Arizona Chickens

[Mikey D]

Anyone doing this? I have flies so I might as well benefit from them.

Ooooo! Just what I want to propose to the Control Tower!

Honey - can I hang a bucket of dead critters in the back yard in which we will breed maggots?

It's a good idea but I'm not thinking that flight path will be approved...

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Thanks Will. You have turkeys. Would you say chickens and turkeys living together is OK? I read where the chickens can give turkeys black pox. Maybe that depends on the state if that is a problem?

Let me preface this by saying I don't have turkeys. I wish I did! When I was growing up we always had turkeys and chickens living together. But I also recall one terrible bout of blackhead, a disease caused by a protozoan parasite (Histomonas meleagridis). Histomonas are transferred to the turkeys in nematode cecal worms (Heterakis gallinarum) either directly, or when the birds eat earthworms that ate the nematode eggs. While turkeys are very susceptible to histomonas, chickens are not so much. Chickens can carry the parasite without showing any symptoms and ultimately transfer it to the turkeys. It sounds terrible, but I have no idea how prevalent it is, especially in AZ. We only ever had the one bout of it in all the years of raising turkeys in MI. There seem to be lots of folks around town here and on this thread that keep turkeys and chickens together and I haven't heard any reports of blackhead. So, it seems relatively rare.

 

[itsredcandy]

So all pigeons aside...

Exhibit A - the window in the coop/run that is left open through which the swamp cooled air from the house blows.



Exhibit B - the super deluxe mock up of the "cool air diverter" that is supposed to keep the cluckers cool during the day. Of course you cannot see in the still picture but all of the feathers on the floor of the area are now waving around in the cool breeze. I'm hoping that this will cool down the area the cluckers occupy during the day (near the floor rather than three feet off of the ground)

I figured I'd make it out of cardboard to see if it works before welding $50 worth of aluminum together.

Wadda ya think?

Is it worth it or am I just wack'n it?

ingenious!

 

[itsredcandy]

How in hell does this forum work? I post things and give replys.... and I rarely seem them. And when I do, they're in the middle of nowhere and not connected to what I replied to. They don't make sense. You people probably all think I'm mental and have unpredictable outbursts. (Well, that too!) Can someone help me out? Tomas Gospel Birds 6/05/12

You're in great company. Most of us are mental and have unpredictable outburts. This is a chicken lovers support group, you know.

 

[Fuzzybird]

Let me preface this by saying I don't have turkeys. I wish I did! When I was growing up we always had turkeys and chickens living together. But I also recall one terrible bout of blackhead, a disease caused by a protozoan parasite (Histomonas meleagridis). Histomonas are transferred to the turkeys in nematode cecal worms (Heterakis gallinarum) either directly, or when the birds eat earthworms that ate the nematode eggs. While turkeys are very susceptible to histomonas, chickens are not so much. Chickens can carry the parasite without showing any symptoms and ultimately transfer it to the turkeys. It sounds terrible, but I have no idea how prevalent it is, especially in AZ. We only ever had the one bout of it in all the years of raising turkeys in MI. There seem to be lots of folks around town here and on this thread that keep turkeys and chickens together and I haven't heard any reports of blackhead. So, it seems relatively rare.

Oh thank you so much. You are so smart!

 

[itsredcandy]

HELP PLEASE !!! If my chicken is not a serama then what other type of chicken could she be? She is about 3 months old in the middle pic. Then about 1 month old in the other 2. PLEASE HELP! THANKS!!!!

After searching the internet, i'd say she's a Serama. Search google pictures for Serama Chickens. She's definitely a Serama. Since she's perched then I think he wings and tail don't look like a Serama.

 

[Mikey D]

Quote: Thanks Red.

I realized that all the cluckers roos at about the height of the window and this eliminates the cold air from that area at night.

I might have to figure out some kind of damper/diverter for that...

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote:

Yeah, I see it now, "Control Tower, whadda ya think about breeding some flies? With dead critters."


That does sound interesting if you lived way out in the forest someplace. I would point out that the guy that popularized this approach to free protein has become more cautious about feeding maggots after suffering losses from botulism poisoning. The carcasses used to attract the flies may be fine, but if they are infected with the bacterium, Clostridium botulinum, bad things can happen.

I think that a better option, especially for us here in AZ, is to grow black soldier fly larvae (BSF). They are ubiquitous and can be grown for most of the year here. They also don't stink and you'll never notice them unless you take the time to carefully look for them. It's on the list of summer projects for me.

 

[desertmarcy]

Is it ok to eat an egg that has a crack in it or does a crack allow bacteria to grow at a more rapid pace? My Brahma laid an egg the other day (her 3rd one) in the coop instead of in the nest boxes and I think it got stepped on. Has a slight crack and chip in the shell. Nothing leaked out though. Just wondering if it is ok to eat or should I just toss it?

When I was growing up, my mother would buy cracked eggs from the farmer down the road. He sold them a lot cheaper, and growing up in the depression, Mom was always looking for bargains. We never got sick eating those eggs. We also drank raw milk and that was fine, too. Nowadays people are worried about every little thing. Those eggs are coming from your own, healthy chickens, not some factory farm. As long as they are clean, no poo on the crack, they are fine. We eat our clean cracked eggs all the time. If they are really dirty, they get cooked and fed back to the chickens. We also eat the turkey eggs that get a toenail hole punch through the shell, but if the hole goes all the way through the shell and into the membrane and is leaking, it is chicken food.

 

[itsredcandy]

ooo....I am so excited. I had two of my girls squat and let me pet them this morning. They are the two I suspected laying their first eggs this week. Neither of which has laid a second and they are both the two top hens in the pecking order of the 5 pullets from the Jan 4th hatch. Anyhow, none of my chickens let me pet them, they just eat from my hand but when I got to reach they run away. Not this morning. Enchilada and Nugget both squatted when I walked toward them and I was able to give them a good scratching on the back. Funny how they both pointed their tails up in the air like a cat does when you scratch their back right in front of their tail. I had to share here as my husband would think I have fallen farther from my rocker.

Yippy.... half a dozen eggs or more a day are in my near future.

~Selina