Arizona Chickens

[Mahonri]

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That is just what it looked like and once it hit, it was miserable.

My kids went outside to 'experience' it.

The entire house feels like a dust bowl.

 

[southerndesert]

Ahhhh yes geology in action, ever wonder how many actual tons of material is moved by a storm like that? It is an amazing amount I assure you and hopefully it isn't all in yor houses down that way. Just a bit of rain in Morristown and we rarely see a dust storm here because of the mountains close at hand.

 

[dofnup]

I had to drive in that thing!! I was stuck at my knitting group in Chandler for a while waiting for it to blow over, but it didn't, so I braved it.

Visibility was nil. I couldn't see anything. Using other cars' taillights was great, except there were almost no other cars on the 101 at that time, so it was eerie ... like, post-apocaliptic eerie!

The ramp from the 101 to the 60 was so scary, I couldn't see anything in front or to the sides, it was like flying ... well, I COULD see the line on the road so that was my guide.

Finally I made it onto the 60 and I could see! Whew.

Pic I took right before it hit:

 

[mclevinson]

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Yikes! I'm glad no one was hurt, it was dangerous out there. DH called and I begged him to pull over into a Walmart parking lot and let it pass by.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

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Pretty much X2. I have seen worse, but it's been a long, long time. This one lasted the longest I have seen in a good while--mostly they last 10-15 minutes; maybe a half hour. Last night's storm lasted at least an hour, and probably a good bit more. Scariest was coming home from Tucson one summer late afternoon. Dust storm came and visibility got worse and worse. Pulled off the side of the road, and as we waited for it to pass, it got to the point where you could not see out the windows at all.

We had irrigation yesterday, and still had at least 6 inches of standing water (more in places) when the dust started blowing. Swimming pool this moring is brown, brown. You can tell where the pool cleaner has made a sweep, and where it hasn't, but I expect we'll have to clean the filter, run the pool cleaner and clean the filter again before we'll actually get it clear. Surprisingly little damage--my coops are not the sturdiest, and even our Original Coop, which IS sturdy nearly blew over a few years ago during a wind storm. The lids to two baby coops blew off, I rescued mama and babies from one and put them in a cage in the garage. The other I put the lid back on, and they were fine this morning. Garage is probably a huge mess as the large door was up about 6" for evap cooler ventilation. One coop with a tarp top will need a bit of work. What I mostly need is a nice steady rain to wash everything off. Oh well, I can dream, can't I?

 

[LarryPQ]

Yes, dear. Dream on.

 

[LarryPQ]

Brooding chicks in AZ: a whole different world.

I finally got the pictures of the chickie triage unit loaded.

 

[ca]

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OK Laree and Pastrymama! there are some non-medically educated people here. The contraption looks soo official and impressive. But what does it do? Are you checking who is not able to balance on the saussage and therefore needs treatment right away? I must be missing something. Feeling stupid - but CURIOUS (please don't leave me hang like this!)

 

[LarryPQ]

Nononono...we were force-feeding them electrolytes and sugar water. There is a jeffer's ice pack inside the box, which we set the limpest (certainly dead) chicks directly on. We'd give each chick a drink, and cycle back trough.

Within 10 minutes, the chicks had perked up, and were actively seaking out the iceblocks. Some would just stretch out and lay on top of the big blocks or the froze alfalfa cube. When they got cold, they would move away.

But they came back.

No one croaked, except for a sticky chick, who died 2 days later.


I like these pictures because people back East are HORRIFIED. Where is the heat source? WONT THEY DIE WITH THOSE BLOCKS OF ICE IN THERE? IS THAT A CHICKEN IGLOO?!

Um no.

WHen ambient IN SHADE temps are over 110, ice=good.

 

[Tanichca]

those dust storms look huge! We didnt get any of that, because we live on top of our mountain, but it did rain a lot and wind was high.
Laree: I

the setup!