Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

Dr, Noon said that feed stores will frequently take back adult chickens from folks that do not want them anymore.  They will commonly have diseases that will be transferred to the chicks.

He also said the McMurray is the only hatchery that guarantees and tests for mycoplasma in their flocks.  I got mine from Ideal and was very pleased.  

There is usually someone on here that will split an order with you.

Yes when we got our girls in the beginning July,
We kept them in the bath tub with the heat lamp.. That way
I could check on them constantly.. They were only 2 days
old when they came..I kept checking on them like a new baby.
Poo,eat,drink.. Poo eat.. Drink.. Oh and that their poo
was not stuck on their bottom.. On the 5-7 day on of our
Silkies, Katherine has a piece of her dried poo stuck on
her bottom.. She was not happy about the bath, however
we could of lost her if we did not keep an eye on them when
they are young..

We ordered from my pet chicken.. I chose them for a few reasons.. We did not
have to order ten to 20 chicks at a time.. We wanted 5 different breeds..
Plus they had everything we wanted and will refund your $ if you end up with
A roo.. I think that they even vaccinate them before they ship them to you..
I would need to confirm.. Also when I called they were so helpfull on the
phone..
We still will not know for sure if if they are all hens.. They are a blast!
At this point more of our neighbors & friends are thinking about getting chickens..
It is hilarious when our friends find out we have them.. Let alone had them
delivered by the US Postal service.. How fun is that..it is funny to see their
reactions... Enjoy your..

 

[AZBootsie]

Quote:

I would love your company!!! The biggest are still a bit scrawny, so in about 2 weeks. I am not a pro and have no special equipment.....learned on youtube. But have done quite a few and hand plucking works fine.

 

[City farm]

Has anyone tasted a lemon drop melon??  Might be old news....I am usually behind the trends.  Yesterday I was at the walmart in Goodyear and bought one.  My granddaughter and I just split it for lunch.  It is amazing!!!  Tastes like lemonade.  There isn't much info on the web, what I did find was contradictory.  It is either a cantaloupe grafted to an Israeli bitter melon or a hybrid cross of cantaloupe with a high citric acid melon.....anyway I love it.  Think the seeds will grow??  Anyone have any info?? 

Yes hopefully..They need to be heirloom.. you might not know if they are?
Keep the melons information .. The sticker, then let the seeds dry out. I have been
keeping seeds from good melons this last year.. Normally I will split them up between
a few friends. I keep info on that seed like season, where we got it and the type..
I even put some into our compost.. You would be surprised what will survive in there.
then we get surprises.. Go to botanical interest.. Web site.. They have all kinds of seeds..
Look for heirloom then u can reuse seeds from the fruits or veggie.. They might even have
that fruit.. Let us know...

 

[Demosthine]

I would love your company!!! The biggest are still a bit scrawny, so in about 2 weeks. I am not a pro and have no special equipment.....learned on youtube. But have done quite a few and hand plucking works fine.

Awesome. Just shoot me a PM when you're ready. I was looking it up on YouTube, too. I really liked Booker81's "How to Process a Chicken at Home" guide here on the site. I'm sure it's nowhere near as easy as that sounds, but it was going to be my guide if I managed to try it here at home by myself. I think I have a scalpel or two still sealed up, so I can bring those. Anything else you need, let me know. Thanks ahead of time, too.

I may bring my two daughters, if that's ok. They are 5 and 7, but I'm not quite sure how they'll react. They both wanted to help when I was reading up on them, but when it actually comes down to doing it... They have no problem helping me with raw meat in the kitchen right now, but there isn't as much blood there.



That lemon drop melon sounds divine! I'll be looking for one when I head out to WalMart here in a few. I'm trying to get my family on more fruits. Now that I found out my oldest daughter, Jandra, is intolerant of the processed, store-bought milk, she's lost too much weight and I need to get her eating more and more healthy things. It's amazing what an intolerance to a single thing can do!

 

[AZBootsie]

Quote:
Sure bring your children. I will see if I can steal one of my granddaughters and if it is too much for them, they can just play. My 5 year old GD has no problem. Everytime we eat chicken, she wants to know who it is.....always disappointed to hear it came from Safeway. There isn't as much blood as you would expect. Once the plucking is done, it's just a piece of meat. The hard part for me is cutting the jugular, waiting the minute it takes to die and the involuntary movement after. After that it's pretty straight forward. I learned a lot from Booker81's tutorial. Before I did my first roo, I studied anything and everything I could find. Then for a couple of days, I found a million excuses to put it off. Once the first one was processed, I was pretty proud of myself. After a dozen or so, it still tugs at my heart strings......however it's a little easier each time.

 

[lacewing]

Looking for Dorking chicks in Arizona. Anybody have chicks or know a breeder?

Thanks

 

[AZTiff]

Well I should NEVER take my 6 year old to look at chicks. These came from a hatchery in New Mexico and they were a bit of an impulse buy. The pic is just the box from the store. The girls are resting/eating/pooping in my master bedroom closet (no animal or child interference) in an freshly cleaned rubbermaid tub covered with a screen. They happily ate out of my hand!

They've already pooped everywhere. How often do you change the "bedding"?

Introducing: Lucy (Rhode Island Red), Ethel (Yellow Leghorn), Sarah & Sally (Black Sex Links), Shelly (Rhode Island Red) and Yolkie (California Gray)

 

[parentwarrior]

1st question - do any of you raise your chicks outside in the summer? I was telling hubby about my needs to raise baby chicks in the house and he says we can raise them on the porch.

Thoughts?

Also 2nd question - where do you like to get your chicks? Local feed store? Mail order? Craigslist?

Thanks!!!

I raised mine in an outside cage from the start as chicks in end of April/May. I wanted them to get used to the heat. They did great and now do very well in the hot summer so far.
Kris

 

[Arizonachicken]

City farm: PM'd you.

Mikey:

That's awful.

AZTiff:

. In my only chick experience, I purchased 5 day old chicks from a BYC member and had a broody raise them outside. They were chicks from the Easter hatch. I would try to get chicks from a local (someone on BYC) source, but I don't know if anyone is hatching right now. I know people have had luck with mail order...I'm sure they'll chime in. And from what I've heard, some of the feed stores can be a little sketchy on having healthy chicks. Good luck!

Two of my Ameraucanas are broody and insist on sitting on the same nest. I put them in their own coop and gave them 4 fertile (hopefully) eggs. Anyone have any experience with "co-broodys". They have been broody since EASTER (off and on, but mostly on) so I finally gave in. Also if anyone has any fertile blue laced red wyandotte eggs, let me know. Thanks!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

1st question - do any of you raise your chicks outside in the summer? I was telling hubby about my needs to raise baby chicks in the house and he says we can raise them on the porch.

Thoughts?

Also 2nd question - where do you like to get your chicks? Local feed store? Mail order? Craigslist?

Thanks!!!

Inside for 2-3 weeks, then on porch. Too much heat is as bad as not enough. We keep our house fairly warm, so I do not give supplemental heat to the ones inside (this time of year). And obviously not to the ones outside.