Sedona Arizona Chickens - Need Recommendations

[redsoxs]

Howdy from Kansas, Lilly87, and

! Happy you joined us!! Good luck to you and your flock!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC!!

Glad you joined us!!

 

[chart]

I recently moved to Sedona Arizona and am in need of advice regarding the climate out here and hen choice. I'm new to keeping hens and have read that one should choose cold hardy chickens for the North East and heat hardy chickens for hot states. In Sedona, the winter months can have some snowy days and 30 degree lows at night; but, the summer months can get up to 95 degrees during the day.

Should I get heat hardy or cold hardy hens?

30 degrees seems very cold to me, but I know these summer days are so hot that it seems that hens with the feathers that can stand 30 degrees at night might get overheated/heat stroke in 95 degree heat days. Then I worry that heat hardy hens might not be able to take 30 degree nights.

I'm currently planning on an open air poultry house based on a thread I read here which mentioned the book by Prince Woods, "Open Air Poultry Houses for All Climates." Do any of you with experience with hens and the below temperature range for Sedona, AZ have any advice regarding the hen house and whether the below temperatures necessitate heart hardy or cold hardy hens?

Sedona night time temperatures range from: 30 degrees to 65 degrees
Sedona day time temperatures range from: 55 degrees to 95 degrees

Thanks for any advice you can share!

Lilly87

Hi Lilly. I live in Chino Valley, AZ. (outside of Prescott). I spent 2 mos. this winter working on a house in Cornville near you. It' a little warmer up your way. The hot season is about as long as the cold. I have a variety of heat and cold hardy chicks here and will be battling both high and low temps. I had RIR, Barred Rocks, and some mutts in Glenwood Springs, Co. for years and there were rather extreme temps there as well. Other than the cold season being longer, it was surprisingly like here, but with more snow. I hung a drop light a few feet ft. above their water in the winter, but it was a pretty insulated coop with a doggie door type of set-up going out to their chicken run. They were in and out a lot during the cold. Between the light bulb and body heat, it stayed really comfortable for them. In the heat, and yes, it got hot!, they tended to take to the trees. They free-ranged a lot! I would say the Rhode Island Reds are the most adaptable (I could be wrong, but never had problems either way) to the extreme temp changes, but they all did well for years. I have a similar set-up here, but I'm afraid the coop will be too hot in the summer. It's the afternoon summer heat I'm more worried about. I'm running electric this week to mine and plan on running fans in the summer. If worse comes to worse, I have an old window cooler I'll set up. They'll have the option to come and go, so I'll just have to see where they like it best and make adjustments. Your main concern will be in predators, tho. If you've got dogs, they'll help you out there. I've got coyotes and hawks. I haven't seen signs of raccoons yet. But I have SKUNKS! And they wreak a lot of havoc with the chickens. You, on the other hand, have them all. Plus javelina. For some reason, they don't hang out here. They will dig to China to get to your feed, leaving openings for others. I'll be able to keep them warm and/or cool, I think, but it's taking miles of wire to insure their night-time safety as well as room to get out. Best of luck to all of us!

P.S. Have you checked out Old Town Cottonwood or Jerome? Cool places. The Haunted Hamburger in Jerome has awesome ribs and both towns (esp. Jerome) have great shops!

 

[sugarbitsaustin]

Thinking of moving to Sedona. What are the Chicken Rules/Laws there. Are Roosters allowed?