Today was the third day we hit 115* or higher, setting a new record for the area, but this afternoon the clouds moved in, the thunder started booming, the winds kicked up, and.....I felt ONE drop of rain. Seriously, that's it. The good news is that it still dropped our afternoon temps down to 101* at my house, which is completely doable. I turned off the two window A/C units in the chicken cabin to give them (and my electric bill) a break since they haven't been able to drop the interior temperature below 98* in the hottest part of the afternoon. (That's still better than 115* or more though, so....)
The free-ranging birds have been surviving by way of shade and lots of water - ice cubes in their drinking water, hoses running and flooding the yard to create cool puddles for them to stand and scratch in...the misters are an absolute waste of time for them since they all hate them. The only birds really suffering are the Bielefelder hens and my one remaining Cornish-mix hen. So far though, no losses, which is a lot better than what most of my local chicken friends have experienced. It's come at a price though, because even if the chickens haven't suffered from heat stroke, I have.
The Silver Grey Dorkings are doing surprisingly well in this heat. They're in a run that offers shade for all but an hour each day, and the only thing I've provided them is fresh, cool drinking water and a running hose on and off throughout the day. I didn't expect them to do this well so I'm really relieved.
I'm giving serious thought to digging them a "rabbit tunnel". Since a few of my birds have dug down an entire foot in certain parts of my yard, it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to finish the job and put some plywood over top of it.
The free-ranging birds have been surviving by way of shade and lots of water - ice cubes in their drinking water, hoses running and flooding the yard to create cool puddles for them to stand and scratch in...the misters are an absolute waste of time for them since they all hate them. The only birds really suffering are the Bielefelder hens and my one remaining Cornish-mix hen. So far though, no losses, which is a lot better than what most of my local chicken friends have experienced. It's come at a price though, because even if the chickens haven't suffered from heat stroke, I have.
The Silver Grey Dorkings are doing surprisingly well in this heat. They're in a run that offers shade for all but an hour each day, and the only thing I've provided them is fresh, cool drinking water and a running hose on and off throughout the day. I didn't expect them to do this well so I'm really relieved.
I'm giving serious thought to digging them a "rabbit tunnel". Since a few of my birds have dug down an entire foot in certain parts of my yard, it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to finish the job and put some plywood over top of it.
Found this!
No idea, but he doesn't mention it, so must not be a known issue?
