Tag: Phoenix

Best Time to Buy Baby Chicks in Phoenix is February

It’s Much Easier to Keep Baby Chicks Warm Than Trying To Keep Them Cool

Revised 4/9/25

Most parts of the country raise chicks in Springtime when the weather is mild. This gives the birds plenty of time to mature through the summer months and be fully feathered by Fall. Not the case here in Phoenix because extreme temperatures of 100+ can start as early as May and by June, reach 110+.
These conditions are not suitable for baby chicks, being this hot in a confined brooder is not only stressful but can be life-threatening. Chicks need to have a heat source, yes, this is true, but also need to be able to get away from it to stay comfortable.
Improper brooder temperatures also increase the onset of pasty butt (fecal impaction.) For these reasons, in Phoenix, it’s best to start chicks in February, and by April they are mature enough to slowly acclimate to our rising temperatures.
Remember, It’s much easier to keep baby chicks warm than try to keep them cool… which is impossible.
Chicks are Best Kept Outdoors
Raising chicks outdoors in a shed, barn, or garage is the best place to keep your baby chicks. They will most likely only need a radiant heat source. If the weather turns colder at night, a low-wattage heat lamp may assist in keeping the brooder temperature steady. You can buy low-wattage heat bulbs in the reptile section at your local pet or feed store. I usually use a red 75-watt bulb if the brooder temperature drops below 60 degrees. More on using radiant heat & heat lamps.

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Winter Chicken Keeping in Phoenix

Preparing the Chicken Coop for the Colder Months Ahead

The winters are rather mild in Phoenix and your birds will be quite comfortable without heat added, as long as they are protected from wind, drafts, and especially rain.
Temperatures rarely drop below freezing in Phoenix, with the usual overnight temperature in the 40s. As long as your birds are kept dry, cool weather is quite welcome, especially after a long summer of brutal heat.
A heavy-weight tarp is a suitable protection from wind, along with ample clean pine shavings (preferred) or straw in the coop and nest boxes. Your birds will huddle together for warmth at night, if you stick your finger deep inside their feathers you’ll see they are toasty warm, even at freezing temps.
Never put a heat lamp in your coop, the risk of fire is far too dangerous. I wouldn’t use a light bulb for heat either. First of all, your birds don’t need it in Phoenix, and second, light is annoying and disruptive to the normalcy of nature.
You will hear other chicken keepers say egg laying is reduced or halted completely in the winter months. That may be so in other parts of the country, but in Phoenix, I never notice much change in frequency. Remember, the key to keeping the egg basket full is defined in two simple words… happy birds.

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Restoring Our Farm’s Pre-Storm Dignity

There are subtle hints that Fall is not that far away. This means Phoenix’s brutally hot summer is finally going to let up and we can get back to working outside. This season we’ll have a different agenda, clean-up from the monsoon storm is the priority, then the repairs and rebuilding of what was destroyed.
Although the temperatures are still a steamy 109, the sun isn’t quite as intense as it was a month ago and there are signs of relief. School supplies are on the store shelves, and summer clothes are hanging on store sale racks, and that means only one thing to me. Phoenix will soon turn from a hellish territory to a lush paradise for seven whole months.
Seven months… plenty of time to restore the farm to its pre-storm dignity. There’s a plan for the new shed row barn, and the replanting of lost trees and foliage will begin in November. There is progress, we’ve made a dent in the clean-up and the shed row barn is half down and salvaged materials neatly stacked.

Clean-up Progress
Dismantling the Barn

Our in-home remodeling projects are starting to look worthy of our efforts, and it looks like we just might meet our Spring completion deadline. However, take note I didn’t mention which Spring!
There will most likely not be any chicks in the brooder this Oct. With the barn construction, there will be too many disturbances and my hens will probably be unreliable setters.
Changes are always going to be a part of life, and none of us are immune. Rather than wallow in woe…
Perhaps change is the ladder forced upon us when we quit reaching for higher levels of accomplishment.

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