- Mar 12, 2017
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Has anyone ever had a chicken have/die from a heat stroke?
Yesterday, one of my white rocks was doing fine around 2 p.m. I'd taken them some cold yogurt, kale, and tomatoes. A few hours later, I went to let them out for some free time, and she was walking around the run but wouldn't come out. I didn't think much of it, but about five or ten minutes later, she laid down. I went to pick her up to inspect her, and she didn't flinch (my chickens don't really like being handled), and I didn't see any obvious signs of trauma, mites, egg binding, etc. She did feel a little warm to me though, so I decided to take her inside and let her sleep in a dog crate for the night with some electrolytes to see if maybe she just needed to cool down. It took me a couple of minutes to walk back to my house, and by the time we got into the kitchen, her head was hanging. I laid her down in the dog crate, and she was still breathing, but then she did the whole wing flapping/flopping thing and died. It all happened so fast! The rest of the flock is fine. I inspected her again and saw no signs of anything. Her weight was good. Her comb was a bit pale, but they're all starting to molt, and that's not uncommon. Again, the only thing that was off is she felt pretty warm.
The only thing I can think is that maybe she had a heat stroke. I know it could be a million other things, but we suddenly shot up into the 90s yesterday after some cooler weather, and I didn't think much of it since we had 90s all summer, but I did give them cold treats, and they have a big fan in the run, plenty of shade and several waterers that are refilled a couple of times a day on hot days. The other thing that's weird is that I actually have some breeds that aren't that heat-tolerant (Cochins, etc.), so for the white rock to die from it would be kind of weird, I think. Unless she was just weak. She was about 15 months old.
Yesterday, one of my white rocks was doing fine around 2 p.m. I'd taken them some cold yogurt, kale, and tomatoes. A few hours later, I went to let them out for some free time, and she was walking around the run but wouldn't come out. I didn't think much of it, but about five or ten minutes later, she laid down. I went to pick her up to inspect her, and she didn't flinch (my chickens don't really like being handled), and I didn't see any obvious signs of trauma, mites, egg binding, etc. She did feel a little warm to me though, so I decided to take her inside and let her sleep in a dog crate for the night with some electrolytes to see if maybe she just needed to cool down. It took me a couple of minutes to walk back to my house, and by the time we got into the kitchen, her head was hanging. I laid her down in the dog crate, and she was still breathing, but then she did the whole wing flapping/flopping thing and died. It all happened so fast! The rest of the flock is fine. I inspected her again and saw no signs of anything. Her weight was good. Her comb was a bit pale, but they're all starting to molt, and that's not uncommon. Again, the only thing that was off is she felt pretty warm.
The only thing I can think is that maybe she had a heat stroke. I know it could be a million other things, but we suddenly shot up into the 90s yesterday after some cooler weather, and I didn't think much of it since we had 90s all summer, but I did give them cold treats, and they have a big fan in the run, plenty of shade and several waterers that are refilled a couple of times a day on hot days. The other thing that's weird is that I actually have some breeds that aren't that heat-tolerant (Cochins, etc.), so for the white rock to die from it would be kind of weird, I think. Unless she was just weak. She was about 15 months old.
