Hello from The Arizona Desert

[rebbetzin]

Hi! I am a neophyte chicken lover. I have yet to convince my husband that having three or four chickens in the backyard will not be a problem.

I want to learn all I can before I actually have any chickens.

I think I am wearing my husband down... the other day he said "NO chickens in the house!"
(Isn't that an improvenment over "NO CHICKENS!"???)

 

[paynemom]

It's totally not hard! I live in Mesa and have 6. Kids love them and aside from building the coop, my hubby doesn't have to do anything with them. We even free range ours and they have never attempted to fly over the block wall. Get docile breeds and you should have no problem! So fun!

 

[rebbetzin]

Thanks for your quick reply!! My husband says "Chickens stink!" I go to our local feed store that has 100's of chickens in one area, and they don't stink... I suppose if you never clean up the area, they would stink.

They can't smell any worse than our dog when he gets wet!

 

[BasenjiFan]

Hello fellow low desert dwellers!

I'm sure you'll have chickens in no time, rebbetzin. Pet protest usually goes as follows: NO chickens (more dogs, goats, horses, etc); then "not in the house;" and finally the resignated, "how many?" So you're one step away. He may even get a little excited about them - fresh eggs in the morning

I haven't had chickens for years, but realized I miss them, so I too am scouting the chicken scene. I was given two chicks that turned out to be cockerels, who unwisely escaped from the chicken coop (no bottom on it, and I'm pretty sure the dog helped dig a bit of a hole), then evidently they walked right into said dog's mouth.

But, lesson learned. Do not leave chicken eating dogs near chicken coops. You'd think it was a no-brainer.

 

[CoyoteMagic]

BOOOOOOOOOOO!!! HISSSSSSS TUSCON!!!

Can you tell I'm an ASU alum?!

 

[rebbetzin]

Quote:
I didn't have my glasses on, when I first glanced at your post I thought it said...

"BOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!! IMISSTUCSON!!!!

 

[rebbetzin]

Quote:
We do have a big dog that has never seen a chicken. He is soon to be four years old. My backyard is divided by a chainlink fence. I plan to keep the chickens in the smaller yard. I don't think Spartacus would kill anything... He might want to play with the chickens. But one good "play bite" and that would probably be the end of the chicken.

He is a gentle fellow, he likes to smell flowers

He has never tried to hurt Zoop the desert Tortoise that lives in the backyard.

 

[Nichole77]

Welcome. I love the turtle. I live in Glendale and have 6 in the yard. Just tell him they will kill scorpions and eat the grass so he won't have to mow.

 

[paynemom]

Chickens do stink if their poop is fresh or wet. But when dry, it doesn't. If you keep the pen dry you only have to rake out the dry poopies! (I have 4 kids 5 and under so I know about poop). Be careful though, there are many threads on here about people losing their chickens to their dogs. Nature huh? I would hate to lose one of mine. They take 20 weeks to mature so it would be really frustrating and sad to just find a pile of feathers. Good luck, this site is great for researching!

 

[BasenjiFan]

Spartacus is a cutie! A mastiff type dog? They don't tend to have overwhelming prey-drives, but that being said...

I certainly wouldn't put it past any dog not raised with chickens to want to eat one (sadly, it's usually the family dog that kills people's small livestock - chickens to goats), but it looks like your fence would be safe, even more so if your dog is supervised outside, especially when your chickies are new. Just watch him while the fence is between them, he may very well accept them. My chicken-eater was a husky/wolf - she was kind, but had a strong prey-drive. My current dog is a Basenji - talk about prey-drive! The breed is still used as an all-purpose hunting dog in Africa, so I know he'd be worth about 10 foxes in the proverbial hen house, so I will take major precautions around him.