Arizona Chickens

[Sonoran Silkies]

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I've been told that dutch tend to hatch earlier than other breeds.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hello on this hot summer AZ day. I noticed that a number of AZ BYC'ers were trying to raise mealworms and I decided to add my thoughts as I've been raising them for longer than I'd care to admit. Click on my BYC page for a simple outline. Don't go there if you are squeamish about bugs.

Dakoda: Welcome to BYC; your three birds must be a riot to watch! I'm so jealous of those that can have roosters.

Mahonri: I hope your birds are returned. The uncertainty of what happened must be difficult.

I hope everyone has gotten at least some rain now. Our accumulation has been disappointing to say the least. On the bright side, at least we have clouds! -Todd.

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

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Do you think they would do OK in a garage or is it too hot?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

It depends on how hot your garage gets. I think that 125 F is probably as high as you'd like them to be. If you do use the garage, put them down low. I have mine on the back patio, where the sun can never reach them.

 

[cap1717]

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no rain (more than a few drops that mostly evaporated before reaching the ground) here in North Central Phx. I am sprinkling down the yard a couple of times a day. . . .chicken all doing OK, and my "blue egg" layers are producing well. . . .the brown egg layers are really down in egg production, and it looks like they are all going to start moulting, big time, any day now. . . .They sure do love standing in their shallow water / wading pans, however. . . .the chicken yard is dotted with little "chicken swiming pools" for them!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Cap1717: My girls won't voluntarily get into a pan of water. They are only 7 months old though, so maybe they will learn. Did yours learn on their own? Sparta, one of my EEs was honking with every breath two days ago when the temps hit 112 F, so I put her in a pan of water and she sat there for 10 min on her own. It helped take her out of distress immediately, but she just hasn't learned to get in on her own. We've had higher temps, but that day had her at the edge. All of my girls are laying nearly daily, except one BO, Kevin-the largest, who has yet to chamber that pullet bullet. I see that the two green/blue egg layers are keeping steady with the three brown egg layers though. I can't imagine wanting to get into that nest box when the temps are so high. -Todd.

 

[Tepary]

EEk, sorry to hear about the missing chickens.

You guys move quickly on this thread. Lots of action. Pretty sure I can't keep up. Gallo del Cielo, thanks for the mealworm info - awesome! I'd been wondering on how to up the hens protein in a fun way. I have a bit of entomology bug.

 

[cap1717]

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Hi, last year, when they were just pullets, I gave them frozen ice blocks, set into pans, for them to cool off with. With the completion of my new coop / run structure this past spring, I incorporated the pans with shallow water (about 1 - 1 1/2 inches) when they were first introduced to their new digs, and they took to them immediatly. I have not needed the ice this summer as the run has several layers of shade. . .even on hot days (like yesterday, for instance) I will find one or two of the girls "sunbathing" in a hot dry place. . . .the only panting I have had this summer is when they are in the nest boxes. . . .other than that, everyone seems healthy, happy and comfortable.

 

[pdx2phx]

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I look forward to tying out your method - what we were doing just wasn't working. We got plenty of beetles, but they wouldn't reproduce! They were the large mealworms, though, so after reading your directions I wonder if this was part of the problem? Thanks for the tips on this...I'm sure our chooks will be grateful!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:
Hi, last year, when they were just pullets, I gave them frozen ice blocks, set into pans, for them to cool off with. With the completion of my new coop / run structure this past spring, I incorporated the pans with shallow water (about 1 - 1 1/2 inches) when they were first introduced to their new digs, and they took to them immediatly. I have not needed the ice this summer as the run has several layers of shade. . .even on hot days (like yesterday, for instance) I will find one or two of the girls "sunbathing" in a hot dry place. . . .the only panting I have had this summer is when they are in the nest boxes. . . .other than that, everyone seems healthy, happy and comfortable.

Layers of shade....yes. Unfortunately, my coop/run gets blasted directly by sun from about 2-4pm daily. Grape vines over the run help, but I need more tree-cover. My girls pant a lot when the temps get to 110 or higher. I have frozen gallon jugs in water pans, but nothing big enough for them to get into, just drink from. I will change that now. My girls are somewhat spoilt. They have free access to the yard from 5:30 am to dusk, but tend to spend the majority of the day in the run. They get into trouble when the lure of the garden overcomes their aversion to the heat right around 2-4 pm. I just went out and watered one of the citrus and they are wading in the tree-ring (that is a first). I used to water the trees automatically in the wee hours of the morning, but someone here (Rufus?) suggested staggering the irrigation over days so that they have a wet tree to get under. I think that is a good idea. So do my birds. Maybe they'll go into a larger pan now. -Todd.