Arizona Chickens

[cap1717]

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Hi Laree, I check my spam folder daily (things that shouldn't end up there sometimes do) but that is not the problem. I can "unsubscribe" then resubscribe" and I will get notifications for a couple of days, and then none. . . . . .been busy, very busy actually, so forget to check BYC when I don't get the notices. The page still tells me I'm subscribed, however. . . Oh well. .. .it'll probably get fixed eventually. Your new run if fantastic! Congratulations!

 

[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

Sigh. I no longer have 5 chickens, I have 1 :-(

Maverick, my youngest and newest dog, TORE UP HARDWARE CLOTH to get into the coop. I came home last friday to find 2 chickens dead in the coop, and 2 chickens dead just outside the coop. Sigh. This coop stood up to a 65 lb gung-ho pitbull for nearly a year and my 30 lb heeler destroyed it when he was alone outside for 3 hours.

I found my only living chicken, now named Bon Qui Qui, in the corner missing a LOT of feathers. She seems to have made a miraculous recovery as she followed me around the yard this morning! Thank goodness she pulled through.

I have plans for a super-duper reinforced coop (think white picket fence made from pallets along the bottom) to ensure that my sneaky dog CANNOT get through the coop if left outside for 4 hours (the longest he ever needs to be left outside when the maids are here).

So, with only 1 chicken, how should I introduce new chickens? Chicks? 1 chicken? 4 chickens from different flocks so they can all sort out the pecking order? I would like to have 4 or 5 hens again. I'm not in a rush, as I'd like to get the high-security coop in order first, but I would like some advice on rebuilding, if you guys have it.

Sigh. My poor girls. I'd had them since they were 2 week old chicks.

 

[LarryPQ]

Heelers-

First:

Second--I bet your lone hen will be so happy to have friends, there wont be too much problem introducing new peeps.

Depending on when you are looking to re-stock, I might have some hens (under a year) who could be re-homed. I may have chicks too, just let us know when you are ready.

 

[gckiddhouse]

So sorry for your loss!!

We lost most of ours to coyotes in January. They dug under the coop.

I am always wishing we had a wood coop with hardware cloth which looks so much nicer than my chain link, but you have just reminded me that chain link is the way to go if you have predators coming after your chooks!

We have a chain link dog run with hardware cloth on the bottom 2 feet, bird netting on the rest and 3 foot sections of rebar driven into the ground every 4 inches all the way around.

The fortress type enclosures are not pretty, but the chickens are safe.

 

[gckiddhouse]

Oh, as far as adding new ones. Yeah, no problem. The lone hen will just be at the top of the pecking order.
I may have a hen or two that we need to part with. We have too many. Ours are all young ones, not laying yet. Just waiting to see who is a boy and who is a girl and then we have to get it down to 15 total. So let us know when you are ready.

 

[LarryPQ]

To add more--taking any chooks to a new home knocks them off kilter a little. As long as you don't have 10 adults from the same flock, I would think you'd be ok. With 1 adult hen, I would make sure you got fully-feathered chicks...like 12-16 weeks, with enough of them to be a little "gang".

 

[gckiddhouse]

I think that what I would do is first add one adult hen for a few weeks so that your lone hen has a buddy. Then I would add others that are younger. Otherwise, your lone hen will always be a lone hen.

 

[LarryPQ]

Ditto
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[Heelers&Chickens_OhMy]

thanks for the advice and support guys!

I rent rooms in my home, so I'm trying to make my chicken fortress (upgrading from a coop

) look nice. My dogs aren't dumb...they went behind the coop and tore it up, where I can't see it. Hopefully this will be solved in the future by having the coop up against the back of the yard, against the wall.

The plan for the new coop is hardware cloth, with a pallets on the outside, reinforced by being screwed into wood on the inside. I figure if my 'pallet fence' comes up to eye level with my dog, he's not going to have the leverage he needs to rip up and hardware cloth above him. I may implement something like chain link as well.

I thought it might be good to get her a buddy first. She's around 1.5 to 2 years, so I should look for some one 'her age'? haha this is like chicken dating...

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

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I would recommend a broody

Its an old model been around along time. The can cost anywhere from 2 - 25 depending on how old

Advantages: Set and forget
Disadvantages: None

Agree!