Arizona Chickens

[countrygirl74]

Oh yeah, opium would probably work GREAT for a teething baby! Hahaha! (seriously would have considered something like that just to get my daughter to sleep during her first 2 years of life....).

I used Jack Daniels - just rubbed it onto their gums. I don't drink at all, and never even have alcohol in the house (I don't like the taste of any of it), but I did have that tiny little bottle just for teething.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I lost my first chicken to the heat today

I went out in the late afternoon, and she was gone, but it just happened, because she was still limp and warm. Not to waste, she got plucked and cleaned and is in the frig resting.... it was one of my special EE crosses from last year, Ameraucana X Orloff. Beautiful friendly birds. One of her sisters was about to keel over too, that one got a dunk in a bucket and a drink. I hope she revives. I checked on her after dark, and she didn't have the strength to get on the roost, so I put her on the lower rung and she was able to hang on. It wasn't even that hot today compared to the last couple of days. But with all this talk of the misters making yucky mud and disease in the coop, I turned it off today because they all had big muddy puddles of water yesterday. I guess that was a mistake...
I didn't lose a single bird to the heat last year. Wonder what is different, age of the bird? Cumulative heat stress? We had lots of 105 degree days last year. I think it only got up to 99 or 100 here today. Guess I'll take that one inside tomorrow if she doesn't look perky by morning.

Oh crud! That's strange that she survived last summer only to succumb early this summer. I hope your other girl is O.K. this morning. Having read this entire thread, there seems to be a pattern of heat-related deaths early in the season when temps hit 100-105, followed by fewer deaths and then a peak again when the really extreme temps come. It makes me wonder if there might be some kind of physiological preparation as the temperatures increase that some birds achieve while other birds don't. I've had two cases of finding birds lying prostrate and close to death and both were early in the season in the first weeks of 100+ temps. Fortunately, both were found in time to save them.

I hope I didn't give the impression that I'm against the use of misters because of the potential associated problems, I'm not. A bird can't suffer from some moisture-promoted pathogen if they've died of heat stroke. I just think that when I'm advocating the use of a mister, I should also point out the potential pitfalls. Moist soil doesn't necessarily mean it will harbor pathogens, only that the conditions are right for their development. If folks know that they can be vigilant for the common moisture-related ailments (e.g. coccidiosis and fungi) and catch it early. Having spent many years studying the relationship between pathogens and climate I'm probably a bit more manic about it than the average person.

I also recall some conversations with other chicken folks about mister placement that seems worth sharing here-- the consensus seemed to be that if the mister was making the ground around it wet then it wasn't placed high enough or some other adjustment to duration or volume of spray had to be made. That made sense to me given that the effectiveness of the droplets at decreasing air temperature would be higher with greater air hang-time.

I have to say that the Orloffs I hatched from you are, by far, the friendliest birds I have ever owned. I can't walk around the yard without them right under my feet and the minute I sit down, they're all over me. They are so delightful!

 

[bcluff]

So i've been busy getting all of the Icelandics settled in and have had to fix the misters over 3 times!!! My babies at home are doing good! My broody hen has taken in every chick who cant lay an egg yet. So thats nearly 14. Under her little body. There are 6 japanese/silkie crosses. 6 silkies. 2 Ameraucanas and 1 gambels quail who has now taken to being a chicken. He eats the starter food but has to jump up to get feed and water! He's quite the funny little guy and is very attached to his chicken mom. All of you Tucson folks best be ready!! The entire Arizona FFA will be in town for our conference! I would start boarding up your windows!

 

[MamaGrizzz]

Everyone is talking about heat and birds dying... I haven't used misters on a cinstant basis... I spray the chicks down. But I do put frozen water bottles out for them to snuggle with to cool down. I change them out a few times a daybwhen I'm home. Might be worth trying...

 

[ChicksOfHazzard]

Oh my gosh I am sorry you lost a chick to the heat. I hope the other one pulls through. I think sometimes we have to weigh the risk of losing your birds without the mister, and using the mister but having wet ground and decide what is the least of the two evils. Is there any other way to help the girls stay cool all day in the hot sun other than the mister?

There seems to be an implication or a misconception (in general in the past few days of posts on this thread) that runs with misters are inherently muddy. As I mentioned before, we have misters on in the run from 11:30 am - 5:30 pm. And *at most* I have damp spots that dry within an hour or two of the misters turning off in the evening, usually less than an hour though. I definitely don't have muddy spots. The mister line is at a height of 6 ft and I have the water turn on (using a ball valve, which you can control a bit better and is generally more reliable too) to just above the lowest flow of water.

Misters are a form of evaporative cooling, so ideally the water should be evaporating before it hits the ground and it's the phase change from liquid to vapor that requires energy and take it from the heat, and consequently the temperature is reduced. So that's where height and water flow variables have to be accommodated for your particular setup. If the run is getting wet, properly wet, then either move the mister line up (vertically) or reduce the water flow, or both if needed.

But I've sat in there with the chickens when it's been 105 and it's pretty comfortable. But again, the run isn't muddy, the chickens aren't wet. There are tiny droplets on the chickens feathers that evaporate (again, with a cooling effect). So, anyway, I just wanted to clarify that because in my (limited thought it may be) experience, misters and mud don't have to go hand in hand. And we have ours running every day with no mud.

ETA: Gallo, just read your post. Didn't mean to be redundant about the mister height. But ditto to that.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

It's always great to have another perspective. I appreciate it, especially when it's explained better than I have done.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

So i've been busy getting all of the Icelandics settled in and have had to fix the misters over 3 times!!! My babies at home are doing good! My broody hen has taken in every chick who cant lay an egg yet. So thats nearly 14. Under her little body. There are 6 japanese/silkie crosses. 6 silkies. 2 Ameraucanas and 1 gambels quail who has now taken to being a chicken. He eats the starter food but has to jump up to get feed and water! He's quite the funny little guy and is very attached to his chicken mom. All of you Tucson folks best be ready!! The entire Arizona FFA will be in town for our conference! I would start boarding up your windows!

That is just fascinating to me about the quail ending up with your awesome broody hen.

Thanks for the warning! I'll be on the lookout for you FFA hooligans!

 

[maryhysong]

I used Jack Daniels - just rubbed it onto their gums. I don't drink at all, and never even have alcohol in the house (I don't like the taste of any of it), but I did have that tiny little bottle just for teething.

me too; tho I always had a small bottle around for 'medicinal purposes', like hot toddies when you have a miserable head cold and can't sleep.

 

[TucsonWest]

I posted yesterday about the Polish crested cockerel who needs a new home. Today I discovered that the crowing was actually coming from my Egyptian Fayoumi hen!

I'd like to find her a new home too so if anybody wants an Egyptian Fayoumi hen, please email me at [email protected]. I believe she is about a year old.

This is not to say that the Polish crested is a pullet - he is still a cockerel, and still needs a new home, just not crowing apparently.

 

[desertmarcy]

The other hen with heat stroke was in the nest box this morning. Will go out in a bit to check on her. She was sitting on the ground after dark last night, and I put her on the bottom rung of the ladder roost and she was able to hang on, so I think I pulled her through it. I know the problem with my misters. They are getting clogged with minerals and not spraying right, dripping more than spraying. I am not dealing with the heat very well myself these days and not able to go out there and unscrew them all and clean them, pipe tape them all and screw them back in....there are a lot of heads, 3 per pen X 8 plus more in the long pen at the end..ugh I am hot just thinking about fixing them all. Anyway, that is why I am getting muddy puddles, they are not "misting" , they are dripping.