Hello from rural southern Arizona!

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Great suggestion!Just went and subscribed over there on the Arizona thread.Thanks! And I'm taking n
TwoCrows said:
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Hello from your neighbor in New Mexico! You might want to stop by your state thread of Arizona to see what breeds do best in your climate. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/31227/arizona-chickens I keep Black Australorps and Barred Rocks. The Australorps do really well in the heat as along as they have shade. Aussies are, in my opinion, the sweetest breed of chicken out there. LOL Mine are huge on the lap sitting and loving. Real love hounds. Excellent layers too. And they can tolerate sub zero temps too. We are up at 7,000 feet over here and we can see some serious winter over here. As for heat, use fans, I use sand in my coop and run and you can hose it down during the summer heat, and with a giant fan running, nobody over heats.

Good luck on this new adventure and welcome to our flock!
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Great suggestion! Just went and subscribed over there on the Arizona thread.Thanks! And I'm taking notes on the breeds you suggest... especially the Aussies! ~Claire
 
TClaire said:
Thanks for your note! We're at 4000' altitude here -- no saguaros, palms or bougainvillea in sight! Completely different world, this semi-arid high desert grasslands. Still getting used to it! AND the chiggers, OMG, I never!! (Maybe the chickens will eat the chiggers?! Wouldn't THAT be nice!)

Re: what kind of chickens... Well, good question! I have only just started the research process -- but I definitely want chickens that are friendly and sweet.

Any recommendations?
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Oh yes, the chiggers! We don't have them here but I remember! I'm here in So Cal, 60 miles from Palm Springs, so it's arid and HOT as well! Well over 100 deg is pretty typical with overnight near 70. I can't be much help on breeds but can tell you... My Australorps are wonderful and are do very well in the heat. My Delaware is a very nice hen and doesn't seem at all bothered by the heat. I wish I would have gotten more than 1. I have a few Marans, very sweet, they would like it to not be so hot but have never shown signs of distress. I have Easter Eggers that don't seem to care how hot it is and bake their little chicken brains in the sun, but they are hit and miss as they aren't an actual breed. Mine aren't particularly social and don't lay the touted blue eggs, rather smallish pink ones. I have Wyandottes, they, like the Marans wish it was cooler but have never seemed distressed. They are calm but I wouldn't call them overly friendly. I did get Buff Orpingtons, against better judgement, as they are the sweetest most docile big fatty friendly birds, but they definitely struggle with the heat and require substantial extra care. I also used sand in my coop and run and am quite happy with it. Easy to clean, no smell. I soak the run in the evening and use a large fan.
 

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