Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

I went back out to feed & check on everyone this evening & found one of my Swedish Flower Hen chicks down. They were all fine at the last check this afternoon, but I found her laying down on her side with her wing out at the back corner of the pen. She was off balance & couldn't stand at all, so I know she got too hot. I brought her in & wet her down & now have a cool wet towel over her on my lap. I have given her electrolytes by syringe a couple of times already & she kind of looks a little bit better. Her comb was just almost white when I brought her in & it's now starting to pink up a little. She still can't stand, but at least she can hold her head up now. When I move the towel she opens her eyes & looks around & then goes back to sleep. I'm hoping I found her in time. It's so strange how they go downhill so fast because I had just been out there two hours before.

Here are some pics of her, she is such a pretty little thing I hope she recovers.






I know she is not feeling well because she is not even attempting to get off of my lap at all & I know that wouldn't happen if she was feeling better. I went back out after finding her to make sure all the rest in that pen were OK & they were. I'm going to keep this one in a dog crate in the house tonight & hopefully when she gets re-hydrated & cooled off completely she will come around. That's what I'm hoping anyway. I'm going to get the ingredients for the homemade electrolyte solution when I go to buy groceries so I will have it, I have a feeling I'm going to need more than those little packets I have for chicks.

Medawinks, how is your hen doing that you had to bring in? I hope she's doing better also.

 

[HEChicken]

Josie, I kept seeing people quote you and finally realized I had missed one of your posts so I had to go back 3 pages to find it. That is a neat story about Lucie and the chick - I think she is going to be a great LGD for you once she matures.

Ivy, so sorry about the loss of the Rosecomb. Why is it always the ones we care about the most that are lost. I guess not ALWAYS, since my grey pullet did not become a fox victim but so often it really does seem to work that way. I have some barnyard mutts that don't have a lot of personality that if I lost them I'd think "Huh - I'm gonna miss the eggs from that one but...life goes on" and then I have some that it would be very disappointing to lose and which ones always go first? Yes, of course, my unsociable, unfriendly, barnyard mutts are always the survivors.

Trish, how old is that Swedish Flower Hen? I hate to say it but if it is as young as I think it is, it looks like a roo to me. Is a male Swedish Flower HEN still a HEN? Anyway, I hope he/she pulls through with the extra attention you are giving it.....

We didn't get any rain here today, but I had to drive to Andover and it was storming there. Wish we had got some of it....

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I was so grateful for a break in the heat today. No rain but lots of clouds and we could hear thunder. Almost forgot what that sounded like. Some of my birds have started with the sneezing.

Hawkeye how are your birds doing?

Coyotes are out tonight. I hope to goodness everything we've done is enough. I just chased them away once. They were in the neighbor's yard where they haven't cut the hay, yet. Finally, the hay is cut immediately behind us and all that's left is the back half of the neighbor's yard to the west.

 

[cherwill]

I'm so depressed. It's sad how many birds are dying, and other critters, I'm sure, in this unending heat. It's just like an oven and there's no end in sight. I've been thinking a lot about you all who are losing your birds.

Those funny stories are really needed here, with all the sad things going on. I try to drink water all day, but there's usually a section in the middle where I just don't keep up. Then I end up drinking a lot in the evening, and you know what that means for a good night's sleep. Yep, I'm old enough to need those middle of the night trips to the bathroom.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

I'm so sorry for all our birds. This heat is just brutal and doesn't look to be letting up over the next week. I hope and pray we have a cooler than normal August. For everybody having birdie troubles and for those who have lost birds:

I went back out to feed & check on everyone this evening & found one of my Swedish Flower Hen chicks down. They were all fine at the last check this afternoon, but I found her laying down on her side with her wing out at the back corner of the pen. She was off balance & couldn't stand at all, so I know she got too hot. I brought her in & wet her down & now have a cool wet towel over her on my lap. I have given her electrolytes by syringe a couple of times already & she kind of looks a little bit better. Her comb was just almost white when I brought her in & it's now starting to pink up a little. She still can't stand, but at least she can hold her head up now. When I move the towel she opens her eyes & looks around & then goes back to sleep. I'm hoping I found her in time. It's so strange how they go downhill so fast because I had just been out there two hours before.

Here are some pics of her, she is such a pretty little thing I hope she recovers.






