4 buff orps just up and died.

[prov31gal]

so the other day my husband went out and 4 buff orps were just lying there dead. they had no evidence of injury or attack. no missing feathers or blood. no sign of illness or disease, just looked like they sat down, and died. you know how a hen sets, they looked like that , with their heads down and floppy and dead. 3 were only 2 years old the other just a pullet who hadnt laid yet. the only thing we noticed prior was a drop in eggs.we had 17 chickens 15 of them hens, and usually got 7 or 8 eggs a day between they laying hens, all buff orps, the rest are light brahma pullets and 2 other buff orp pullets. so it seemed like a few stopped laying a week or so before this happened when we were only getting 4 or 5 a day. any ideas on what could have hjappened? too hot? it was 100 or more, but they have water and shade. on the bottom of the pecking order? that doesnt seem likely. im stumped.

 

[janetk]

Could they have eaten something rotten or moldy? Hopefully others can help. Sorry for your loss

 

[dftkarin]

That exact same thing happened to one of my barred rocks today - same position, same lack of trauma, it makes me wonder if ot could be heat re-lated. I have another barred rock (and a few more heavy breed birds) but maybe the heat was too much for our fluffy feathered girls?

 

[Matt A NC]

Alot of folks are losing birds to heat this year. Heat stress can take them slowly or quickly. I had one last year that was walking through the lot and just stopped. She looked perfectly fine as she was walking. They she just fell forward completely limp. I picked her up, but her heart was not beating. She was gone.

Matt

 

[Elite Silkies]

The heat has been really bad this year. I hose my coops down 3-4 times a day, even though they have shade.

 

[chkn]

Buffs don't do well in the heat especially. Spray down their run on hot days, make sure they have shade and clean fresh water especially on those days.

 

[prov31gal]

im leaning toward the heat being too much for them, i wasnt sure before, and was afraid we had some sort of disease out in the chicken pen. but after reading these posts and finding out that buff orps dont do all that well when its very hot, im thinking it was heat, i just cant think of any other scenario that would lead to them just laying down and dying. its grear that at least is wasnt sickness , but, either way, we didnt get to eat them, and no were down 3 of my 4 best layers, so its sucks .

 

[Leia's Chickens]

Wading pool. My dad has a wading pool in their run and they stand or sit down several times a day in it. We also have a strong fan in the run. They stand in front of it or even dig their little holes and lay in the fan blast.