Michigan - Page 5078  

Getting the rest of the firewood split and stacked before it gets too hot today!  I think we've got around 28 cord in for this winter.  I don't know who will be happier about this: DH b/c he won't need to spend his free time on the weekends cutting/hauling or ME b/c DH will actually get to be home during the weekends!!!

My condolences to your family Glambka.    A soldier from our area was also killed last week.....maybe they were together?  A friend of mine graduated with him, and she says it's very strange to think that he's just *gone*. 

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Originally Posted by Mom 2em All 

Im sure they are. However, if they had been provided with adequate shade and dirt under shrubbery, they may have fared well. 

This heat has been awful and plenty of people have had heat-related losses in both penned and unpenned animals.

Actually, they were well taken care of with plenty of shade and water.  However, when the chickens chose to pile on top of oneanother rather than spreading out, it was out of my hands and I put them in the garage where it was 10 degrees cooler and no heat index.  I do accept full responsibility for their deaths because I chose to put them outside.

(I didn't mean to imply that I had them out in the sun with no shade all day, just meant they were happier with their indoor accomodations 'vs' what was outside)

I think I have a PIA in training. My 8 week old BLRW splash cockerel seems to have a fondness for my fingers. He's almost always first out the door, runs up to the fence to watch me and when come in the run and he can get to my hands attacks like a mad thing. I finally grabbed him the other day and read him the riot act but he seems unphased. Since I only have 4 BLRW, a pair of splash and a pair of black, I had been hoping to keep him for breeding to the black hen. But I will not tolerate meanness so unless he cleans up his act it's looking like the quite black cockerel may survive instead.

Anyone want an 8 week old splash? He's unnamed as I don't tend to name them. He's got time yet, 2 months at least before I make any decision.

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Originally Posted by teeville5 

LOL.  I've got a PIA, too.  Niel has turned into such a little bugger.  And Newton, I don't think any of us have touched him in over a year.  He stays just out of your reach.  Always there for treats, but all look-y, no touch-y. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by gladahmae 

Getting the rest of the firewood split and stacked before it gets too hot today!  I think we've got around 28 cord in for this winter.  I don't know who will be happier about this: DH b/c he won't need to spend his free time on the weekends cutting/hauling or ME b/c DH will actually get to be home during the weekends!!!

This reminded me of a camping trip a few years back. My buddy said that he would bring 10-15 cord of firewood. He showed up with 10 bundles of slabwood, then argued that they were full cords. 

BTW a full cord of wood measures 4' wide x 4' tall x 8 ' long. Face cords are 16" x 4' tall x 8' long. They are selling face cords for about $85 around here.  I'm glad that the city will provide free firewood if you call DPS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mom 2em All 

Im sure they are. However, if they had been provided with adequate shade and dirt under shrubbery, they may have fared well. 

This heat has been awful and plenty of people have had heat-related losses in both penned and unpenned animals.

Not so, cornish X will die sitting with in 2ft. of  water IN the shade. under brush and die of heat. I had this happen a few yrs ago. cornish x are just stupid.... We had Freedom rangers this yr didn't lose one .same shrubs, same shade,same dirt to dust bathe in, worse heat and different birds... just because you provide shade and water does not mean you will not lose any birds

I have read articles were professionals lost cornish X because they were to dumb to walk 2ft to the water

My comment was made because it was posted that they were out on dead grass- there was no mention of any provisions made for the birds until AFTER I commented. 

And manmade breed- cornish cross, correct? (im sure OLIVE will correct me if Im wrong )..no surprise they are not wired for durability. My two NOTmeaties surprised me every day that they were still alive. 

That aside, I almost lost my rabbit. However it was my fault because it was penned up and not adequately provided for- meaning it was not free to have created a natural burrow in the ground to hide from the heat and I did not provide enough additional cooling for it to compensate for the extreme heat we have experienced. Losses happen in both free range and in penned situations when the weather is extreme. As a general rule however, free range birds with access to shade, shrubbery, food and water do a fine job of staying alive- with the exception of predator attacks.

Yup, takes an engineer to screw up advanced math!

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Originally Posted by Mom 2em All 

 

 oh no...the advanced stages of the chicken math disease.....

It probably would but I got the dogs out for their morning walk early and turned on the LR a/c once the indoor temp hit 75. It's already over 81. Until today it's been fairly nice, yesterday was beautiful up here, such a refreshing breeze. Today the humidity is nasty already. But I noticed a good thing on my walk, the deer fly population has dropped dramatically, looks like they're on their way out about a week earlier than normal.

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Originally Posted by chicken grandma 

Is the heat getting to anyone else? Our allergies are pretty bad and I am just feeling punky~   

Dang! You mean I'll have to stop taking copious notes?  I was going to right a book "The Great Olive Expounds on Stuff". There go the royalties! 

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Originally Posted by Olive Hill 

 

Much to my chagrin, it is not because I actually know everything. 

The few times I had CX I noticed they were mostly too stupid or too lazy to take advantage of shade and water. Several times a day I found myself moving them about. Too much trouble. I'm very glad I didn't have any this year. I'd probably have gotten heat exhaustion picking them up and putting them in shade, etc. DH would probably have found me laid out on dead grass among fat chicken bodies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mom 2em All 

Im sure they are. However, if they had been provided with adequate shade and dirt under shrubbery, they may have fared well. 

This heat has been awful and plenty of people have had heat-related losses in both penned and unpenned animals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrsckn 

Actually, they were well taken care of with plenty of shade and water.  However, when the chickens chose to pile on top of oneanother rather than spreading out, it was out of my hands and I put them in the garage where it was 10 degrees cooler and no heat index.  I do accept full responsibility for their deaths because I chose to put them outside.

 

(I didn't mean to imply that I had them out in the sun with no shade all day, just meant they were happier with their indoor accomodations 'vs' what was outside)

But, but, I'll bet they were wrapped with a cord!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaZ 

This reminded me of a camping trip a few years back. My buddy said that he would bring 10-15 cord of firewood. He showed up with 10 bundles of slabwood, then argued that they were full cords. 

There are many awards lists at the top of which you will never find a CX.  As a group they're not pretty, they're not all too hardy, they don't tend to be long lived.  And though I too tend to lob names such as "dumb" and "nasty" at them on occasion.  If you get right down to it, they're not all that stupid so much as their genetics often interfere with them behaving as other chickens might.  There is one thing for sure: they're hardwired to seek sustenance.  At that they excel like no other bird.  Usually then, if they die of thirst or hunger it's not because they are "too dumb" to find it, but because something prevented them from doing so.  In the case of hot days the heat itself can prevent them from being able to function as usual.  Because of their rapid growth and efficient use of food their bodies produce more internal heat than "regular" chickens.  What is a tough day for a normal chicken can be a downright debilitating day for a CX.  It's definitely a production consideration for alternative farms who can't control the temperatures for their birds.  Misters on really hot days can be helpful.  Otherwise, for people just raising for their own family I'd highly recommend fall raising.  Get them in the late summer when it's warm enough so you don't even have to heat the chicks and then it gets progressively cooler as they grow and become more heat sensitive.  Savings all around! :) 

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Originally Posted by glambka 

Hi guys....need some prayers here.  My nephew was one of the 4 soldiers killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Wednesday; he grew up in Shelby Township and graduated from West Point last June.  He was due to come home in January.  We are heartbroken. I understand at least one other young man was from Rochester and a third may be from Charlevoix. 

So sorry for your loss

I heard about it this morning, one of my friends was a friend to one of the soldiers killed.