Desert chickens

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like a decent plan. At six months they will have reached a really slow growing phase and several should be laying. Eat the ones that are not laying, makes selection of which to eat easier.

They will not be anything like store bought. The carcass will be much smaller and the ratio if white to dark meat will be darker. They will be too old to fry or grill, but should be perfect for my herb-baked recipe. I posted a long version a few day ago but basically cut the bird into serving pieces, coat them in herbs of your choice (I use basil and oregano), and bake covered at 250 degrees F for about 3-1/2 hours. Make sure the lid is tight so the moisture does not escape. Even Aart would like that one. There are plenty of other good recipes for older birds out there.

 

[aart]

I posted a long version a few day ago but basically cut the bird into serving pieces, coat them in herbs of your choice (I use basil and oregano), and bake covered at 250 degrees F for about 3-1/2 hours. Make sure the lid is tight so the moisture does not escape. Even Aart would like that one. There are plenty of other good recipes for older birds out there.

@Ridgerunner link to long version recipe, please, sir?

 

[Naser]

I read, if you put a skirt of 3 or 4 feet of welded wire flat above the ground, around the coop that stops predators digging.
As said above chicken wire will only stop chickens from going out, all predators will go through it with no problem, before you buy a wire, ask the supplier is it predators proof, and search the net.
If water isn't expensive you can sprout some grains for them
You don't need to wait for good weather, chickens are very resiliente.
There are better breeds than Buff Orpingtons, they are called dual purpose, if I was you I will get light sussex.
I had both, Buff Orpingtons get broody so often. Which problematic.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I mis-remembered, that was to cook an old rooster and make broth. So I'll go through the herb -baked recipe for a six month old pullet (or cockerel). It's pretty simple.

Cut the bird into serving pieces. Rinse them but do not dry. Put them in a baking dish and coat with herbs. I usually just use basil and oregano but thyme and parsley are suitable. It's basically to taste. I don't use salt or pepper but you could.

Put a good lid on the baking dish to keep the liquid in. Cook at 250 degrees F for about 3-1/2 hours. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and serve. You should have about a half cup if liquid in the cooking dish. Use that as you would broth.

Here's the link to the cook an old rooster recipe.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-cook-a-2-yr-old-rooster.1256329/#post-20157996

 

[MT505]

Burry fence all around the inside of the run that’s away the coyotes will burrow under and dig into fence enabling them to get into the other side.I would wrap your chicken run with chicken wire,then wire mesh around it as a second layer.I recommend getting a dog or two as well for predators as long as electric fences.

If I were I would look deep into breeds,get a breed for eggs and a breed for meat,certain birds do better in certain climates,you don’t want a meat bird who can’t stand the heat,because then it may die before it’s time to butcher and then you don’t want egg layer who cannot stand the heat.Luckily buffs are good in heat but you should search into more breeds because your more then likely gonna lose soem and want more hens,and maybe want different breeds.

Hello all, I run meat birds in NM on basically dirt with a few weeds and it works fine. The property only runs on a well for the house and she irrigates her garden, so not much left for watering fields, and it will be another $2k to get a flood irrigation gate put in to water that way, so that will have to wait. We definitely need to rinse the birds before scalding because they get very dirty out there. But our customers are still happy with the product compared to grocery store variety, so still worth doing. We use Cornish cross. Just make sure you have shade in your structure, and check their water twice a day. We use 5 gallon buckets connected to plasson bell waterers, on a Joel Saltin chicken tractor. They have shade in 3/4 of the structure, and plenty of ventilation with the back panel off (taking off roofing material, still 1/2 in hardware mesh protection). I crawled all the way in during the day to replace a rear cross member, and was surprised how pleasant it is. I used a light colored aluminum hybrid material for roofing but it was pricey, so I'm going to try cheap home depot metal roof on a second one I'm building. Hope that helps encourage you! Also check out Edge of Nowhere Farm on YouTube, from Whitman AZ outside of Phoenix. He has better access to water, and has done some creative things to create biology on his pasture, like sorghum Sudan grass.