Well, looks like this unrelenting heat here in C. AR finally got one of my girls. I have a backyard flock of 6 that I got as chicks in October as day olds. They have been fabulous to this point.
Temp here has been hitting 100F past few days and the coop temp has been 102-104F during the day with a small fan. Girls are never in it since they free range the backyard and hang out under the shade tree or the deck where the mist system is at for them. They have a 3 gallon waterer under the deck and a 1 gallon in the open run.
Only time they are ever in there is to lay, and most are smart enough that they are going under the coop to lay. 4 of the 6 anyway. I have a golden buff that likes to lay by 7 a.m. while my other coop layer is midday or later. And yesterday she pucked the wrong time to go in i guess. Myst have been after 2:30. We had to leave to do some things...we always check them before we leave...and all 6 were fine. Come home and at 6:30 the wife tells me one is dead in the coop. Its Pepper, one of our 3 black australorps. She was on her side laying righr smack in the middle of the coop facing away from the door. She must have gone in to lay and couldnt handle the heat this go around.
They have 2 windows...both open, a small fan going, and their entrance is open all day. So she could have got out...and i bet she was trying but got disoriented and that was the end of it. I could tell she had convulsed on the flior due to the pune shavings all up in the folds of her wings. She had rigor mortis when i found her so she must have been dead for atleast an hour. No wounds or anything...was healthy as an ox.
I went out last night and added a bigger fan, but thinking i will just shut the coop up during the day since they dont need ut really or use it. Keep them out of the danger zone anyway...then reopen all day when weather is a bit cooler.
Sucks she didnt even make it a year. Got about 8 dozen eggs from her.
My 6yr old daughter is sad of course and i am second guessing myself of course thinking i could have done something better....oh well...we cant control mother nature. Down to 5...but it was weird this morning when they came out to greet us for their oats. Pepper was always the most vocal of the entire group. Loud and obnoxious but we loved it...and her.
Temp here has been hitting 100F past few days and the coop temp has been 102-104F during the day with a small fan. Girls are never in it since they free range the backyard and hang out under the shade tree or the deck where the mist system is at for them. They have a 3 gallon waterer under the deck and a 1 gallon in the open run.
Only time they are ever in there is to lay, and most are smart enough that they are going under the coop to lay. 4 of the 6 anyway. I have a golden buff that likes to lay by 7 a.m. while my other coop layer is midday or later. And yesterday she pucked the wrong time to go in i guess. Myst have been after 2:30. We had to leave to do some things...we always check them before we leave...and all 6 were fine. Come home and at 6:30 the wife tells me one is dead in the coop. Its Pepper, one of our 3 black australorps. She was on her side laying righr smack in the middle of the coop facing away from the door. She must have gone in to lay and couldnt handle the heat this go around.
They have 2 windows...both open, a small fan going, and their entrance is open all day. So she could have got out...and i bet she was trying but got disoriented and that was the end of it. I could tell she had convulsed on the flior due to the pune shavings all up in the folds of her wings. She had rigor mortis when i found her so she must have been dead for atleast an hour. No wounds or anything...was healthy as an ox.
I went out last night and added a bigger fan, but thinking i will just shut the coop up during the day since they dont need ut really or use it. Keep them out of the danger zone anyway...then reopen all day when weather is a bit cooler.
Sucks she didnt even make it a year. Got about 8 dozen eggs from her.
My 6yr old daughter is sad of course and i am second guessing myself of course thinking i could have done something better....oh well...we cant control mother nature. Down to 5...but it was weird this morning when they came out to greet us for their oats. Pepper was always the most vocal of the entire group. Loud and obnoxious but we loved it...and her.
