'Bout lost one to the HEAT!!!!

[featherworks]

Well, I was supposed to work at the fire house today. When I got there this morning, there was no one on vacation and no one called in sick. So I took the day off. THANK GOODNESS!!!! About 4:00 I went in the coop to take a tally on todays eggs. (I have to wait on my son to get home before we can gather) That's when I noticed one of my BO hens laying under the nipple line panting worse than my black lab. As I reached down to pick her up, she never moved. I took her to the house and put her in a tub of shallow cool water and she started drinking. It took ger about an hour to gather herself back up. She was just sitting in the yard pecking some green grass and a grasshopper hopped within her reach and she snatched it right up. She finally stood up and slowly started walking around a bit. I put her back in the run about an hour before roosting time. When I checked on her later, she had made it up to the roost. I would like to thank BYC for hosting so much valuble info from so many helpful people who share their knowledge. I will be putting a popup tent in the run in the morning!!

Phil

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

The shallow cool water thing is a good thing to know. I've been expecting to walk out everyday and find dead chickens all over my yard/pasture. The good news is, they are smart enough to come in close to the house and get under the bushes and we do keep a LOT of fresh water available to them. When the actual heat is 107 and the heat index is in the 120's though I really do worry. Crossing fingers that this is the last week of the really awful heat plus humidity this year and so far everyone seems to be doing ok. I do see a lot of panting but no one seems to be in actual distress.

 

[Olive Hill]

If you cut the tops off milk jugs and/or 2-liter bottles, fill them with water and freeze they make great ice blocks to put out both in shallow dishes and as additions to waterers on really hot days to help keep them cool.