Arizona Chickens

[cavemanrich]

It's an eggapolooza.

Just wanted to forward some info, about laying eggs. You may know this already, so this may inform others.
A hen normally lays an egg on a 25 hour cycle. (not all, but this is accepted schedule for most chickens)
That translates to an egg from same hen, layed one hour later each day. When it gets to night time. hen will hold the egg for next morning delivery.
Of course we don't live in that Perfect Universe. Some hens do drop their eggs at night off their perch. That is one good reason to have poop boards/trays not very much distance below the roost boards. This way, the airtime does not break the egg.
Also good to have a medium like sand, or wood chips there to soften the landing
Broken eggs are best avoided for 2 reasons.
Loss off eggs.
Can lead to chickens breaking, and eating eggs.

That is a difficult/challenging habit to break.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Our flock is averse to nighttime roosting, for some reason. They use the roosts for naps during the day but at night they sleep in a big pile on the pine shavings. I figure it's because they grew up together and that's how they've always slept. We've tried putting them on the roosts at night and they look at us like, "What are you doing that for, weird human? We sleep down there."

I guess that works in our favor if they lay nighttime eggs since they just lay them right in the pine shavings. My only concern is that an egg gets covered up in the shavings and we won't know it's there. We definitely don't want any egg eaters. I'll keep an eye on the cameras and try to do a thorough check in the mornings to make sure there aren't any eggs in the shavings.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

We collected 10 eggs the day before yesterday, despite it being 105F. That's the most we've gotten in one day. Since they started laying a month ago we've gotten 144 eggs, and one minivan although that didn't come out of a chicken.

Looks like summer is going to kick our behinds one last time. On Thursday it's supposed to be 108F. I hope that's the last time, anyway. Beginning in mid-September it usually stays right around 100F and drops below that in October although we've had 100F days in October, too. We're not really safe from them until November.

I wouldn't mind one more rainstorm as long as it's not too windy. All the pigweed and other monsoon plants in the yard have died. There's not much left to harvest for the hens except some crabgrass. They're not thrilled about it but they eat it. It's amazing how the desert goes from overabundance to dust in just a few weeks.

We're buying organic spinach and peas at the store for them for now. I'm debating trying to grow some spinach and other leafy greens for them. It's devilishly hard to grow anything here.

This has been the longest summer ever. I miss baking!

How is everyone else doing?

 

[BenisonsChickns]

If you haven’t check out her stuff I recommend following Angela from www.growinginthegarden.com. I’ve learned so much from her videos, I currently have a huge thriving garden thanks to her info… Malabar spinach grows great through our heat and it vines all over so good to grow on the coop for shade… only my girl has been laying nuts it’s been consistent every day except for last Sunday, the others are starting to get their red combs and waddles so hopefully soon I can have an omelet more than once every 4 days . Can’t wait for the days that are highs in the 80s!!!!

 

[EmmaDonovan]

That web site looks great, thank you! I've heard good things about malabar spinach. Our main problem is squirrels eat everything we try to grow so we have to grow in pots and wrap them in hardware cloth and bring them inside at night. Does anything eat the malabar on your coop?

 

[igorsMistress]

It’s easy to grow stuff through winter here, as long as you can keep the chickens out and cover when there’s frost. I can also recall a few Halloween nights that were too hot to dress up/makeup was melting on little faces. Hoping our temps will be cooler soon, but I’m not holding my breath. Check out Sustainable University on YouTube for great tips on composting and stuff.

Two ducks thought it was broody time, but I blocked off where they were hiding eggs. Only one chicken is laying at the moment and her eggs are the size of pullet eggs, always have been.

I have three chicks that I’m hoping are are pullets. They’re three weeks or so and I don’t see big combs developing so might be in good shape for when the cockerel goes hormonal in Spring.

 

[BenisonsChickns]

That web site looks great, thank you! I've heard good things about malabar spinach. Our main problem is squirrels eat everything we try to grow so we have to grow in pots and wrap them in hardware cloth and bring them inside at night. Does anything eat the malabar on your coop?

My backyard is surrounded by walls so I don’t have many predators such as rabbits or squirrels… only thing eating my plants are bugs or the chickens

 

[EmmaDonovan]

I wish that were the case here. We only have a chain link fence and everything we grow gets eaten the minute it sprouts. That tiny green shoot is like a flashing neon beacon to every critter for miles around. I'd replace the fence with a cinderblock wall myself but the property belongs to my roommate so that's not up to me.

We got ten eleven eggs today, a new record. For several days we've collected three white eggs. We have two white leghorns. I guess one of the colored egg breeds is laying white eggs, I know that happens sometimes (which is interesting). Not sure who it is, though. 'Tis a mystery for now.

 

[BenisonsChickns]

First day of two eggs!!!! So exciting only thing is in not sure who laid the brown one, as three of my hens started showing signs this past week and I was at work….

 

[EmmaDonovan]

First day of two eggs!!!! So exciting only thing is in not sure who laid the brown one, as three of my hens started showing signs this past week and I was at work….View attachment 3937198

Yay! Isn't that a great feeling? Also, I love your garden! I wish we had one like that. Do you grow anything for your chickens?