California - Northern

[zooweemama]

Chickens are supposed to be less work than Ducks. If you keep the coops clean and use DE, you can keep them from getting mites. The Die Mite strips will also keep them from getting them. The big amount of work happens if the mites infest the coop and the chickens. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

For the coop design, make sure you use a California Coop design. Do not build one with four walls and very little ventilation. The one we had growing up was completely open on one wall and had vents at the top. Chicken Coops for Dummies has a very simple design that has no odd measurements and no angles to cut. I am going to use that design and cut a big vent opening in one wall. It will be covered with the small wire screen to allow more ventilation. The design already has vents up at the roof.

The heat is why I am getting the EO Marraduna Basque chickens. They should do well here and in Redding because they are from a place just like here. Most of the Mediterranean breeds are flighty and lay smallish white eggs. I am so excited to get a friendly layer of large eggs that should do well in our heat.

The important thing is to give them shade, ventilation and lots of water. A misting station can help too.

Bye,

Ron
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Awesome information Ron- thank you so much! I am grateful we decided to hold off a year for the chickens so we have time to prepare for them before they get here rather than running about trying to make do. I will turn my husband to both those places for a coop design. I will also put those strips in my 'must have' chicken supply list. I will also look into the breed you suggested. I totally overlooked how darn hot it gets here. 100-110 summers with very little humidity is so dehydrating and all those feathers? Poor chickens!

 

[ronott1]

I am part of the Azure Drop in Vacaville. The biggest problem was finding an open drop. There are drops in Davis and Woodland, but they are closed. If I ordered $500.00 of stuff I could set up my own drop...

I wish I had more than a city back yard for them. They still love digging around in what is left of the yard.

Ron

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[CALI CHICK]

Good news Cali Chick!

There was a post on the EE Braggers thread--said the first one is a rooster but the white one and the second black one are pullets. The ones with the rose comb should lay a green or blue egg for you. The rose comb is supposed to be associated with the blue gene in EEs. So you should have colorful eggs in 9 to 12 weeks.

. I hope the time goes by quickly for you. You can look at it like the glass is half full--you are about half way there.

Ron

Ron, Thank you so much for bumping my post. It had gotten buried behind other questions & posts. And everyone voted the same as my suspicions.

Yes, it is great news that those 2 are pullets. We said from hatchday, we hoped "Angel" was a keeper

and "Ebony" is a beautiful black EE.

Maybe one will give us a blueish egg and the other a greenish/blue egg. I love variety and can't wait to get some FBCM pullets in the autumn after we move!

Still hoping someone will buy the little cockerels for their flock before I have to just give them away (most likely for someone's dinner). I only paid $1 per egg, but they eat like cows! If I could get an average of $3 per chicken, that would at least buy a bag of start & grow for the other babies around here!

 

[ronott1]

Quote: I think it was in 1976 or 1977, the summer before we sold the Prune Orchard(7 miles south of Red Bluff) and moved to Corning, it got up to 121 degrees. 11 of the chickens did not move into the shade and they died. Shade is very important and I wish they had misters back then.

Another problem up there is the lack of cooling at night. The poor chickens don't get relief even at night, which is another reason for the vents--they will go back to a hot coop at night if there aren't enough vents.

Ron

 

[zooweemama]

I think it was in 1976 or 1977, the summer before we sold the Prune Orchard(7 miles south of Red Bluff) and moved to Corning, it got up to 121 degrees. 11 of the chickens did not move into the shade and they died. Shade is very important and I wish they had misters back then.

Another problem up there is the lack of cooling at night. The poor chickens don't get relief even at night, which is another reason for the vents--they will go back to a hot coop at night if there aren't enough vents.

Ron

I am so glad you pointed out the shade/cooling/summer thing. The coop that is already here is 3 sides mesh wire, a full roof and a back wall. So I think they had a good idea of shade + air flow too. It looks like during the winter they partially tarped the outside to provide relief from the cold wet winds. The lay boxes were about 2 feet off the ground- I assume at one point it had a ramp up to the boxes. I will make sure that we are very mindful of shade and cooling.Thank you so much.

 

[Meg2000000]

Thanks for the report and the suggestion to not ship USPS. UCD has lots of problems with USPS. We only get mail delivery to my Dept. on Mon, Wed and Friday, so deliveries take longer.

When you post the information on shipping, I will add that to my files. I am not the thread starter of this thread, so I can't do what Wolf Tracks does and add stuff to the first post. That would be a great place to put stuff like the UCD Necropsy information.

My guess is kidney or other organ failure. Who knows what caused it. With Kidney failure, they seem fine until the toxins build up. Birds are that way--they hide illness to look less inviting to predators. On the plus side, it looks like you don't have any illness there. We can figure out when to meet in Vacaville. I am going there next Monday evening to pick up my Azure Standard order. I will be there about 5:00 pm.

Bye,

Ron
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Hey Ron,

I'm thinking maybe it was the hay I put in their bedding in the brooder. We had some alfalfa leftover from my rabbit the we used. I didn't see signs of mold but when the last one died I changed the brooder box litter and didn't use hay.. And my two remaining chicks look really happy and health now. Too much of a coincidence not to be the cause. Especially because it looks like the Doctor found nothing!

I can't meet you on Monday evening because my nanny job. Would you mind if Johnny met you in Vacaville around 5 by himself? Imagine a Spaniard seeing his countries chickens for the first time in years... And in the USA! Wish I could be there to see how happy he is when he sees them!

 

[Adriennesmom]

Hello Everyone! It's great to find a Northern California thread.

I live in Monterey County.

 

[Meg2000000]

Hello Everyone! It's great to find a Northern California thread. I live in Monterey County.

 

Welcome!! I'm in the East Bay. Enjoy the thread!

 

[ronott1]

Yes, that sounds great. Let me know where.

Has he seen the Basque hens there? That would be so cool. They show them in competitions in Spain.

Bye,

Ron
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[Adriennesmom]

Welcome!! I'm in the East Bay. Enjoy the thread!

Thank you, Meg!