert girl, I'm a beach girl. I can barely make it through the other eight months as it is. The monsoons have shifted to the east so there's hardly any rain to break up the heat anymore.

I'm working now on trying to make a few more rooms in the house more comfortable during the hell months, otherwise I'm trapped in my bedroom for 3/4 of the year. It was 90° in March this year and it's coming back so fast!

Ever hear of prairie madness? Europeans were driven to insanity living in the Great Plains due to weather extremes, isolation, and monotonous landscapes. There's an equivalent desert madness for the same reasons: extreme weather, isolation due to being shut indoors for months at a time, and the dead, empty, endless beige landscapes.

Our twelve girls laid like gangbusters all through their first fall and winter last year. Now we're getting 0-3 eggs a day. The white leghorns and greens EEs are the only ones laying with any kind of regularity. The RIRs and Australorps are trying. One of the Australorps decided to start molting so nothing from her. Our one blue EE and the Bielefelders stopped laying a long time ago, they're basically just expensive pets now.

Awww hehehe I love the beach but need that sun! I hope you find more ways to get through the hot months!

Yeah, they're pretty much pricey pets right now. Do you do anything different for them once it gets cold? Place a light for them? Or change their feed?

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Awww hehehe I love the beach but need that sun! I hope you find more ways to get through the hot months!

Yeah, they're pretty much pricey pets right now. Do you do anything different for them once it gets cold? Place a light for them? Or change their feed?

I haven't done anything different in terms of lighting or feed. I have friends who keep the light on in their coops at night so the hens have extra "daylight hours." I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference in their laying. If you try that, use a full-spectrum light bulb. Those mimic the qualities of natural sunlight by covering a wide range of wavelengths although they do not perfectly replicate sunlight.

I just make sure the wind stays off of them in the coop. It's open on two sides so we put boards over the hardware cloth when the wind blows cold. They also have a Cozy Coop panel heater they can cozy up to but we haven't had any really cold nights yet.

We have one waterer in the run that's a metal waterer with a heater under it. If overnight temps are close to freezing I have that on a timer to turn on because I don't want to get up at dawn to break the layer of ice in their waterers. Did that for years with horses.

Keeping chickens in the desert is expensive because we provide virtually all of their food and treats since we don't have lawns or pasture they can forage on. I keep hens for eggs more than anything else but if they're laying less I figure that's nature way of saying their little bodies need a rest and I'm okay with that.

It is hard to buy eggs in the store again after happily passing by that section so many times!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I have 2 that are a year old, a Rhode Island Red and an EE. They both layed a nice amount of eggs throughout the summer. I also have a sebright not sure of her age, she also laid religiously. I have a second EE who is 11 months; she has not laid at all.

How do I know if they are molting?

You'll know when they're molting because it will look like a feather pillow exploded in your coop and run, and the hens will look scraggly. It's a good time to feed them extra protein. We give them grubs, tuna, salmon, beef, and sardines (not all at once, hahaha).

 

[Ma Delos Pollitos]

I haven't done anything different in terms of lighting or feed. I have friends who keep the light on in their coops at night so the hens have extra "daylight hours." I'm not sure it makes a lot of difference in their laying. If you try that, use a full-spectrum light bulb. Those mimic the qualities of natural sunlight by covering a wide range of wavelengths although they do not perfectly replicate sunlight.

I just make sure the wind stays off of them in the coop. It's open on two sides so we put boards over the hardware cloth when the wind blows cold. They also have a Cozy Coop panel heater they can cozy up to but we haven't had any really cold nights yet.

We have one waterer in the run that's a metal waterer with a heater under it. If overnight temps are close to freezing I have that on a timer to turn on because I don't want to get up at dawn to break the layer of ice in their waterers. Did that for years with horses.

Keeping chickens in the desert is expensive because we provide virtually all of their food and treats since we don't have lawns or pasture they can forage on. I keep hens for eggs more than anything else but if they're laying less I figure that's nature way of saying their little bodies need a rest and I'm okay with that.

It is hard to buy eggs in the store again after happily passing by that section so many times!

I don't think I could do that atleast not right now. I'm not in a place where I can spend any money outside of my setup budget. I was looking up molting and they started molting early November. At this point, I can keep doing my best of keeping them comfortable lol