Colorado

[wsmith]

X2 what Rock Island said. Water, Water Water. Keep it in the shade, make sure there is enough shade with a breeze for all the chickens at the same time. Also, the heavier fluffier chicken breeds have a harder time in the heat than the mediteranian breeds, like leghorns. I have heard of people freezing jugs of water and putting them out into the pens in the shade to help cool things down. I've never tried that, but it was something I heard. Were any of the flock panting from the heat?

Another thought on the hen that passed, is it possible she had heart failure? loud noises and lightening can scare chickens literally to death, especially if they have a problem to begin with. Just a thought.

 

[wsmith]

Sorry." Rock Island" was meant to be "Rock Home Isle".

 

[dennarahl]

Were any of the flock panting from the heat?

Another thought on the hen that passed, is it possible she had heart failure? loud noises and lightening can scare chickens literally to death, especially if they have a problem to begin with. Just a thought.

They do pant, the dark chickens more than the others. We're adding a ton more shade tonight to give them some more places to get cool. I'll try the frozen jugs and see how that goes.

Heart failure is definitely a possiblity, because they were definitely scared. We hadn't seen any previous signs of it.

 

[WendyGeisler]

Hi All,
we finished our super protected run and put the coop in. My girls have been in it for the last 3 days and just aren't coming out. I think I need to train them how to use the little ladder under the coop. But when I do hand carry them out, they seem soo nervous and are uber excited to go back inside their coop. Any suggestions? I sat outside on monday for an hour and a half with them while they were outside and they congregated under/around my legs. I think they don't know what to do with their freedom!

 

[larca83]

dennarahl, so very sorry for the loss of your hen.

 

[wattsjadajoe]

dennarahl, so very sorry for the loss of your hen.

Nothing else I could say.

Hope the water and shade helps. Keep in mind, that as with humans, animals too, die earlier than they should.

Joe

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

WOW. Is anyone else getting hammered by this storm? We're getting quarter sized hail mixed in the downpour.

 

[dennarahl]

Thanks everyone. So far none of the other chickens are having any problems. For our camping trip we've decided to reschedule for later because we're still not sure all of our preparations are adequate. We have a friend who we trust, he's just out of town this weekend.... Doh! After tomorrow morning they will have a ton more shade so I think they'll be a lot happier. I wish I could be out there right now putting everything up, but the weather isn't cooperating.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Amazing weather tonight...Quite the light show to the east and north of us. I hope that everyone in this weather is Okay tonight. Only about 15 minutes left on the Tornado watch for our area.

 

[dennarahl]

We've been under tornado watch all night, and warning a couple of times. I'm ready for this to be over. The nastiest bit so far just rolled over. Thankfully we made the chickens and geese go to bed at about 7 before it got really ugly.