Calif. N.Central Valley/Foothills - Page 20

You must be dying of heat!! I kept the house down to the upper 70's, and I still took a cool shower about 6:30pm. I have a brooder inside with 3-4 week old chicks I kept the light on for. I like your mister idea, I don't think the girls ever bathed in the water I gave them. Poor little things were panting! Last night I put a couple of 2 liter bottles of water in the freezer, I'll put them in the igloo with them when it really heats up again today

We hit 104 yesterday too, down in the valley. I ran a sprinkler all afternoon between the border of the chicken pen and the goat pen. Most of the birds still laid in the shade beside the coop. I have some rather stupid ones that like to hang out in the coop, where it's got to be 10 degrees hotter than outside. Peabrains. I should pick up and freeze some watermelons for them, they like that.

I shaved my Border Collie the day before, and that helped him. I'm letting my hounds hang out in the lawn area, which will only fly until they start destroying things.

Yep, 104 degrees here yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost 3 BCMs cockerels to the heat yesterday. We had moved 8 extra cockerels to individual hanging cages with a PVC nipple water system my son had just finished installing. 3 of those died from the heat. He put the rest back in the juvie pen with everyone else. I will figure out something else I guess. Maybe I can move the hanging cages inside the barn stalls. We were not prepared for the devasting heat. We will run the misters more & earlier to keep the ground moist. They had water & were in the shade. We put roofing on top of the cages.?????????????? Dang!!!!!! I am going to hang around today to watch everybody.
Karen in Turlock

I worry about the heat too! I have fans in a few areas that help. The birds stand in front of them and get windblown (it's funny to watch). I also spray down the areas they hang out in until it almost gets muddy. They like to lay in the wet dirt. I also go out a few times a day and fill all the waters up with ice. I also put a frozen water bottle in with the 4 week olds brooder so they can lay by it. Then I actually sprayed the chickens down. Not like they were soaking wet but they did get wet. They don't like it but I'm sure it feels good. I worry about the 2 I brought in Washington in April. I watch them closely and if they start to look too hot I will bring them in the house and put them in a dog crate. I can't afford for anything to happen to them!
Sorry about your losses Karen!

Ok I broke down and brought my 2 from Washington in the house. I have them in a large dog kennel in my room. I think when it gets hot like this I will stick them in it. I'm guessing this will be there home from 2:00-8:00 p.m. I have too much invested in them to let them get heat stroke!
I have also went out a few times today to ice the water, spray the dirt areas and spray the chickens down. I think some of them were happy to see me with the hose! lol

Your frizzled Cochins on your website must be the special birds from Washington. They are probably not accustomed to our heat. Who did you get them from?? Maybe they are related to Snowball. He/She was hatched from a Washington egg I think, at least Steve said Allen won the eggs at the Washington show.

The ones I got at the Washington show were Polishes.  They are under "Showing" on my website. They are not the Cochin's my DD's holding but the other 2 pictures. I got them from BYC'r Cynthia Smith (cmsdvm). Super nice lady.
I think it's funny that I have 3 birds (Ferb, Valarie and Snowball) that all came from the same place so far away.
My Polish started laying last week. She is exactly 6 month old.

I'm thinking we should all meet up in Sonora when the weather gets nice again. 

It has been hot here for sure, but I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the oaks and pines that surround our place and the shade they provide in the chicken yard.  There are a lot of short ground plants that are about 2 feet tall... my landlady calls them "mountain misery" because they're apparently hard to eradicate if you try to get rid of them.  I like the mountain misery, though, because it provides my chickens a nice place to kick back and forage in the shade.  It's about 10 degrees cooler there than the rest of the yard, plus there's no direct sunlight.  The ground stays cool with all the woodsy-ground humus that naturally builds up and keeps the shady ground nice and cool and is a great place for bugs to nest and grow, providing plenty of extra protein for my ever-expanding flock. 

We do have a bunch of bottles of water in the freezer that we take out in the afternoons and place in the areas where the chickens like to congregate and cool off... they can lay against the frozen water bottles to keep themselves cool.  And yes... I am a dork... it is not beneath me to run an extension cord out to the shady spot of the chicken yard and attach an oscillating fan to it to help cool everybody down. 

Your not a dork! I have two fans running out with the chickens. I also have a 3rd fan I have not set up yet.
Oh and it would be fun to meet up. Are any of you guys taking your birds to the Stanislaus fair?

That's a great idea
I live in Sonora, but I'm moving to Sandpoint Idaho near the end of July. Is that too soon to meet up? There's a nice park across from the county fairground that has lots of trees and Woods Creek runs through it, or did you have somewhere else in mind? Perhaps something closer to Black Oak Casino?
Would you want everyone to bring some of their chickens or just a human meet up? Let me know, I'm willing to help in anyway that I can. Would be so nice to put a face with a name!