5 dead in an hour

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

We have and have had 3 buff orps, and a SSH, in one coop.
5 Black orp "chicks" (about 8 weeks old) in a seperate coop.

2 black Aust., 2 RIR, and 4 Amber links in another coop.

Came home after only being gone a lil over 2 hours, take the puppy to potty, check on our "girls" and see one black orp chick sitting by herself, I yell for the flashlight, youngest (4) dd brings it to me, I open the coop and there lay 4 dead black orp chicks, she is hysterical. I am blubbering like an idiot, we yell for Daddy, he comes running, grabs them and yes they are dead. Oldest dd ran in to get a trash bag, I check on the other coops, there lays a buff Orp dead (a lil over a year old hen, HEALTHY egg laying, sassy sweet sweet hen) DEAD

The ONLY thing going on is HEAT. It hit about 97 today, we made sure MULTIPLE times to take COLD watermelon, and fresh water to them. DH even sprayed their coops down with water today to cool them, and we spent MOST of the day outside doing things. They all were fine at 6:30, we left went TWO blocks away to my sisters, came home to this....

DH freaked, moved the single black orp chick inside in a crate, my remaining 2 Buff Orps and SSH are inside in the basement too in the old brooder. we have ICEY aircondition running. the Black Orp chick threw up when I picked her up.

ALL the other chickens are fine, hot of course but fine, we have a box fan blowing on the remaning chickens outside.

I can NOT be alone in trying to figure out what to do through this week, when we are expecting temps to hit triple digits. I dont have room for 8 more hens inside (these are all full size girls) I guess I will have to put the dogs loose inside and chickens in dog crates, but I know farmers wouldnt do this, and would LAUGH at me for doing it...

What do we doooo???? I cant loose anymore of our girls. These are not just egg factories for us, these are our pets, they all have names, and are loved. HELP

 

[gumpsgirl]

Mine have been out in the heat all day (they always are) and are doing just fine so I honestly don't think the heat is the issue.

I would check the feed and where you keep it first off. Next, I would check to see if there are fumes of something that they shouldn't be breathing. Birds respiratory systems are very sensitive to fumes. I would also clean the coop/coops out well and make sure there isn't anything in the coop that shouldn't be there. Rat poison, moth balls, etc... Check the area for chemicals that could be toxic where the waterers get filled.

Good luck to you and sorry you are having to deal with this. I hope you can figure out what the issue is fairly quickly.

 

[Lobzi]

For heat relief, Ive heard of using frozen water in bottles for them to lay next to. Providing that is the problem it might help save the rest.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
Nope not feed, as the babies are on medicated Purina chick, the older girls on Dumor layer.

No fumes or sprays as they are in our backyard, neither neighbors have anything like this, (neighbor closest to chickens LOVES them, and is out of town)

I thought were they poisoned, but everyone else is fine. I am beyond distraught

 

[dinahmoe]

i am so sorry.
i live in georgia and last week it hit 105 with the heat index.i was sure that i would lose some chickens but luckily i didn't.i have a shade cloth over the top of the yards and a box fan blowing through the window inside the coop.i give them fresh water twice daily .they were all panting but did o.k. i have ages from 5 weeks to adults in different pens.
was there anytime during the day that their shade wasn't there?in mine the shade gets small at about 2pm but there is still plenty for them.
could they have eaten something?
i hope you find out so you don't have to go thru it again.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
We never free range our girls as its "illegal" here to do that as we are in city limits (but we have almost an acre) they are all in coops that are near each other, but not touching (about 4 feet apart)

All coops have tarps for shade, these are the same coops they have been in since we got them (over a year ago for the one set)

 

[jjparke]

Sounds terrible. Are you sure they had access to plenty of fresh cool water? Do they have combs or wattles and if so what color are they? What color are the survivors combs and wattles? A deep colored comb and wattle can be a sign of dehydration or overheating.

 

[burquechick]

There's no way the heat did that, unless they didn't have water. Temps hit here over 102 for a straight week, AND I had 3 setting hens. All fine. Something really bad happened. Maybe a snake or spider or something?

 

[geebs]

for tomarrow... Keep getting them and the ground wet with the spray hose....The evaporation cools the air and frozen soda bottles.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

Quote:
Absolutley positively had fresh water, icey cold water melon multiple times today, and like I said my husband even hosed the coops down to cool them off even more as we were worried about the heat, as we had been out there working in the yard for nearly the entire day (dang it was a hot one too, I got sick feeling from the heat)

The wattles were a normal pinky yellow on the chicks and deep pink on my Buff Orp (her normal color)

They hadnt been dead long either, as we checked them before we left and checked them with in 5 minutes (yep that quick) on getting home.