110 degrees today, has anyone lost any chickens in this heat??

[hmponies]

yes. I have lost 3 of my old hens.

makes me soooo sad. they were my sweetest ones. have been freezing water bottles and putting them down in the waterers for my chickens. and giving them frozen watermelon and grapes.

hope this heat breaks soon!

 

[Nicole01]

I'm one of the very few to bring them inside the house with the triple digit temps, including heat index. I have only 8 and an enclosed set up for them. I take them outside every 1-2 hours in the shade until they want to come back in, which is about 1/2 hour. They are free to walk in the basement, but I immediately clean up after them. They go back in their set up on their own when their ready. I really don't mind. We are installing 2 big metal fans next year in the coop. Maybe this will work better then the box fan I have in there now. I'm not taking any chances to lose my babies if I can help it.

I'm so sorry for those who have lost their chickens.

 

[hmponies]

Quote:
I think I may be stupid I can't figure out how to put it on there. I'm from north central Arkansas. actual temp here today 109 with a possible 115-120 heat index.

 

[emmak]

I'm in N. Central Texas (DFW) and the temps this week will be brutal - 110 etc.

So far my girls have held up pretty well. Haven't lost any. We've been in the 100 range for over a month now, so I think they've kind of acclimated, but with the temps going even higher I've been putting frozen bottles of water inside the waterer to cool down their water. We have a lot of shade in our yard, and I have misters which cool down a part of the run area. I'm considering pulling a fan out of the garage with a long extension cord to move some more air around. The girls pant but otherwise haven't been too stressed. They have slowed down on egg production, but I think that's understandable. I'm proud of my girls, and I sure hope they can keep up the good work.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
Think it depends on the type of chickens.

We usually don't get THIS hot, and the AC in the summer rarely kicks in for them. The fans are usually enough.

But we have large breeds (Orps, 'dottes and JGs) and heavy feathered bantam Cochins. There is no way they can handle the 115* heat index. But in return, I also know that when we have winter where it feels like it's -40*, they are doing fine.

The cold winter is far, far more normal than this insane heat and humidity.

 

[7L Farm]

Its been so hot here you need an oxygen tank just to catch a breath. My chickens only saving grace is we have alot of trees that provide alot of shade. Our ground here is sand like the beach I went out yesterday without shoes that was a big mistake. I don't see how they walk on the ground. Our biggest problem is no rain all the pastures are burned up, all the stock tanks are dry, its unreal. Plus, there's no end in sight. To answer the question sorry about that I haven't lost one yet. I water twice a day adding ice every time. I'm getting an ice maker probably one day this week. My chickens attack me when I bring them fresh ice water. Sorry, to all that have lost birds its just to hot. I will take the cold over this heat & I know my birds will as well. Gotta go freshen up the water. Later!!

 

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
I think I may be stupid I can't figure out how to put it on there. I'm from north central Arkansas. actual temp here today 109 with a possible 115-120 heat index.

Click on "Profile" and then on the Profile Menu choose "Personal".

 

[colebarnhart]

Quote:
Devil's weather indeed. Couldn't live there. Though I'm sure winters are nice. We just went through a spell of 115-120 with heat index and it was evil. Though nowhere near as long lived as what you're enduring there. The cool down was 98 or so today. Plenty hot enough.

JJ

JJ........... LOL if we had a day of under a hundred we would be dancing in the streets thinking fall was here hehehehe.

By the looks of my brown grass and dead leafless trees, fall has already passed us and we're all begging for winter here in the mighty OK, where the waving wheat doesn't smell sweet, because it's all dead. After seeing those shocking dust storms in AZ, I think here we're headed for the dust bowl days again!

 

[LottieDa]

I've been worried sick about my girls in this heat. We've been just over 100 several times. I've even taken days off work just to make sure I can keep their water cool and bring my girls inside the A/C garage if I see them struggling with it.

Thank you to all those who've posted advice for keeping the little ladies cool. I hadn't thought of putting ice in the water and I didn't know they would use a wading pool. I'll give those a try.

 

[DazeGoneBy]

Yesterday it was 107 here, so we built a little "igloo" for them and buried a frozen jug 1/2 in the sand inside for them to burrow down into. As the ice melts, the sand will stay cool and wet, which they like! Our chicks are still under 3 months old, so the size works for us, but you might get some inspiration from what we did and try something similar depending on your bird/flock size.

Pics aplenty here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=550455