I know she is not feeling well because she is not even attempting to get off of my lap at all & I know that wouldn't happen if she was feeling better. I went back out after finding her to make sure all the rest in that pen were OK & they were. I'm going to keep this one in a dog crate in the house tonight & hopefully when she gets re-hydrated & cooled off completely she will come around. That's what I'm hoping anyway. I'm going to get the ingredients for the homemade electrolyte solution when I go to buy groceries so I will have it, I have a feeling I'm going to need more than those little packets I have for chicks.

Medawinks, how is your hen doing that you had to bring in? I hope she's doing better also.

 

[JosieChick]

I'm glad your horses are all doing well in this heat. It sounds like you have better conditions up there-- maybe even a bit cooler, or something.

My neighbor gave me 10 little cedar trees!! So I'm going to go out there and put them into the ground here in a bit. I already sweat my bootie off putting up horse grain and setting out a new 50lbs salt lick for the horses. Holy moly, I don't remember those licks being THAT heavy. Ugh. Anyway, I'm thinking ahead to winter and how the wind just whistles right thru here with no breaks, so I'm going to set up a mini wind break. I know 10 trees won't do it, but it'll be a start. He said he has more, so I'll have to go dig those up later. He's been planting them all around the property line of his place and they seem to grow REALLY fast. I've been so impressed with the native cedar-- they have a great shape to them and they seem to thrive in the heat.

Hawkeye- I don't know if its cooler, it sure doesn't feel like it sometimes! We have a heavily wooded area and the horses hang out in there during the day so that helps. Plus mine are younger still for the most part aside from Denver who is 17, I think. You have some older mares right? My old quarter horse mare never dealt with the heat well at all. It has been so miserable out.

You can come up to my house and take all the cedar you want!!!! People up here treat it like a weed. I have cut several down because they spread so rapidly. I left a few as a wind break but the neighbor said they will shoot up everywhere if you let them. I have two trees to plant and have been draggin my heels cause the ground is so hard, I don't envy you with ten!

This reminds me of a story about my (now) 13 yr old black lab, Fritz - this story is when he was just a couple years old. I'd been out mowing the lawn, and ran across a nest of baby bunnies. Being the animal lover I was, I ran inside, grabbed a shoebox and picked them all up (or so I thought). I planned on keeping them in the box till I was done mowing, then i'd put them right back and recover the nest. I brought them inside to show my daughter the baby bunnies and Fritz followed me in. Next thing I knew, he dropped a baby bunny at my feet. Like your chick, it was perfectly fine except quite a bit slobbery. He'd just found one when I was picking them up and thought he'd help!

This heat is HORRIBLE! We've had several heat strokes come into the ER, so please please be careful and drink lots of water if you are going to work outside! We got quite a big storm here in Lawrence last night. Most of the rain had missed us the past few weeks, so we reallllly needed it. Lightening knocked out the power though. I went to a concert in Kansas City last night and got home about midnight. We were just getting ready for bed and about 12:45 the power went out. We were so exhausted that we just went to bed. It got really hot overnight and the power didn't kick back on till about 7:30 this morning! It's a really good thing that we had taken off this morning in anticipation of getting home late. If it would have been a "normal" morning, I'm not sure that I would have woken up without the alarm going off. I normally have to get up before 6 to start work at 7. I'm a night owl and can easily stay up till 3am if I don't have to be up in the morning. My perfect sleep schedule would be 2am to 10am, but the birds would hate that! LOL

Glad your electricity came back on, I bet it was toasty with no ac! I had a duck dance going on in the pool today and I had to laugh because it made me think of your silly ducks!

I went back out to feed & check on everyone this evening & found one of my Swedish Flower Hen chicks down. They were all fine at the last check this afternoon, but I found her laying down on her side with her wing out at the back corner of the pen. She was off balance & couldn't stand at all, so I know she got too hot. I brought her in & wet her down & now have a cool wet towel over her on my lap. I have given her electrolytes by syringe a couple of times already & she kind of looks a little bit better. Her comb was just almost white when I brought her in & it's now starting to pink up a little. She still can't stand, but at least she can hold her head up now. When I move the towel she opens her eyes & looks around & then goes back to sleep. I'm hoping I found her in time. It's so strange how they go downhill so fast because I had just been out there two hours before.

Here are some pics of her, she is such a pretty little thing I hope she recovers.






I know she is not feeling well because she is not even attempting to get off of my lap at all & I know that wouldn't happen if she was feeling better. I went back out after finding her to make sure all the rest in that pen were OK & they were. I'm going to keep this one in a dog crate in the house tonight & hopefully when she gets re-hydrated & cooled off completely she will come around. That's what I'm hoping anyway. I'm going to get the ingredients for the homemade electrolyte solution when I go to buy groceries so I will have it, I have a feeling I'm going to need more than those little packets I have for chicks.

