Minnesota!

[msbee]

My 10 week olds seem to be handling it ok, but the big girls - 2 years old - seem exhausted at night and panting more than the little ones - they even head into the coop earlier lately. So we've been bringing them inside at night - 2 in the dog crate and 2 in the bathtub. No eggs today though...

We've been putting out long shallow pools and lots of ice blocks for them. We dunked all of them in the pool mid afternoon. Silly little girls went back out into the sun to dry off after that

We've also been using unflavored Pedialyte and ice cubes in their waterers.

My worry is how much of this can they take? Maybe a day or two, but more than that? Even the ground is getting hot, so I worry it's hard for them to even find cool dirt to burrow into... We lost a 2yr old buff orp a few weeks ago when the first heat wave hit, and I noticed the little buff orps seem to pant more than the others - anyone else notice that with their BOs?

Can't wait until this weather passes...

 

[Timbertoes]

I have been freezing all of our watermelon rinds and then putting them out for the girls during the worst part of the day. One of mine was panting a bit, but after a watermelon popsicle she didn't pant the rest of the day.

 

[Chickenaddict]

I have been refreshing their waterers about 5 times a day and add electrolytes and vitamins to it as well as giving them a whole watermelon especially today, its been in the freezer for a few hours now so by the time those heat indexes are about 120 they will be diving in. I withhold scratch grains when its this hot, that seems to help alot. I also allow them to range in the yard where there is alot of shade verses their run they have turned into the desert. I did loose my 2 yr old micro hen but that could have been an age factor as they aren't known to live very long. My cochins and brahma crosses are the ones that suffer the most when its hot, especially the dark feathered birds. I mean can you imagine sitting in the middle of the yard with a big black down comforter wrapped around every inch of your body with the sun beating down on ya? Poor birds

This is the hottest it's been here in 45 years according to the news! whewww! I am sooo ready to move to the north pole

 

[sahara1434]

HI im new to this forum but am from MN!

 

[Chickenaddict]

Sahara

 

[Nicole01]

Finally! A nice well needed break from the heat.

The girls and I hope the nice weather lasts.

 

[shortkaike]

Quote:
Agreed!!!

 

[dcashill]

I'm new to the chicken thing, I have 1 rooster and 8 hens all Silkies. And I'm from Stacy, MN. Sounds like there are a lot of members from this area. Hello, to all of you!!

 

[coldupnorth]

Hello from the Northshore!

 

[Haazegirl]

I think it would be nice to have a map page for people who don't mind to post their location and be able to find other members close to them. No addresses though just a link to pm them from the forum. I enjoy the MN page here, but does anyone know how to program something like that? It's awful hard to page through our 50-60 pages of posts to find out who's close by when you have a question.

I just found a great contact in Easton. She's been raising heritage breed poultry and waterfowl for a long time and has all the hard to get breeds that I want! I'm so excited! Here she was only 35 miles away!! And I passed a place with a big fancy roo out at the end of the drive on the way home today. Here I thought there were only 4 or five people in the area with chickens! Now they seem to be everywhere, and I want to talk to them!