Arizona Chickens

How is everyone doing this morning!

We had a very eventful morning starting at 4:40am when we had a cop knocking at our door. We answered the door and the cop was here because 911 had gotten a hang up call from our address. We told him there is no way because we are all asleep and there is no one else here. He said ok and sorry about the wake up then left. Here in our small town for some reason when we get hard rains and all the phone lines start getting wet the line can cross or the 911 dispatch is crossed. It is really wierd. I have heard about 3 other people this happening to the last past few years. The funniest part about the entire thing was when we were talking to the cop two of our ducks were just sitting at our gate watching them. They always come running to the gate to see who is here and if they are going to feed them. So they must have heard the cop come threw our gate and think we were comming out to feed them since it was just before the sun came up. The cop kept looking over then at us then over at the fence. He never said anything but you could tell he was thinking "what the he**".
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All of the birds are doing great. All our hens are still being troupers laying everyday right threw this heat. Our ducks are doign good except that darn male is just a pain and still has to be penned up.
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Duck roast has never sounded so good.

We got some nice rain yesterday!
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We finally got rain at our house, but no one is home to see it! DD and I are in the Jerome/Cottonwood area. Jerome was totally socked in with fog!! last night while we were up there having dinner. It felt just like San Francisco. It was soooo nice. We are about to have breakfast at the Bed and Breakfast we are staying in.

Have a great weekend!!
 
No rain at our house yet. I went out this morning (and finally busted the new crower) and saw there was wet spots at the edge of the porch...but the rest of the yard was super-dry.

I walked outside, and had a mist drop hit me every 100 steops or so, but the ground was still dry. I finally figured out it WAS raining at my house: the rain was hitting at roof level, occasionally hitting at head level, but DEFINATELY evaporating before it hit the ground.

RAIN, DARN IT!!!
 
I hope we get some rain today or tonight. It was overcast all day yesterday, and today its overcast and humid as heck, but no rain so far. My mom lives near Sun City, and she said that yesterday they got a ton of rain.
 
Newbie here...

We're in Tucson and are thinking about getting a few laying hens, but I'm concerned about the heat here! I read the first few pages of this monstrosity of a thread and got some good ideas, but I'm also wondering about their feed... I'd rather give them what they naturally would eat rather than "kibble." What's the best thing to give them?

I know they like to scratch and eat lots of bugs. But, um.... Are the bugs in the dust in our dirt yard enough? I was thinking about putting in two garden beds, one vegetable and one cover crop so the chickens could scratch around (and eat) the cover crop (not sure what yet, recs appreciated). Then the next season use the cover crop bed for gardening and cover crop the other bed and rotate that way. Then I have mulch for the veggie garden, chicken poop for the compost pile, chicken feed (or at least part of their diet covered), and a more moist ground area for them to scratch for bugs etc.

Does this sound like a good plan? I'm an amateur gardener as well as a not-yet-amateur chicken farmer, so I have no idea what I'm doing. Just formulating a plan based on a few things I've read. Anything else I should consider? Reading recs? Anyone want to come consult with me on my setup? ;-)

And yeah, no rain here either...
 
Scratch is candy for chickens. It is not nutritionally sufficient and can contribute to health problems if other "better" feeds are not used. Scratch also heats up in the chickens' stomach, so AZ poeple usually avoid it in the summer/fall/ The bugs in your yard, depending on lot size, are probably not enough.

You want to feed your chickens chicken feed, starting with chick starter, then chick grower, then layer feed.

Garden scraps are good, check out the BYC chicken feed chart for "no-no"s. The BYC learning center and has great advice.

I also reccomend all newbies spend 2 weeks trolling the "Emergencies, cures, and diseases" forum before you purchase. That way, you know if you can handle all the "worst of the worst" before it hits you.
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No rain here, but that's nothing new. Relatives in Flagstaff havent gotten more than their fair share.

My blue pullet has laid another egg. I'm pretty impressed.

Our mini van tried to die on the freeway just outside of Phoenix with the whole family inside, thankfully we made it home. Irs the Camshaft position sensor, in other words a real pain in the butt to fix. Replacing the part is as easy as plugging the new part in. The hard part is getting to it under the engine block.
 
Of geez, thanks tofu! I found two watermelons the size of potatoes in our garden today. Another is doing well (think it was pumpkins) and another started bloomi.g but this one might just be a prettty weed.
 

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