Arizona Chickens

[NoSkiveez]

Eggs Lockdown last night. I candled before and didn't have to toss ant out! Whoo hoo! Humidity is up and staying up. I'm giddy as can be. I practically have my face pressed against the door waiting for pipping.

 

[a2ms4chickens]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post some things that I have recently learned about my chickens, in the past couple of weeks:

1. Do not wear pink sweats to clean the pens.
The rooster in my avatar, Birchen MGB, flogged me 4 times. We have had him for 4 years and has never showed any signs of aggression until the day I wore those sweats. Later the same day, I went out in the pen in my shorts and he did not pay me any attention. That was 2 weeks ago and I am still sporting the scabs from his spurs.

2. Baby rattlesnakes fit through chickenwire.
I went to clean the pen last weekend and lifted up the doghouse top we have in the pen and there coiled up was a baby rattlesnake. All of my men were gone so it was just me trying to decide how to get that thing out of there. A shovel and rake worked. I later was told that I should have let the chickens have at it, but I was worried about them getting bit.

3. Buckeye chicks really are mousers.
After I got the rattlesnake out of the pen, I was raking up and heard a strange little noise. I turned and spotted one of my Buckeye chicks playing keep away with a mouse. Everytime it ran past me the poor little mouse would be missing body parts. Do you know how hard it is to clean a pen when you have 25+ chickens running through your raked up piles?

4. 2 hours to clean?
This year my chickens came down with lice. We have never had this in the 4 years we have had chickens, but this year we have had squirrels near the chicken pens, so I'm thinkin' that's where they came from.
So, a couple of weeks ago we dusted pens, bedding, chickens, nesting boxes... Last weekend it was time to redust everything and everyone. While dusting one of the pens, I noticed some red mites. So, instead of the usual 2 hours to clean, it took about 3 1/2 hours to clean and dust everything. There had better not be any bugs in that pen!!

I just wanted to share with my fellow chicken people because no one else would appreciate my experiences.

Angie

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Nice update Angie. I'll be sure not to wear my pink sweats to the coop.

I'm glad we don't have to worry about snakes here in town. With your update, I'm reminded that I should check my birds again for bugs, thanks. Oh, BTW, I saw some MGB at a little poultry show here on the SW side of town last spring and someone had them and it was the first time I'd seen them in person. Those birds had a wild stare, like they were just sizing me up with an intelligence that surprised me. That, coupled with their upright carriage and I was smitten. I just couldn't stop looking at them.

Good luck with your hatch NoSkiveez!

Welcome Keefersfiddle! I hope you find some good eggs.

 

[NoSkiveez]

Quote:
Red nail polish on your toes and flip flops, get the same results as red pants, except all the aggression is focused at your feet.

And I wanted to add, throwing a snake off a shovel doesnt work out like
the you think it should. Also, snakes can swim. We've gotten a few in our coop. Big ones too. They can also climb. I had one get in a raised, closed top brooder that was occupied by a beat up rooster and he didn't attempt to go after the snake.

I'm glad I haven't run into a rattler yet, but we will soon. We have bull snakes so the rattlers are here somewhere. Eeep!

 

[gckiddhouse]

Quote:
That is funny! My dd wears some cheap croc like shoes from walmart into the chicken pen. They are pink with holes in them like crocks. We have one production red pullet that just hates those shoes. She attacks them every time dd is out there. Dd can reach down and pet her and pick her up, she doesn't have a problem with dd, but those shoes - she hates them!! Throws her feet at them just like a rooster attacks. It is hilarious!!

 

[a2ms4chickens]

Well, I learned tonight that he doesn't like pink shirts, either. I have 3 more holes in my left leg.

His spurs were about 3 inches long...they are now about 1 inch and a little tender.

I really like the MGB's. We actually have a birchen pair, and a brown-red pair. My DS used the brown-red hen and rooster as his showmanship birds. At fair, during barn duty, he will bring her to our table and she struts around and talks, just like a female, lol. She loves the attention she gets. They are full of personality.

As for the snake, I tried to throw it over the 6 ft fence, but it slid off the shovel into a garbage can. It is still there as far as I know, hopefully dead. I know they eat mice and stuff, but they freak me out!

Have a good night, everyone!

Angie

 

[Mahonri]

Anyone heard from Laree lately?

Looks like Beverly will get my test hatch eggs tomorrow. 11 Marans eggs. 1 polish mix and 6 Ameraucanas

I've got to get some sleep.

DS #5 arrives in Frankfurt, Germany in about 15 minutes. It will be 7AM there.

I work half a day tomorrow and almost a full day on Saturday at the office. My workers hate it when we work on a Saturday after a Monday Holiday.

Tough cookies.

 

[mydog8it]

Quote:
That is too funny! My chickens always peck at my red toes but so far I've been safe in my pink sweats.

On a separate note, I have a question about chicken wire (1" hex mesh) vs. hardware cloth (1/2" welded wire squares) for a chicken coop we're working on. Everything I can find online suggests using hardware cloth to keep predators out of the pen, but I'm not sure how big of a deal this really is here in the Phoenix area. It seems like raccoons are the reason people recommend the hardware cloth, but we don't have those here as far as I know. Do you guys recommend going with the hardware cloth anyways (about twice the price) or is chicken wire OK?

 

[cap1717]

Quote:
That is too funny! My chickens always peck at my red toes but so far I've been safe in my pink sweats.

On a separate note, I have a question about chicken wire (1" hex mesh) vs. hardware cloth (1/2" welded wire squares) for a chicken coop we're working on. Everything I can find online suggests using hardware cloth to keep predators out of the pen, but I'm not sure how big of a deal this really is here in the Phoenix area. It seems like raccoons are the reason people recommend the hardware cloth, but we don't have those here as far as I know. Do you guys recommend going with the hardware cloth anyways (about twice the price) or is chicken wire OK?

we do have racoons in the Phoenix area, and probably many many more than most people realize. Another good reason for hardware cloth is to reduce the "wild bird" population in your coop, especially if you feed / water inside the coop, as I did. . . .

 

[Beckyhsinglsc]

Quote:
That is too funny! My chickens always peck at my red toes but so far I've been safe in my pink sweats.

On a separate note, I have a question about chicken wire (1" hex mesh) vs. hardware cloth (1/2" welded wire squares) for a chicken coop we're working on. Everything I can find online suggests using hardware cloth to keep predators out of the pen, but I'm not sure how big of a deal this really is here in the Phoenix area. It seems like raccoons are the reason people recommend the hardware cloth, but we don't have those here as far as I know. Do you guys recommend going with the hardware cloth anyways (about twice the price) or is chicken wire OK?

It depends on where you are. There are actually raccoons in some areas and large dogs can get through chicken wire too.

I have a 5' wall around my yard so I did chicken wire on my coop. I would sleep better at nights if I had done hardware cloth.
I'm building a coop for my mom and I'm going to use hardware cloth.

Also sparrows can get through chicken wire and they end up eating a lot of food. You'd probably make up the difference in chicken feed saved if you used hardware cloth.