Arizona Chickens

[Arizonachicken]

Some of my  New Year's Day chicks are FINALLY starting to lay. Got 33 eggs this week.  Best I've had in ages.  Now I can't wait until all of the Easter chicks start laying.  Of course I now have four or five hens that are molting so who knows how long it will be until they start laying again.

I still have one of Bargain's EEs that hasn't started to lay yet but all the rest of my NYD chicks have layed at least 2 or 3 eggs.

I suppose I'm going to have to say goodbye to my gorgeous Icelandic roo.  He's getting frisky with all of the ladies and and is crowing up a storm.

 I do have one real pretty Blue Wheaten Ameraucana roo that I'm waiting to put over the 4 hens that I have, but NONE of them are laying anyway.... perhaps by the end of November or first part of December and then I can do a hatch or sell some eggs.

I'm loving the cooler weather, the corn I planted is thigh high now and I've got little green tomatoes on as well as green peppers forming.

33 a week?? I wish. My hens are a bunch of freeloaders. My olive egger from the last Easter hatch is my best layer. I get 5-6 eggs from her a week. Next up is my BLRW. She lays large eggs, which DH likes. She lays about 4-5 a week. Then I have 3 wheaten Ameraucanas, I'm not sure which one(s) are laying, but I'm only getting 1-2 blue eggs a week. My Buff Orp and Production Red both molted and haven't resumed laying. My Blue Marans from Easter hatch hasn't laid an egg yet. My Silver Laced Wyandottes are only 4-5 weeks old. A dozen eggs a week just ain't cuttin' it 'round here!

When did you plant and did you sow seeds or use started plants? I'm still trying to figure out this gardening stuff...I do NOT have a green thumb...but I'm sticking with it!

 

[Arizonachicken]

I put my rooster in the garage every night, but last night I "forgot". I got up at 6:30 am and listened for him, but I never heard him crow. I finally had to go out there to see if he was still alive! What are the chances of having a rooster that doesn't crow at sunrise? Or do you think he was already done by 6:30 and I just never heard him?

 

[AnotherKim]

Here's a cool picture of my 6 month old turkeys. Poor Blue Bell keep squatting in front of him but doesn't have a clue yet. Just as well I don't want chicks from him. I have Banner my Royal Palm for her who is a month behind them in age. These turkeys are named Dinner and Super. Sorry Puffy Cheeks. 5 turkey Chicks and I got 5 Toms = to many Toms!

Gorgeous birds! My ex would be drooling over those tail feathers, lol. We took my ex-BIL to the Desert Museum once. He brought his turkey call and got the poor Tom all riled up. It was so funny. So is this one for Thanksgiving dinner?

 

[Fuzzybird]

Yup Kim that is Dinner and Supper name wise. I had gotten 5 chick turkeys and prayed that at least one was a male for a mate to Blue Bell. Ended up with 5 Toms! The white Royal Palm in the picture is Banner. He is 1 month younger than the dark ones and the future mate to Blue Bell.

 

[Demosthine]

I put my rooster in the garage every night, but last night I "forgot". I got up at 6:30 am and listened for him, but I never heard him crow. I finally had to go out there to see if he was still alive! What are the chances of having a rooster that doesn't crow at sunrise? Or do you think he was already done by 6:30 and I just never heard him?

Unless you live a quarter mile away from where he was this morning, there is no way you would miss him crowing. Well, unless you're legally deaf I suppose. My old neighborhood had a half dozen scattered around and it didn't matter which ones were crowing, it sounded like they were in my backyard. Roosters are ridiculously loud. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper usually and they always woke me up.

I would have to say that being in the garage every night probably helped calm him down or even confuse him about what he is supposed to do. I've heard that leaving them in a dark closet for long enough every night overrides their natural tendencies. And if you put them in a short cage, supposedly they are incapable of stretching their necks to crow. Again, both wives tales as far as I know. I wasn't able to find any reliable sources to prove either one. If anyone has any good experiences with either, let me know. I would love to be able to keep a rooster around.

My neighbors are complaining about our neighborhood's barking dogs as it is. Unfortunately, they are blaming it entirely on my two dogs, who are usually inside at the time that they are complaining about. One neighbor has seven small yappy mutts, my other has three Greyhounds. Behind me somewhere, it sounds like the person has three or four. When anyone lets their dogs out, the entire bunch starts going insane. Somehow, being stuck in the middle of all those houses, we get blamed. It doesn't bother me in the morning, though. You won't get a complaint from me about noise. Unless it's the thumping bass coming from a midnight pool party that wakes up my five-week old daughter at the time and is rattling my windows from across the street and two doors down...



Congrats to the new hatches and the new eggs recently! I'm amazed that your New Year's Day chickens are just laying. I didn't think it took ten months for them to start. I thought it was more in the four to six month range.

 

[Arizonachicken]

Ha ha! My husband might say I'm deaf...but that's another topic. My neighbors didn't hear him either. Course they say they never hear him, and he does crow, just not very much. It's why we kept him. He's nice to people and the hens, and he doesn't crow a lot. We'll see what he does tomorrow.

As far as maturing, it's been my experience that different breeds mature at different rates. I have an olive egger and a Marans that both hatched on Easter. The olive egger has been laying for a while and the Marans doesn't even look close to laying.

 

[Mahonri]

Everything in my garden but the tomatoes have come up from seed.... I just need to figure a way to kill the ants they are killing all of my cucumbers and squash.

One of my black Icelandic hens died today. I can't figure out what was wrong. Makes me sad. She laid 3-4 eggs a week... just laid one yesterday.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Complete dark (also needs to not be disturbed) works very well at keeping a rooster quiet. Keeping them in a very short cage also helps, but not completely. Look at a crowing rooster; see how they stretch up high? Don't give them that space; indeed, take as much headroom away as possible.

 

[fmk602]

Everything in my garden but the tomatoes have come up from seed.... I just need to figure a way to kill the ants they are killing all of my cucumbers and squash.

One of my black Icelandic hens died today. I can't figure out what was wrong. Makes me sad.  She laid 3-4 eggs a week... just laid one yesterday.

Sorry about your hen!

About the ants, we just dump DE on the hill and sometimes as a line across their path as a barrier. This doesn't kill all of them, but they will move. The other thing you need to do is see if they are " farming aphids". If so you have to work on getting rid ( or reducing ) them too. Try soapy water sprays every 5 days for awhile. Like ticks and worms you need to break the breeding cycle to get rid of them. We are trying a new product called "surcrasheild " by Natural forces for aphids and other soft body pests. It's suppose to be natural and safe for bees. But again it must be used every 5 days. I am slowly learning that gardening is nothing but patience and consistency. Good lessons for someone like me!

 

[alohachickens]

Does anyone have Silkie eggs available for sale locally? Please let me know how much, if you do! I have a friend who wants some and trying to figure out if it's cheaper to order from a hatchery, or if they are fresh hatching eggs available at a reasonable price.

Thanks!