Arizona Chickens

[Mikey D]

Hi there,

I am new to the Chicken community, however my girlfriend has already posted our recent bout with sour crop in one of our 6 three month old hens. What an adventure. Actually massaged the crop, to no avail, puked it all out for her twice and then learned of the ACV in the water, and yogurt, olive oil and scrambled egg diet for her. Three days and she was a normal hen again. Anyway, I have been letting them free range in the back acre and had built them one of those A frame pens when they were little and they have been roosting in an old dog kennel. Now it has come time to build the chicken coop. I am curious to find what has worked for others here in Arizona...we live in the East Valley just so you know.

I have chosen to build a 4x4 elevated chicken house with roosting bars and 3 nesting boxes. I have 6 hens and have read that we don't need a nesting box for each chicken. I have also thought of cooling for my chicken house...wondering what people have done.

Thanks,
Chris

Welcome H-Pecker!

Ventalation is the key - lots-a folks have a one sided coop/run with Hardware cloth (not chicken wire) for the other 2 sides. Heat is the killer, not cold.

Mine is attached to the house:



this is about the extent of the coop, the rest is run...



Of course we are going to paint the house to match the coop.



No, not everyone around here is as weird as I am.

Welcome to the bunch!

 

[Mikey D]

https://www.facebook.com/BackyardChickenFarmersUnite

For anyone interested in the bulk organic feed order, here is the FB page.

Goodnight & healthy chickens to all'y'all!

 

[Mahonri]

Welcome HAPPY PECKER!

Perhaps we could just call you Woody for short?

 

[fmk602]

How cute!

There are also wild flocks of Love Birds along the canals by Grenada Park. I looked it up online. I guess they thrive in our climate ( similar to their native climate). My back door neighbor has caged love birds and it has attracted wild ones into my backyard.

 

[SherrieT]

Well, my neighbor is a nurse who works in the operating room. She was able to get me a sterile pointed tipped blade they use in surgery. I used the blade to cut out the plug, but there was no puss, only blood. I cut as deep as I dare go (didn't want to risk cutting tendons and such in her foot). From what I read, there isn't always puss. Sometimes it is just blood that you will get out. I did try squeezing from various angles, no luck. I have read that non-surgical tactics have worked. I have read that some medicines work with success...but most every medicine (accept penicillin) is by prescription only. Some people use a medicated soak that is meant for fish. 


I will keep you posted on White Tips progress 

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences! Hope White Tips gets well soon.

 

[pupeluv]

I hope someone is on to inform me. I have only lived in Az for less then a year and have never seen a while cockatiel, where i am. Are there wild one out here in the pheonix/surprise area? There is a female cockatiel in my coop atm. 

I have not heard of cockatiels making it in the wild here. If you don't want it I know a lady in Tolleson that would take it & find it a good home. Kelly

 

[Novaleigh]

I looked more into the fish treatment and found this post:

"Perhaps your vet should try another antibiotic?? My hen had bumblefoot last year. I soaked her foot every day for 2 weeks in Tricide-Neo, and the only effect was that her bumblefoot got worse. IMO Tricide-Neo is a waste of money. I was lucky enough to find an avian vet, who prescribed the antibiotic Cephalexin for 21 days. It worked. He recommended no surgery on her foot due to the risk of introducing further infection and complications . Months later, the dead necrotic material inside her foot worked its way to the surface, where I was able to pull it out with tweezers. Because it left a hole, I used Neosporin on her foot and wrapped it with VetWrap for a week until it closed. It has been several months and her foot is good as new, no evidence of active bumblefoot. Cephalexin works. Again, it has been my experience that Tricide-Neo is expensive and a waste of money."

Tricide-Neo is the medicine that treats bacterial infections in fish.

Nova,

Murphy's law struck me big time after my comment to you about not having bumblefoot.

I discovered yesterday that we probably have 4 very minor cases (maybe only need a good soak & clean), and 2 ones that will need some digging around, doubles. D'oh!!!

What's funny is I think we have the same bathroom you do....I mean, same grout, tile, shower layout, etc....so I forsee probably 2 of our girls spending a day or so on ours recuperating.

Any words of wisdom? Did you use an exacto type knife or?

 

[Happy Pecker]

Mikey,

Thanks for the photos...attaching to the house has its benefits for sure, however I am unable to do this and have opted for a smaller stand alone design which will still allow for free range of the backyard but give them a more secure roost at night. The coop portion of your design is very similar to what I have built in my mind's eye. Now I am off to the lumber yard. Good times ahead...where did the humidity come from all of a sudden!?

Pictures to follow.

 

[Happy Pecker]

Funny! LOL I was sure that my user name wood generate some comments! LOL Seriouly, I just have happy chickens.

 

[Mikey D]

Mikey,

Thanks for the photos...attaching to the house has its benefits for sure, however I am unable to do this and have opted for a smaller stand alone design which will still allow for free range of the backyard but give them a more secure roost at night. The coop portion of your design is very similar to what I have built in my mind's eye. Now I am off to the lumber yard. Good times ahead...where did the humidity come from all of a sudden!?

Pictures to follow.

I have a bunch of 2 x 4's slated for the burn pile - came from tearing down several walls in my house over the past few days - they've got nails in them but are free if you want em...