New to Desert Chicken raising

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desertflock

desertflock

In the Brooder
Jul 22, 2015
11
2
26
Mesa, AZ
Hello!

My wife and I are starting a little flock this next week when we get them in the mail! We are going to have 4 red star, 5 speckled Sussex, 3- auracana/Americana, and 3 silver laced Wyandottes... And the "surprise" one... We are getting them from Murray McMurray.
This said I am aware of the possible mortality issues- this is why we are starting with so many considering a few may unfortunately due off prior to adulthood. We are new to this but have tried to research as much as possible! We are interested in connecting with other Desert chicken flock owners in order to share strategies to create a healthy flock in the desert. It's hot!

Would love to hear advice and such!
 
welcome to byc! i am also in a very hot deserted area. we routinely get over 100 deg temps out here so it is hot and dry! I have 1 wyandotte and 3 easter eggers, and since our wyandotte is a fluffy bird, she tends to suffer a bit more in the heat. make sure to provide plenty of fresh water and shade when it gets hot!
 
I'm not in the desert, but just over the "block" from you in Texas. Most of the info you see on coops, etc. is for the cold. There is one very nice AZ setup here, search coops for the heat. His coop is up against a stone wall. Working with our heat/TX sun was the most important thing for me. The roof of our run and coop is hardware cloth with a "floating" poly roof for total ventilation (we used clear as we have shade and wanted sun in the winter - the solar ones would work better perhaps for you). Its under the shade of a large tree as in the sun it wouldn't matter how we made the coop, they wouldn't survive comfortably. You can find a pics of our setup on a search of Bed and Breakfast Theirs and Ours.

if you have to setup in the sun, use the highest block shade cloth you can over the roof and on the south/western sides, don't use a solid roof (unless its totally floating and keep in mind dark shingles absorb heat) and never metal. When the temps hit 100 I use a misting hose across the front of my coop at 7'+ high and run it during the day (higher is better as you want evaporation and in AZ evaporation coolers work great as you know). You can also soak a sheet, hang it on the side of the run and have a fan blow through it (or just buy a swamp cooler). My girls are panting some in the am (and move into the coop) until the sun moves to the south and west. The morning sun filters through the trees and later in the day a solid fence helps to create full shade.

I chose not to use external next boxes. The temp inside can reach 220+. Lots of cross ventilation and no glass on the windows even if its only used in the winter - sun through glass is dangerous. My run is floored with construction sand (washed sand) that I can water in the am to create an evaporation effect. The coop roost allows their heads to be at window height for ventilation. I am also setting up an automatic waterer using a cooler so the water will always be cool. For now I drop a frozen soda bottle in the waterer every am and the waterer is kept under the coop where it stays cooler all day. I give the girls some type of cold veggie in the am when its this hot, like watermelon with rind, spaghetti squash (they love it!), etc.

I wanted a friendly sweet breed as my primary birds and loved the cochins; however knew full size cochins wouldn't be comfortable in our heat so went with the bantams (which I preferred anyway). A neighbor had orpingtons and they stressed badly in the summer, I'd also never get the dark birds like astralops. My girls are still laying on their normal schedule and its 100.

Well this is my 2 cents anyway.
 
desertflock said:
Thanks for that info! nice to meet you both! Patty- what types of chickens do you have or will have?
Click to expand...
Well, that is questionable, I bought the yellow chicks and the tan chicks and the black chicks. We did not get their types as we got them to help raise a little quail that the rangers station didn't want. They are cute and they eat well and they love to be picked up. I will post pictures soon.
Patty
 

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