What is the best chicken to raise in the Las Vegas desert?

[vegasjen]

I am looking to become a small-time backyard chicken owner in Las Vegas, and any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I own pugs and live in a neighborhood, so I am looking for a variety of chicken that would be able to tolerate our heat, is quiet and friendly, and not likely to fly. Can anyone recommend where to start? I am getting planning to get chickens for scorpion and pest control more than anything else, since my dogs have been stung three times now, so I am hoping to find a good pet variety that can generally hang out and free-range in my yard. I plan to provide a safe coop to protect them from predators and to keep them warm in winter, and have plenty of trees and water available for their safety. I just want to find a variety that will not attempt to peck at my dogs or act aggressively, since they are elderly and docile dogs.

Can anyone help with advise or point me in the direction of someone who can?

 

[Veer67]

Mediterranean breeds do well in the heat, which include the:

Spanish
Andalusian
Leghorn
Sicilian Buttercup
Ancona
Minorca

There are more breeds that aren't in the Mediterranean class that can still do well in the heat too, this site can help: http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html#b

 

[vegasjen]

Thank you for your advice!

 

[gander007]

I live a little East of you in the Southern Death Valley area and the chickens I
use are the Easter Eggers as with the heat and cold we have here and I have
had temp's up to 129 this last summer and I had no losses due to heat and
they lay about 4 to 6 eggs a week with a little laying mash these are really
easy going chickens and will try to stay away from your dogs in most cases ...
Bug control I haven't any here but this is one of the reasons .....
Genies are the best but very loud birds and aggressive ........
I really like your idea of a safe place for your chickens to live before you get
them and not as a after thought ....... Get only hens this I am sure you are
aware of as some people have no sense of humor ........
See what your local feed store has but the Road Island Red's kind of skip
over them as they will nip your elderly dog's and we do not want this ......
The Easter Egger is a color full chicken ... Are you planning on buying local
or are you doing Mail order ???

gander007

 

[3riverschick]

Might try one of Middle Eastern breeds like Egyptian Fayomi .
They are rare, need breeders, and come from the desert.
Best,
Karen

 

[gander007]

Have you found someone who sell's them ??????

 

[vegasjen]

Thank you for your helpful suggestions. I am not sure where I will get them, but I am looking into rescuing from the local animal shelter.

 

[Bullitt]

Thank you for your helpful suggestions. I am not sure where I will get them, but I am looking into rescuing from the local animal shelter.

Does your local animal shelter have a wide variety of chicken breeds?

 

[ourltlflock]

I am new here also and new to chickens!
I have checked at some of the shelters and only found roosters. Now I would assume that local feed stores like Jones Feed, V & V Tack and Cal-Ranch would sell chicks that would be best suited for the desert?

We are going to get chicks in the spring, but learning as much as we can now..

 

[Vegascoop]

City officials will tell you none, they do not want you to have birds as pets.

In the City of Las Vegas (county, NLV and Henderson may be different) the rules state: no roosters, coop must be 350 ft away from structures, be on a 3 acre lot and you have to have a permit, you may be able to get a waiver signed from your neighbors for the 350 ft requirement and possibly the 3 acre requirement but like everything else in the city you need a permit(tax) (with drawings and number of birds).

If/when code enforcement finds out you have birds and no permit they send someone over to your house to save you from yourself(they really think your hens are dangerous)… he leaves a pleasant note saying get rid of them with-in a preset amount of time or you get a ticket for up to $1000 and 6 months in jail.

Usually people are fine and don’t complain unless you have a rooster… but it seems every neighborhood has one obnoxious person who gets involved with and complains about everything.

If you have an HOA or live in the more urban areas in town don’t even try, these people are deathly afraid of chickens (unnaturally so) you would have better luck getting a permit to store nuclear waste in your mail box in these areas...