Arizona Chickens

[City farm]

Sorry to everyone that lost birds in this heat.  I lost a bird too, an EE. She was having a hard time with the heat anytime it got over 110.  While the other hens would pant, she would pant so hard it made noise.  She hand almost no comb and zero wattles to help shed heat and abundant fluffy feathers, great for cold weather. I normally turn the misters on around noon on the hottest days, today it wasn't soon enough.

You are doing everything you can. Some birds just aren't going to be able to take our heat. I, too, lost birds today--2 Rhode Island Red cock birds, one was my founding breeder, his son I kept from last year and one of his daughters. They were fine yesterday morning when I fed, the older bird and the hen were dead this morning and the other male died this afternoon. They just keeled over. I had gone out in the heat of the day to turn on the mister and spray down the pens that didn't have misters and that is when I found the other male. I was a little too late. I had not had trouble with this breed in the heat last year and I felt that last year was hotter. I am rethinking breeding these if they can't take it here. I will try one more year. Maybe I will be selecting for the heat tolerant ones. What I have found is when we have relatively cool periods and then the temperature spikes suddenly, that is when I lose birds. It was also humid and no breeze. It is a real drag. Mine aren't pets but I hate to loose them that way. My founding cock was a nice show bird, he was only 2 years old. I was hoping he would be siring more chicks.

I think you are right about sticking with breeds that do well in our heat. Its hard to see them suffer in the heat and worse if they die from it.
I'm thinking about getting some Penedesencas the next time I get chicks to raise, they keep coming up anytime I search for heat tolerant breeds, plus they have high production and beautiful very dark eggs.  Anyone here have any?  It would be great to get some locally but I'll probably have to ship some from out of state.

I am with you Penedesencas would be a good breed for our heat.. Let us know if you find some..

 

[City farm]

Dang it. We lost 'Thing 2" a beautiful grey Ameraucana and my daughters favorite. I sure hate having to tell my daughters. This morning when my 9 year old woke up the first thing she asked was 'Dad, did any of them die last night?'. Followed by lots of tears. It seems like we lose one every summer when the heat spikes. It seems a little odd that she made it through the day and died at 10 o'clock at night. This is also her 2nd summer which gave me false confidence that she'd be able to tolerate the heat. 

Condolences from us.. AND;

 

[FeatherPugs]

Dang it. We lost 'Thing 2" a beautiful grey Ameraucana and my daughters favorite. I sure hate having to tell my daughters. This morning when my 9 year old woke up the first thing she asked was 'Dad, did any of them die last night?'. Followed by lots of tears. It seems like we lose one every summer when the heat spikes. It seems a little odd that she made it through the day and died at 10 o'clock at night. This is also her 2nd summer which gave me false confidence that she'd be able to tolerate the heat.

Shoot where I live it was still dang hot at 10pm!! I have one EE girl - new to laying but beautiful blue egg - who is just miserable - I go pick her up and put her feet in the water every chance I get. The last few days I've out multiples in water bottles so they can sit next to them. And the nest boxes are hot, hot, hot!! I'll be doing something about with the cooler weather for sure. Please stay safe everyone - you have those feather babies counting on you!

 

[AzDesertChooks]

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[AzDesertChooks]

Sorry for your losses

You can put some electrolytes into there water to help them with the heat thats what i do with my girls.
here is my recipe for electrolyte.

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Gallon Water

Hope this helps i know it does for my girls.

I too, am sorry for all of the losses yesterday. This is great information, I will try this recipe. Thank you for sharing.

 

[AzDesertChooks]

I have sand in one area that has misters and the Marans like to dig in and lay in the wet sand. The EE pullets end up flying over a couple fences to join the Marans so it seems they prefer the wet sand to grass. I may get sand for all the other areas as well.
My Marans and NNs seem to handle the heat better than the Orps, Ameraucanas & EEs. I don't even see them holding their wings out nor panting.

How long have you had sand?
And what kind of sand do you use?

 

[desertmarcy]

Here is one of my Rocks is it a Cockerel or a Pullet, it is only 4 weeks and a couple days old.

I call him/her Brave because he/she is always the first to do anything lol

Cockerel

 

[desertmarcy]

Dang it. We lost 'Thing 2" a beautiful grey Ameraucana and my daughters favorite. I sure hate having to tell my daughters. This morning when my 9 year old woke up the first thing she asked was 'Dad, did any of them die last night?'. Followed by lots of tears. It seems like we lose one every summer when the heat spikes. It seems a little odd that she made it through the day and died at 10 o'clock at night. This is also her 2nd summer which gave me false confidence that she'd be able to tolerate the heat.

Yes, me too. It was quite a shock to find that RIR male dead since he was two years old. Sometimes I think the older ones have a harder time, especially older hens that are carrying a lot of fat.

 

[AzDesertChooks]

Wanted to add, I do plan on adding sand to our run.. We use clipped grass, weeds, & tree debris.. What ever we can get for free..

I like the idea of adding the clipped grass and tree debris, etc.
What kind of sand are you going to use?

 

[a little chiken]

to all our Newbies.

Condolences to everyone who lost birds yesterday.
Whether they are pets or not we all spend a lot of time and money on our birds, It is always devastating to lose them.
We all have different coops. different set ups and different breeds, we all can only do the best we can to provide a happy healthy cool place for our birds. I hope all the rest of our birds survive the AZ heat.

for the person who lost the AM I raise them and have blue AM chicks if you are wanting to replace the one you lost.