Viva Las Vegas!

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We got into chickens about 2 years ago. Last week we were visiting relatives from Henderson & I had chicken withdrawal. We sometimes think about moving closer to DH's family, but I've never been lived outside IL. I know you don't have to deal with the snow, freezing water, & below zero temps, but how do chickens handle your summers? Can you let them free range? (Do they eat your plants since there's no grass & weeds?) Are you limited to raising certain breeds? (For us: Little Seramas & some breeds with very large combs would not do well in Midwest winters without supplemental heat.)

We're back home now, but it was nice to walk outside on Thanksgiving without a coat & feel warm sunshine.
 
We live in LV on the border of Henderson. Our home is in an older housing tract, but was once surrounded by horse property so the laws pertaining to owning chickens are pretty liberal. Our house is on a half an acre, so not huge, but room for our five girls to move around.

Our chickens are Easter Eggers that came from the feed store. They're smaller birds but not tiny and lay extra large size eggs.

We fenced in an area that is about a third of our backyard (in addition to their coop) so that the chickens can free range and exercise during the day. Their play area has quite a few established trees for shade and bugs but I also supplement their food with extras from our garden and they get a daily serving of fodder (barley sprouts) that I grow for them. If I let them have access to our garden, they would (and have in the past) strip it clean.

As far as the heat, it can be a problem here. As I said before, we are fortunate to have quite a few established trees in our yard to offer shade. When my husband built the coop, he placed it in the coolest, shadiest part of the yard. He also framed out three of the four walls with chicken wire so there is plenty of air circulation. From about May through Sept. we use fans around the coop for extra air circulation. They also have access to their "swimming pool," which is just a cat litter pan with a couple of inches of water in it for them to cool their feet in. When temps in their coop and play area get to 104, we turn on a water mister. The mister does a pretty good job of bringing the temp down a degree or two which is, sometimes, all they need. For the most part, they seem to acclimate pretty well to the temps here. We do, however, on occasion get temps upwards of 110. When it get that hot, my chickens really start to show stress. I have kind of a unique set up with an enclosed patio and an evaporative cooler installed in it. When/if they start to show significant heat stress I move them to the enclosed patio and run the cooler. It's a pain to move them and they don't really like it, but it's how we handle it during the extreme heat. So far, I'm happy to say, we haven't lost a chicken yet to the heat.
 
Tumbleweed33 said:
Hey everyone!  I have Creme Legbars in the bator!  They're at week 1!  So excited, I have 33 going right now.  I don't know if you all are familiar with the breed but the amazing thing about these guys is that they are an autosexing breed.  This means at day 1 there is a visible difference between the males and females.  It's quite awesome.  This is my first batch of legbars that I am hatching from my little flock so I'm very excited to see what the fertility rate is (will find out today!) and how many I get to hatch from the original 33.  I'm also hatching some marans/orpington mix eggs.  I didn't keep any marans roosters because they were just not very good quality, will not buy from that breeder again.  I love my orps and I'm actually infatuated with my two marans hens, they have SO much personality, they lay beautiful eggs and are pretty steady producers- I think these little "mutts" will be neat. 

Anyone working on any chicken projects of their own?

Random side question......anyone know anyone that has guineas in the area?
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hi tumbleweed33, I was wondering if you still sell legbar hatching eggs. I live in Pahrump near las vegas. I would love to hatch some legbars. :)
 
having chickens in Henderson Nevada the law states you can have females but no roosters I don't think there's a limit but all people within 30 feet from your home as long as they don't complain there's no issue however if someone complains then you do have to get rid of them. As far as summer conditions go yes it is horrible out here and horrible for the chickens my chicken coop has a swamp cooler in it so summertime ain't so bad it keeps it about 30 degrees cooler than what it is outside coop placement is very important you want the shadiest coolest part of the yard heat stress is a major factor especially for heavyset Birds mine free range in my backyard but I have lots of trees and bushes and shrubs for them to go in my girls have also learned how to use my doggie door and they will actually come inside when they get too hot
 
I also must add a lot of housing units and Henderson in Vegas belong to homeowners associations so before you move or contract into one you would want to find out what their rules are on chickens most homeowners association rules are so ridiculous that I doubt you can have a chicken there
 
cary 1973 said:
I also must add a lot of housing units and Henderson in Vegas belong to homeowners associations so before you move or contract into one you would want to find out what their rules are on chickens most homeowners association rules are so ridiculous that I doubt you can have a chicken there
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DH's folks live in a retirement community in Henderson. I laugh at the thought of his mom tying to raise chickens. She's not a "nature" person & complained about a rabbit & these adorable birds that took up residence in their tiny yard.

So what are these little fence-pooping beasts called? I think they're beautiful.
 

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