Hello everyone. I found BYC in a Google search when we decided to first get chickens back in 2020. It has been my go to source for information ever since. We started out with 6 golden comets because that is all our local feed shop had left. As they grew, one looked different from the others, and turns out she was a Buff Orpington. We named them Rosie, Ginger, Ashley, Marigold, Poppy, and Lily (the Orpington). Poor Poppy was killed when a bobcat attacked the flock when I was just 10 feet from them, Rosie passed at just after three years, and Ashley somehow broke her leg and we had her put down.
A year ago we brought in three new hens - Sweety an Easter Egger, Sugar an olive egger, and Sunny a salmon faverolle. We also got them from our local feed store.
After Rosie passed, we fell victim to chicken math, and decided to get 6 more chicks. We had discovered that the golden comets, although great egg layers, were quite mean to the other chickens. We wanted to find good egg layers that were more "go with the flow" kind of chickens, would integrate well, and would do OK in the Arizona heat (let's face it, no chicken does well in the Arizona heat). We decided to get Australorps and Welsummers. It is difficult in Tucson to get a specific breed at a specific time, so we decided to try an online hatchery - Cackle to be specific. They sent us 4 of each (one extra just in case). One Welsummer passed a few days after arrival (I think it actually choked on a piece of straw) but the others are doing great. I put them out at 4 weeks old a month ago, and they seem to be handling the heat. No names for them yet other than the Australorp bully who is Bob.
We have been lucky in that 100% have been hens although still too early to tell with the 2-month olds. I built a fairly large run (about 250 sq feet of space), 1/2 in hardware cloth, 3 feet predator barrier, and attached the largest coop from The Chicken Coop Company to the run. The coop is OK, and I will probably build my own when this one becomes unusable or compromised.
We let the chickens out of the run in the mornings and evenings when we are home. We sit out and relax with them after we do our chores (clean out coop and run, check their feed and water). We cannot let them free range on their own as there are too many predators. A bobcat got Poppy like I said before and we had another bobcat attack Marigold when I was just five feet away from her. Luckily, she survived the attack but with some serious PTSD. It took 10-14 days before she was herself again. We have all kinds of hawks of course and probably racoons too although I have not seen one where we live.
We have a couple of house cats and an Arizona Box turtle that we rescued in the desert out front. She had her front toes bitten off probably by a coyote. My wife really enjoys the backyard "farm" life. We now have raised beds for veggies, an awesome rain water harvesting system, and she keeps talking about getting a miniature goat or llama to keep away the bobcats. I keep voting "no" but will be overruled one day I'm sure.
BYC has been a great resource for us. Thanks everyone!
A year ago we brought in three new hens - Sweety an Easter Egger, Sugar an olive egger, and Sunny a salmon faverolle. We also got them from our local feed store.
After Rosie passed, we fell victim to chicken math, and decided to get 6 more chicks. We had discovered that the golden comets, although great egg layers, were quite mean to the other chickens. We wanted to find good egg layers that were more "go with the flow" kind of chickens, would integrate well, and would do OK in the Arizona heat (let's face it, no chicken does well in the Arizona heat). We decided to get Australorps and Welsummers. It is difficult in Tucson to get a specific breed at a specific time, so we decided to try an online hatchery - Cackle to be specific. They sent us 4 of each (one extra just in case). One Welsummer passed a few days after arrival (I think it actually choked on a piece of straw) but the others are doing great. I put them out at 4 weeks old a month ago, and they seem to be handling the heat. No names for them yet other than the Australorp bully who is Bob.
We have been lucky in that 100% have been hens although still too early to tell with the 2-month olds. I built a fairly large run (about 250 sq feet of space), 1/2 in hardware cloth, 3 feet predator barrier, and attached the largest coop from The Chicken Coop Company to the run. The coop is OK, and I will probably build my own when this one becomes unusable or compromised.
We let the chickens out of the run in the mornings and evenings when we are home. We sit out and relax with them after we do our chores (clean out coop and run, check their feed and water). We cannot let them free range on their own as there are too many predators. A bobcat got Poppy like I said before and we had another bobcat attack Marigold when I was just five feet away from her. Luckily, she survived the attack but with some serious PTSD. It took 10-14 days before she was herself again. We have all kinds of hawks of course and probably racoons too although I have not seen one where we live.
We have a couple of house cats and an Arizona Box turtle that we rescued in the desert out front. She had her front toes bitten off probably by a coyote. My wife really enjoys the backyard "farm" life. We now have raised beds for veggies, an awesome rain water harvesting system, and she keeps talking about getting a miniature goat or llama to keep away the bobcats. I keep voting "no" but will be overruled one day I'm sure.
BYC has been a great resource for us. Thanks everyone!
always hard on the heart when they pass.
