Arizona Chickens

[gckiddhouse]

good morning. Wet and beautiful outside. My boys were camping in this. Those scouts camp! Rain or shine! Hope they had fun anyway. It really poured last night.

Getting ready to grow my flock. Incubator built and running. Too much water in it I think. Lots of condensation. Any advice on how to manage the condensation? Can't see in through the fogged window. Is it just because the humidity is too high?

Working out the kinks...

MaryAnn, do share your secrets.

 

[cap1717]

Looks like we had a wet and wild night up here on the north end of town. . . but the girls were warm and dry this am. I fix them oatmeal on cool weekend mornings, and they sure did enjoy it this am. . . with fresh zuchinni and a handful of ground peanuts mixed in. . . .yummy.

 

[MareeZoCool]

I lived in Phoenix for a few years back in the 80's.

We kept our windows wide open most times, one week there was this hen that decided our house was a good place for her to come in and try to hang out. We'd put her out the front door, she'd pop in one of the windows faster than we could sit down!

 

[gckiddhouse]

MaryAnn, I love your idea of gluing the pvc pipe to the bottom of the egg cartons to create turners!! Mine is made of styrofoam, so I may even invent some way to extend the pvc out of the styrofoam so we don't even have to open it to turn them, just roll the pvc! Brilliant!! Thanks so much for posting yours! I love the dimmer switch, too. Still working out kinks in ours. Glad I gave myself a week to figure it out, and hoping a week will be enough time.

 

[Mahonri]

It rained real hard at about 3AM. When I woke up, somehow the chicks had worked their way out, so I had to round them up.
The wind blew part of a fence over and a roo and a hen got out.

The hen had ruined some of my peas coming up.

They are all put up now.

Those chicks are eating me out of house and home... I'll have to make a trip to Western Ranchman on Wednesday afternoon... or if I can I'll wait till Friday afternoon and go to the Stock Shop for some Flock Raiser.

I DO LOVE the air blowing in from the southwest. Smells like the ocean. So fresh and full of oxygen and low in pollutants.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

VegasChick - Oops - I fixed the link to the other aquarium bator (she hatched ducks in it)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2020
I'm pretty optimistic about it working, but just remember - this is the first time I've used it (or any incubator) so I can't guarantee how well it will do yet. So far, it's held constant temps for 36 hours. I've added a tiny bit of water a couple times to keep the humidity up to 30-35%. I'm using the dry hatch method (see below) so a 25% humidity is still okay, but I want to keep it a teeny bit higher.


gckiddhouse - I wanted to copy another member's idea for the turner, but couldn't figure out how to make it work with a glass enclosure. Since I already had the PVC pipe (found in DH's shed), I happened upon gluing pieces to the bottom. Here's a link to the one I wanted to use - might work perfect for you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2020

Yes, it sounds as if the humidity is too high. What does your humidity monitor say? I don't have any water in my incubator right now - other than adding 1/8 cup twice so far to keep it above 30%. If you are wanting to keep it at 50%, you will need to keep water in the dish though. I will be using the dish & sponge mostly for the last few days when I boost the humidity up to 65%.

Here's a link to dry incubation:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html

Mahonri was successful at it too - I hope it's okay that I quote you, Dar.

"I'm a big believer in a dry hatch. 25% to 35% humidity for days 1-18 and then 65% to start day 19.

I always candle at day 10 and day 18. I started with 65 eggs and at lockdown had 48... 41 of which hatched!"


Future incubator makers - If you all haven't been to this page, you must check it out - excellent ideas & homemade incubators (I just added this link to the bottom of my incubator page). https://www.backyardchickens.com/chicken-coop-incubator.html

 

[redrocketrooster]

Im new here and I just bought 2 chicks (still brooding) from Jims Ace Hardware Feed about two days ago. They are my first chickens but I sincerly hope I give them a wonderful home.
Im in Chandler AZ and it gets about 120f here on bad days. I've been finding so much information about making a coop for this terribly hot weather but im still so worried becuase I've never really built anything before.
I hope I can find a solution before they become feathered out. I feel it's very intrusive and rude but I'd like to go ahead and ask if there is anyone in Chandler area that maybe would be willing to teach me more about chickens and show me some of their coops? Im sorry, I grasp onto information visually and threw touch strongly so It's hard for me to learn from text and some pictures.
I'm still pretty young and green behind the ears but Im more than wanting to listen and network in the community. Thank you for reading and Im sorry for being rude.

Heres my fluffies! A Red and an Americana, I went out today and tried some crickets, they loved them!

Tesla

 

[LarryPQ]

Tesla-

Here is my open-air coop. Someone else here has a better one...but the username slips my mind.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=36979-the-henway

As for "hands on" it looks like you have plenty of time

Read up a bit, and ask when you need it. There are lots of good folks here. I also noticed your siggy said "hens" when you have 2 chicks or (hopefully) pullets.

pullet:a young hen, less than one year old

See? Here I am alredy being obnoxious! Hands on learning, indeed.

BTW- your chicks are ADORABLE!

Good morning everyone! I took a picture of my most promising Aloha pullet, Ginger. I moved her and the bigger chicks into the coop this weekend, and the littler chicks into the brooder. Check out the look she's giving the camera: distain. Like I am the paparazzi.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Welcome Tesla

what adorable chicks you have there!


Laree, Ginger is really nice looking! I cant wait to get started on the Aloha project

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful Monday morning, Im hoping to get all my housecleaning done today!

We will see...

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Tesla,
Welcome!
I'm relatively new also. I have 6 pullets (plus a roo) that are almost to laying age.
You can look at my web page (on the left) to see what we set up. The coop isn't complete in the picture, we don't have the nest boxes in yet.
Also, there is a guy in Mesa that makes cute little coops and sells them on craigslist. My sister bought one from him and is very happy with it.
She added a small yard to it and it's just perfect for her 3 pullets.
You'll just need to paint it and my sister added corrugated roof too.
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/1583002224.html

Good luck, You've come to the right place for help.