Chickandroo
Chirping
- Jul 15, 2021
- 29
- 57
- 89
Hello everyone my name is Ruby.
My husband, David, and I recently moved into his grandmother's home in Yuma, AZ (she passed earlier this year). We have 5 cats (he had some and so did I lol), a guinea pig and three giant fantail goldfish in a 50 gallon tank. Due to my sister-in-law moving out of state with no real back yard, we will be adopting her family's 2 desert tortoises in August.
You might have noticed that we love animals.
The house is in the suburbs on the edge of town, so we are allowed chickens-just no roos.
We really want chickens-for the eggs as well as pets.
No one lived here for some time and (since it's a desert) all the grass in the back yard died off-though a pomegranate tree survived and is producing fruit.
The yard isn't huge but big enough.
We want to try to seed the yard this fall (maybe add topsoil first) and when we get some growth-get our chickens.
It's mainly just the 2 of us-probably another family member later-and we were thinking of starting with just a small amount and adding more later as the amount they lay decreases.
Even though I've aided my mother in raising calves, pigs and horses in the past-we never had chickens. (My mother was on a farm where the chickens were food and not pets so pecked her and gave her bad memories as a child).
My mother is gone, so we are starting from scratch with no real guidance other than online info or books.
We plan on putting an AC unit in the coop, but not a lot of ideas past that.
The back yard is on the west side of the house, though we have some space north and south of it. The fencing is made of cinder blocks so I'm assuming it's not a good idea to have a coop too close to heat-saving materials like this.
We thought of getting a mix of different chickens but know that certain breeds do better in the heat.
We've seen many different coops and was thinking of getting a shed and adding a fenced area or would a small store-bought one be best in the beginning?
I know this was long-thanks for reading! Any advice would be helpful!
My husband, David, and I recently moved into his grandmother's home in Yuma, AZ (she passed earlier this year). We have 5 cats (he had some and so did I lol), a guinea pig and three giant fantail goldfish in a 50 gallon tank. Due to my sister-in-law moving out of state with no real back yard, we will be adopting her family's 2 desert tortoises in August.
You might have noticed that we love animals.
The house is in the suburbs on the edge of town, so we are allowed chickens-just no roos.
We really want chickens-for the eggs as well as pets.
No one lived here for some time and (since it's a desert) all the grass in the back yard died off-though a pomegranate tree survived and is producing fruit.
The yard isn't huge but big enough.
We want to try to seed the yard this fall (maybe add topsoil first) and when we get some growth-get our chickens.
It's mainly just the 2 of us-probably another family member later-and we were thinking of starting with just a small amount and adding more later as the amount they lay decreases.
Even though I've aided my mother in raising calves, pigs and horses in the past-we never had chickens. (My mother was on a farm where the chickens were food and not pets so pecked her and gave her bad memories as a child).
My mother is gone, so we are starting from scratch with no real guidance other than online info or books.
We plan on putting an AC unit in the coop, but not a lot of ideas past that.
The back yard is on the west side of the house, though we have some space north and south of it. The fencing is made of cinder blocks so I'm assuming it's not a good idea to have a coop too close to heat-saving materials like this.
We thought of getting a mix of different chickens but know that certain breeds do better in the heat.
We've seen many different coops and was thinking of getting a shed and adding a fenced area or would a small store-bought one be best in the beginning?
I know this was long-thanks for reading! Any advice would be helpful!
Glad you joined.
Hello Ruby and David welcome to BYC, You found an Amazing Poultry Community to be a part of with many great knowledgeable members, who are more then willing to jump in and help you along your journey with any questions you may have. 
