Heat Stroke?

[seminolewind]

I add ice cubes or frozen bottles to their water. Seems to stop them from panting. I also lay the hose on the ground and just let it run and make a big puddle. That they really stand in. Hope this helps.

 

[jotebo]

At 7:30 pm she was doing pretty good. I tried to pick her up and she didn't like it, so I know she's better. Belly still a little warm, but she can stand up and she ate some of her pellets, parsley and a treat of cracked corn. I will leave her in the a/c shed for the night.
Tomorrow fans will be installed in the coop and down the run.

 

[jjthink]

You have to make sure the building wiring is electrically sound, or run electric from the house, but there is no question that fans may save lives. They need to have the ability to be near them, or not, as they choose. In other words, not blasting right on them where they sleep but definitely circulating the air. The only crazy people are those who don't understand and provide what their feathered friends need

. So you're not crazy! . As others have said, ice in their water for sure (freeze water bottles and put whole bottle in a shallow water container, so the water stays cooler for longer periods than with ice cubes), puddles from a trickling hose (this is really great because when they get wet tootsies it really helps cool them off - I never had luck with a tray of water - it had to be trickling from a hose!), cold fruit treats like watermelon, no heavy food in the heat of the day, electrolytes when overheated (as you have done), Some of us put in AC's in time, in areas not even as grizzly hot and humid as Florida, because the birds needed the relief when temps exceeded 90 and soupy humid. Such peace of mind it gave me when I would be stuck at work and would have worried myself crazy over them in high heat index temps...but again, need to be sure electrically sound..... JJ

 

[cjpines]

Thank you for your feedback. I really appreciate it. I did notice that she didn't eat as well as her sister, even though she was bigger in size. She liked sweets better than her sister did (strawberries, watermelon).

Both girls have had ongoing comb issues. In the spring I noticed parts of their combs were bright red, while other parts stayed pink-- I suspect circulatory problems?

She was broody and may have gotten something when she went under the house to sit on eggs for 5 days-- roost mites? Parasites?

She was my rebel girl-- first to arise and last to bed. She liked to sleep on top of her sister-- probably due to her broodiness.

She tried to fly the coop once-- so cute. A little adventuress risk-taker. Every time I had a missing chicken and went crazy with worry, it turned out to be this girl-- under the house, going broody.

You've made me feel better. Maybe it wasn't my fault for leaving her to go on vacation. I feel I could have kept her alive had I gotten her in the deep shade under the woodpile that day, but how long she would have lived, if she had an underlying condition, I don't know. But it was sure horrible to come home and find her dead and not know why she died.

But it would have done me in to find her dead body myself, so perhaps it is a blessing in disguise that she went when I was away. I sure would have been afraid to go on vacation had she died before I left, out of worry about her sister, who survived my absence.

We celebrated her life today with homemade coconut angel food cake, using her eggs. It was very hard to crack them. I thought about saving them and blowing them out to put in a basket, but she loved sweets, so we decided we'd eat a wonderful sweet treat in her honor. I do have some of her eggs left to save and put in a pretty wire basket. Especially the odd one she laid that has a perfect white ring on it, which might indicate a problem of some type that she may have had?

It's just like humans, some of us can tolerate the heat and others cannot. We, too, just lost a Buff Orphington and think it was the heat. She was breathing hard in the coop at 5:AM by 5:30 she was dead. It wasn't hot that early, but during the days it's about 93. Strange through, when it got to 100 for days she seemed fine, but we did notice she would stand over the water trough and breath hard. It's so sad to to lose a chick.

 

[jotebo]

The heat this summer in the FL Keys has been terrible. My Buff just couldn't take it and my Black Australorp was fine. After keeping my Buff in the a/c'd shed for 3 days (if left outside all she did was pant) I made a very difficult decision and relocated them to a farm in Ocala FL. It might be hot during the day, but they get the relief at night. Both of my girls are doing beautifully now. They are back to laying 6 eggs each a week. Their coop is under a huge Magnolia Tree. Lots of grass for them to forage. And best of all...they have a boyfriend, a handsome Silkie named Pong. I miss them awful, but I know this was the best thing I could do.

 

[Jake3]

Been a little warm here in Az. 112 or so and I havnt lost any of my chickens, yet. My friend however is beside himself because he keeps losing his. I put solar attic fans in top of my coop. http://www.amazon.com/Durabuild-527...F8&qid=1409887631&sr=8-10&keywords=solar+fans . As soon as you pull them out of the box and the sun hits them the fan starts spinning. Seem to keep air moving pretty well.

 

[ClareScifi]

Her sister is still alive, and she'll be 5 in March. She still lays an egg nearly every day. I now have a rooster and am hatching 5 of her fertilized eggs. She's such a great hen that I just have to propagate her. Why her sister died that hot day I'll never know. After she did, this other hen went broody, as if mourning for her sister. She became StepMama to 6 chicks, hatching other hens' eggs, and now I will have a friend's broody hatch hers. I'm going to name one of the new chicks for Merry Easter, her sister who died and looked just like her, with only a bit more black on her beak. The chicks should hatch in about 18 days. I can't wait.

 

[ClareScifi]

The above was a message for CJ Pines, regarding my hen who died in the heat a few summers ago. He had commented on her and his hen who died under similar circumstances.