Raising Chickens in the Sonoran Desert 🐓🌵
This list will help you set up your new flock with a few items that may be needed for our AZ desert climate! See the materials and tools I used to build a coop & run and care for them daily.
I prefer to look for larger flakes of pine; some are so small, for the brooder. Chicks need a bedding change often!
Whether you have a plumbed water system or are just starting out, these water cups are way better than the ones with the yellow “thingy”. This set comes with a drill bit, just grab a 5 gallon bucket from HD or Walmart and in 5 min, you have a chicken...
Our girl's favorite treat. Make sure you store in an airtight pail, like an old ice cream pail; here in AZ the tiny sugar ants love to get into mealworms. I found the ziplock pack isn't enough to keep them out.
I recommend ¼" hardware cloth to keep chickens IN and snakes, rats, mice, owls, hawks, coyotes, fox, raccoons, javelinas…and the family dog🤪OUT!
We built our own coop, but I was looking at this one. My only critique after having chickens almost 1 year, is that they overestimate how many birds the coops are suited for. They need room to roost so they don't peck each other. Consider whether the...
The go-to layer feed. Autoship at Chewy saves so much money!
Our ladies love to scratch around in the nesting box, and they love this hay! If it gets poopy , I just replace it with new, about 1/week.
Our hens get a scoop of this in the run as a treat, the just love it and come running!
I purchased these feeder ports for a 5 gallon bucket. 2 ports for 7 chickens is perfect.
This handy little feeder's base flips so it can dispense either water or crumble for chicks.
In the run, our girls have only desert sand so I turn it over once/week or two to freshen it up and loosen the ground as it gets handpicked so they can scratch away. I use this crumble to fight odors.
I purchased one of these to cover our chicken run to protect the girls from the extreme heat. What a huge difference it made! I bungeed it to the metal T posts from Home Depot, also in this list!
Easiest chicken water and food system!
Anchor for the shade cloth over your chicken run!
I used these hinges for the coop cleanup door. Way cheaper than HD.
I used these hinges for the air vent window, chicken door, and door on the run.
I looked at renting a saw from another store to build the run, but in 2-3 days, the rental could have paid for this so we opted for option B. Best saw ever for the price!
Get the brooder heater with the cone top. Trust me. I did not (to save $4) and I will forever be cleaning poop off the top of it. Save yourself the headache!🤓Also, never use a heat lamp. Those things start FIRES! It almost happened to us before I kn...
This is the perfect brooder box. Easy to clean out. I cut out the inside of the lid with the reciprocating saw, and bolted on some ¼" hardware cloth. The cord for the heater easily fit under the lid without getting kinked.
With temps at or above 110 F during the summer, I set up a mister over a dishwashing basin in the run so they can stand under the mist and cool off. They absolutely love it!
To set up mister or watering system for the chickies.
This is the mister timer I setup for the chickens, to set up intervals throughout the afternoons in the summer. It worked so well!
OK I don't have this but this is freaking adorable. It might save me from almost dropping eggs as I try to carry too many and open the door at the same time.🤪
Check out Youtube for some great step by step videos on various coops so you can see what will work best for your flock size, orientation on your property etc.
I really like this as a walk in run, if we didn't have one built.
Radiant heater for the high country chickens!
Keeping the predators away?
These definitely helped the girls understand where to lay their eggs!
Food and water pails should be around shoulder height.
I use a cat litter scooper for cleaning out the sand in the coop. Works so well!
How fun! This is washable and I think having toys helps with the “pecking” on each other.
A great, inexpensive toy to keep them entertained
Boredom buster-your ladies deserve “Hentertainment”- they will be intrigued by the jingle bells and colorful beads.