Arizona Chickens

[AZKat]

newchickmom09: I got some Cuckoo Marans last August, and sold both of them. It may have just been my birds, but they both had really bad attitudes, and weren't very friendly. I also didn't like the cuckoo pattern barring-it looked indistinct and sloppy.

I currently have a Barred Rock and an Blue Andalusian-I had a second Barred Rock, but she developed the habit of laying on the poop board so I sold her to someone who didn't care about that. Both Barred Rocks were good layers, about 4 or 5 eggs a week. Currently I'm not getting any eggs from my Barred Rock, she went broody and is now raising a chick. The chick, funnily enough, since its one of the other breeds you were asking about, is from an egg laid by my Blue Andalusian. She is a very pretty pullet, sort of a slate blue color with a big floppy comb. She's also my best and earliest layer-started laying at 19 weeks. She lays a small egg every day for 2-3 weeks, takes 2 days off, lays for 2-3 weeks and so on. She isn't skittish or flighty, but she does like to roam around the yard, and she can actually climb over the 8 foot hardware cloth fence that we have surrounding the run.


I really, really hope that the chick is a pullet. My youngest son has named it 'Cutie' and both of the older boys are really taken with it. And, well, there isn't any way that you can kill and eat 'Cutie' even if Cutie turns out to be a roo.

 

[newchickmom09]

My female Cocoa lays an egg a day I don't think she really missed a day once she started laying. Shje layed for about 3 1/2 months straight once she started laying. She did that until I let her collect her eggs to hatch them. Cocoa started laying at 5 months old. We have a pond in our back yard that they swim and dive in. We don't clean that aften mabey twice a month but there is a filter on that. We also have a little kiddie pool that I put fresh water in everyday for them. It depends on your set up for them. If you just have a small pool then you are going to have to clean it every day or every other day.

I will pick a duck egg over a chicken egg for anything now. Tehy just taste so much better and they are amazing to cook with.

Ducks are YUMMM too! Totaly agree with you on that one LareePQG.

 

[newchickmom09]

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Thanks! I guess the only thing I am worried about is the BA getting out of my run/coop but I think they are just so PRETTY!

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

My 14 chick's are doing great. I am starting to be curious about which one has what momma, etc.

Mohonri, based on an old PM from you, I think my 18 eggs would have the following mothers.

Black Star
Cinnamon Queen
Buff Orpington
Pearl White
CA White
Light Brown Leghorns
Delaware
Ancona
Bearded Buff Laced Polish
Salmon Faverolle
2 Golden Cuckoo Maran
6 Wheaten & Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas


Four eggs failed to hatch. I put my guess next to the egg color of what mother the eggs might have been. Do you concur?

white egg (Pearl White or California White)
blue egg (Ameraucana - Were all the blue eggs from Ameracana's?
dk brown egg (Golden Cuckoo Maran)
light brown egg (any of the rest)

My little chicks are starting to have feathers. I am assuming the ones with really pretty feathers are the roos. I have 2 of those so far. The chipmunck one is coming out with brown barring. Then there is one butterscotch colored one, two canary yellow ones. One white one that had a blue tint when first hatch and a bunch of mottled ones with brown or black mottling. Oh, and the smokey one which might fit the "blue" chicken color category.

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

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Thank you for the primer!

 

[macmama]

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Wow, I didn't realize ducks laid that well! I've never tried a duck egg either... but if we lived somewhere with a pond I would definitely give it a shot! Are they loud? Messier than chickens? Oh my poor DH, he really doesn't need any more "pet projects"...

 

[redrocketrooster]

How awesome Laree! I hope it keeps working out for you. <3

Cute chicken playhouse! It looks gorgeous!

AZKat, even if I sell the chickens I still want to play with yours~ Man your going to have so much fun -work- taking care of all those pullets!

 

[NoSkiveez]

I'm probably a bit late on the topic (I'm always late and never know what's going on). I got some cuckoo Marans from Pat a few weeks ago. They are probably about 5 weeks old now, a few were older and are about 8 weeks old now. I don't hold my breath waiting for a "pullet" to drop an egg. I've had quite a few pullets start crowing. The way I see it is, if it isn't hatchery sexed...its a rooster.

Pat does have a neat place put in the back. I think we were in her back yard for atleast an hour.

 

[Mahonri]

Short day today. Day off tomorrow so I'll be heading up to Western Ranchman tomorrow to buy DE, chick grower etc...

Oldest brother is in town so we are headed to Busters in Scottsdale to eat.

Have a great day y'all!

 

[newchickmom09]

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Wow, I didn't realize ducks laid that well! I've never tried a duck egg either... but if we lived somewhere with a pond I would definitely give it a shot! Are they loud? Messier than chickens? Oh my poor DH, he really doesn't need any more "pet projects"...

You don't need a pond for ducks all you need is a kiddie pool or something simular.

My hubby had built the pond 5 years before we had ducks so it was just something extra for them.

They are messier then chickens to some extent. It is a different type of messy though. My ducks have free range of the yard, the only thing they have is a dog kennel that they go in every once in a while. When they are ducklings they have to have water right next to there food because if they don't they will choke and that can cause death. They make ther brooder more messier then chicks do. They splash around in the water dish and evertime they eat they run and stick there face in the water. Then all of that food goes in the water dish so you have to clean that often also.

As for the adults the medium/large fowl can't fly because they are too heavy so you don't have to worry about caging them up. Mine fly like bricks. They really aren't any messier then chickens when they are full grown. They make the water more messier but that is about it. I think there poo is easier to take care of. All you have to do it hit it with the hose and it is washes away. Great fertilizer that doesn't burn plants like chicken poo can.

As for loudness, the males only make a raspy noise. The females make that loud quack that you associate with ducks and that can travel if they want it to. When my female was about 10-15 weeks old going there that teen stage she would quack so loud I think it was just as loud as my Jersey Giant roos that I had. After they get closer to laying and start to lay they calm down and don't really quack like that very much. I think my chickens egg song is about the same loudness. Ducks just sound like QUACK quack quack quack and your chicken does the bawk thing. So if you have a loud hen then that is probably just as loud as a duck.

Ducks are great!