Medawinks, how is your hen doing that you had to bring in? I hope she's doing better also.

Poor little thing, hope it is ok!

Josie, I kept seeing people quote you and finally realized I had missed one of your posts so I had to go back 3 pages to find it. That is a neat story about Lucie and the chick - I think she is going to be a great LGD for you once she matures.

Ivy, so sorry about the loss of the Rosecomb. Why is it always the ones we care about the most that are lost. I guess not ALWAYS, since my grey pullet did not become a fox victim but so often it really does seem to work that way. I have some barnyard mutts that don't have a lot of personality that if I lost them I'd think "Huh - I'm gonna miss the eggs from that one but...life goes on" and then I have some that it would be very disappointing to lose and which ones always go first? Yes, of course, my unsociable, unfriendly, barnyard mutts are always the survivors.

Trish, how old is that Swedish Flower Hen? I hate to say it but if it is as young as I think it is, it looks like a roo to me. Is a male Swedish Flower HEN still a HEN? Anyway, I hope he/she pulls through with the extra attention you are giving it.....

We didn't get any rain here today, but I had to drive to Andover and it was storming there. Wish we had got some of it....

I hope she shapes up! Carrying chickens around the yard is definitely not in job description! We have had some serious issues with the carrying chickens around thing but I haven't caught her doing it, just found very bruised slobbered chickens and a few that didn't survive the carrying around. I am hoping we can remedy it, I was just surprised that she wasn't "playing" with it like I had imagined. How is Tory doing with your birds?

Ivy-SO sorry you lost your Rosecomb, this weather is just miserable.

 

[Trish44]

HeChicken, yeah I just called it a she but I don't know what any of them are as of yet. The breed is called Swedish Flower Hen or Blommenhons as the Swedish call them, so they're still called that whether a cockerel or a pullet. This bunch are about a month old I think around that anyway. This one does have pretty big feet so it could be a roo, we'll find out. I just love the breed because they're so inquisitive & friendly & as they grow they get more & more colorful. This group is just starting to get more color. I can't wait to see the other little ones as they get feathers & their color too because I do have some different colors in that group that I didn't in the first. I'm going to let them all grow & see what sexes I have & colors before I decide which ones I want for breeding. I have one in the first group so far with a crest. The hens can be crested as well as the roosters. I'm hoping I get some crested ones in the young ones I have still in the house. The crested gene is dominant so all you need is one crested to produce some crested chicks.

 

[medawinks]

Josie, your Lucie sounds like a gem!!! I was laughing out loud reading about her trying to put it somewhere to make it stop

Trish, your Sweedish flower hens are so beautiful! I recognize the description of what happened to yours today only too well! My Molly did try to stand tonight, drank some in her own and started resisting the syringe. She even ate some yogurt and a couple of meal worms. The corn syrup really did help! Thank you Josie!! She is still far from being OK, though, just stands with her head down and tires out from eating and drinking very quickly. I added more ice bottles and another mister in my coop. If they are waterlogged, I guess that is better than overheated. I will just have to change out their straw daily, to keep it from molding??

Tweety- A dog that is gentle with a bunny.. He is a keeper too! Glad your power outage worked out. No power in this heat is what I greatly fear..... No AC is not OK. I am a total wimp in this heat. NM heat is so much easier to handle....

I know I probably missed something as I skimmed, I hope it was all good news and that your birds are making it. I am off to check on Molly again :-(

 

[JosieChick]

Medawinks- I am so glad she is perking up for you. I bet she will be feeling much better by tomorrow am. A good nights rest to recuperate. The fact that she is resistant means she is building up some strength! Sounds like you found her and intervened in time!

Danz- Hope your boy is doing ok. I know you mentioned company but I thought of you and him this afternoon. Maybe he just needs some time to get back on his feet.

I am starting to tire out. I was gonna stay up and clean the house but I worked outside all day today, bathed 3 horses, cleaned pens, moved stuff and fixed fencing, scrubbed out all the kiddie pools with diluted bleach...I am tuckered out. Guess I will have to get up tomorrow and get to work early. Don't want the in laws to come up on Sunday and think I am slacking off up here! Stay cool everyone!

 

[sharol]

Yes, and you will have to water them to keep them alive until the drought breaks. You practically need a pickaxe to get through the crust.

I gave up tonight and only planted 3 of the cedar trees. The ground is hard as a rock! I need to soak it in the morning and finish up the rest of the trees.