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Welcome! Hope someone from the desert can answer your questions and you can do whats needed without using poisons. Even the simple ones effect the environment an might indirectly harm your future chickens or your family.

Enjoy, search, read, ask and learn!
 
DesertSphynx said:
Hi everyone! I'm brand new, don't even have an egg yet! I'm here because of all the wonderful knowledge I've gained from lurking around on different posts.
I'm looking to start my adventures but want to do it "right". I have specific limitations to work with, no more than 5 hens, no roosters, and I have a kiddo and dogs.
My biggest questions so far are how to keep my ladies cool and home pesticide use (we have scorpions and cannot free range).
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Welcome. I'm in Mesa.

Cooling in the summer breaks down to 3.5 things really.
1. Shade
Your chickens need shady cool places to get out of the sun especially in the mid to late afternoon when we're the hottest. Tree cover is good, fabric shade cloth is also good. Avoid cover that makes it stuffy underneath or traps in heat.

2. Water
This goes without saying. We need water, so do they. Shallow pans (a few inches deep) they can stand in, lots to drink, a tub with an ice block in it, and some misters under their shade will all help.

3. Good ventilation
This one is critical in the coop. When our low temps are still upper 90's or worse, a stuffy coop will kill birds. I usually run box fans in the door to circulate air and help cool the coop a bit.

3.5 cool treats (not critical but nice to have)
Make a salad. toss it in a bowl or jello mold and fill it with water, then freeze that bad boy. Stick it out in one of your water pans and watch the fun. Your girls will go ham on it pecking out all the goodies and get a cool treat in the process. Frozen grapes, watermelon, stuff like that are also good.

Fun fact. Chickens LOVE scorpions. They also love crickets, which is what the scorpions are hunting. My girls have tangled with them on more than one occasion. Worst problem we had was one that spent a couple days in the sick cage inside after she got hold of a particularly nasty stripe tail. In general chickens who can roam are great pest control, and if you have to keep them locked up, they will still wreck any pests who come in their enclosure. I have tortoises and mini pigs as well who are very sensitive to pesticides, so we rely on the girls to keep the critters in check. Black widows are still dangerous though, so make sure you eliminate those.
 

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