I'm new in Tucson, AZ

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Hi! My name is Jessica. I live in Tucson, AZ. When we moved to a house with almost an acre this January I bought a 4-chicken coop at Costco and got four chicks from a feed store. I bought two "Americanas" and two Plymouth Barred Rocks. The Americanas were named De-Nice and A-Aron. I named the two PBRs Holly and Polly. A-Aron and Holly met ignominious ends. De-Nice was a rooster. Then there was just Polly and me.

I took pity on a picked-on older chicken, a Leghorn, someone advertised on Craigslist. They said the flock was picking at her, and so they kept her separate, but she still was a great layer. I adopted Agatha, who hasn't laid a darn egg since she arrived at Casa de Fitz.

I did some research and found a wonderful local woman who breeds mostly Heritage breeds and got 2 PBRs, 1 Rhode Island Red, and 1 Blue Copper Maran. Unfortunately I found the RIR passed away one morning. Sigh. The others are doing well.

My goal is to get them out of the small Costco coop:



And add on to the Rabbit Hutch:

We are going to build up. Under the plywood is a hole we are going to build the house on top of that area. I'll start a thread somewhere else because I'd love suggestions.

The brother bunnies (2 black Holland Lops) will then go into the original Hen House after a good scrubbing.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Welcome to BYC! Please make yourself at home and we are here to help.

Love your coop! Glad you joined!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Sounds like you have a lovely flock! Sorry you lost a RIR. It is never easy to lose them.

Great to have you aboard and welcome to our flock!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC, Jessica! My daughter's name is Jessica. Glad you decided to join our flock. Sorry about the loss of your RIR. It's always sad to lose one of our flock. If you got your chicks at a feed store, your Ameraucanas are likely Easter Eggers and not true Ameraucanas. Hatcheries often market Easter Eggers (which are hybrids) under the labels, Araucana or Ameraucanas (often misspelled as Americana or Americauna). We have some Easter Eggers in our flock (we knew they were EEs when we bought them) and they are my granddaughter's favorite chickens. She loves the different colored eggs (true Ameraucanas lay only blue eggs). The EEs are actually better layers than the true Ameraucanas. If you are interested in knowing the differences between Araucanas, Ameraucanas, and Easter Eggers, there is a good article on them at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html. Good luck with your flock.

 

[petrel]

Thanks for joining BYC.

 

[gander007]

Alright Jessica,

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

If you are interested in knowing the differences between Araucanas, Ameraucanas, and Easter Eggers, there is a good article on them at http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/09/ameraucana-easter-egger-or-araucana.html. Good luck with your flock.

Michael, thanks for the link to the Chicken Chick's blog. Great site!

 

[Michael OShay]

Michael, thanks for the link to the Chicken Chick's blog. Great site!

You're welcome.