Arizona Chickens

[AnotherKim]

Today i came home soooo excited to see my chicks when i stumbled upon the saddest thing i have ever had to go through. 7 of my babies were dead. Upon closer inspection it appears that they have been shot with a bb gun. Im not sure who did this but i wanna cry!!! There was 3 still alive and my duck was all good but yet i am shocked that something like this would happen for no reason

Oh no. I'm so sorry. That is just awful.

 

[kukupecpec]

Hi everyone!

I am pretty new here, and new to chickens, I'm so glad I found the AZ thread, I've heard there are lots of Tucson and Phoenix people here?

Does anyone from south tucson have any problems with people stealing their chickens? Is it really necessary for me to put a lock on my coop/run? DH is terrified someone is going to just walk by and steal them! We have a 4ft chain link fence around the carport and side of the house, and the chickens free range in the afternoons and on the weekends and they LOVE the car port, nice and shady and lots of good dust bathing dirt, so anyone walking by can see them chilling out in the dirt.

I'd like to tell DH that he's crazy, they they are fine, and not to worry, but I'd rather check with all of you first and see if his concerns are legit!

 

[AnotherKim]

Chris~ Looks amazing with both.

Petra~Congrats. I personally would go bonkers with more than 2. I give you tons of credit. I am 38 and could not imagine what I would do if I were to get pregnant.




On a very sad note. Chick number 2 died in my hands tonight. I held her for about 20 minutes until she died. She was laying in front of mama hen and looked dead. I am going to go to the feed store this weekend and get a few more chicks. I was suppose to get 6 but many from the order died in shipment so I only took 5. One died the first night and this one died the third night. So sad. My 9 year old is having a hard time with it.

Sad. I'm sorry. It's so hard explaining these things to kids.We try to handle it matter-of-factly, but it's still rough.

 

[AnotherKim]

Thank you all for you're support about my Daughter. I am an only child, don't know what 'normal' is until I had my 2nd child to use as a baseline for my older child. My 9 year old has Sensory Integration Disorder and ADHD (Inattentive type). She has sever anger and emotional problems. She outburst about hating life, and she wishes she would just die. Things like that just break my heart. Because of her sensory issues I haven't been much one to force any kind of diet change on her because of her intolerance with food taste and texture. She was diagnosed with SID when she was 4 and ADHD last March. Now she's starting puberty and my suspension of thing coming to a head are correct. I knew when she was 4 that this day would come. I told the doctor I was concerned about her mental health back then. She cries at the drop of a hat and over exaggerates everything. I have a Psychologist appointment for her first week of October and a Psyciatrist appointment for her first week of November. My ultimate fear is that she will take her own life. I hear so many stories of 9 and 10 yr olds taking their life that I am so fearful of this happening. The Psychologist that I spoke to is very familiar with SID and most anyone I've talked too isn't. My best explanation for teachers is she's got Autism without the social disability. She is very social and loves to search out new friends were ever we go. She is far from shy or introverted. But in all this, she loves animals and is very compassionate toward them. She is a very loving girl who is tormented by her inner demons. She's never been abused and has both parents that love her very much. She is hugged, kissed and told "I love you" several times a day. Prayers, good thoughts and advice are always welcome.

~Selina

A huge hug to you. my oldest has ADHD and Autism. I completely understand how you feel. You are not alone. Any time you need to talk, just PM me. Billy is 23 now and doing fantastic. It took a lot of work, and a lot of help, but we made it through. You guys will, too. I promise.

 

[Fuzzybird]

WOW, I would never have thought that an owl would just kill like that!

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Hi everyone!

I am pretty new here, and new to chickens, I'm so glad I found the AZ thread, I've heard there are lots of Tucson and Phoenix people here?

Does anyone from south tucson have any problems with people stealing their chickens? Is it really necessary for me to put a lock on my coop/run? DH is terrified someone is going to just walk by and steal them! We have a 4ft chain link fence around the carport and side of the house, and the chickens free range in the afternoons and on the weekends and they LOVE the car port, nice and shady and lots of good dust bathing dirt, so anyone walking by can see them chilling out in the dirt.

I'd like to tell DH that he's crazy, they they are fine, and not to worry, but I'd rather check with all of you first and see if his concerns are legit!

Welcome to our AZ thread! There were a lot of Tucson people here, unfortunately, very few post anymore. I've read this entire thread and I can recall only two instances of chickens being stolen from AZ BYCers and neither of them were from Tucson. Having said that, I think I would be bit uncomfortable if passersby could see my chickens. Even then, I think that having stray dogs and coyotes being able to see them from the road would be much worse than people seeing them. My neighbors at the end of the block once had a large flock of free-ranging chickens that would venture into their front yard were they were visible and even occasionally cross the road. They lasted less than a year before the last one was carried off by a coyote. Although, I have my doubts that they even locked them up at night and many may have been lost then. FWIW, I live in the center of town just east of Reid Park.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I was out in the garden collecting cucumbers for dinner and shot these. Light is fading so the pic isn't great, but you get the idea. All of these were mere flowers just a few days ago. The longest was about 14" long. We've been getting so many, I may finally have enough to ferment. We planted three varieties-- these are Japanese vining, the Armenians are just starting to form and the third (I can't remember what it was) died. I can only imagine how many we'd have if there were more pollinators. Thankfully, the carpenter bees have been picking up some of the slack from the honey bees. I was visiting BYCer TT! today and she gave me a Queen's Wreath and I think that will very much help next year in attracting bees.

 

[notinoz2007]

wow gallo, please tell me how you built that - i NEED one!! also, once the structure is built what location should plants be placed for it to vine over top like that. my cukes are started inside from seed til i get them outside (soon i hope)

 

[parentwarrior]

Thank You. You're in Gilbert? Care if I ride with you some time? I have to travel to Houston the week of the 24th this month. But would like to check it out in October. My girls have cheer leading on Wed night but I can probably get their dad to take them.

Sure, I do live in Gilbert. We can ride together. I go to a support group from 2-4 right before it. It is for people to have a voice in the system. They do charity work and sponsor things. They are looking for more parents to come to it. The group is made up of professionals who work with parents and some people who have had some tough kids. You are welcome to come with me. I stay for the meeting at 5:30. They provide dinner. They will have something like pizza and salad or sub sandwich's and chips. The meetings will last to about 7:30. I would love the company.

 

[parentwarrior]

I hope you don't mind, I liked your The Parent Warrior page. Looks like you live relatively close. I am at Ellsworth and Guadalupe.

Thank you! I am glad that you liked it. I made my face book page because I am mad at the system for what I had to go through to get my daughter help. I was treated badly and had to fight hard for what I received. I figured we parents need to band together and help each other. Most people do not understand what it is like to live with a child with such issues. It is tough. That is what led me to get chickens. I needed something to love and focus on when stressed. My babies just started to lay eggs, well one did so far. I have 4. P.S. I home schooled back in the day too. I loved it.