Consolidated Kansas

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye- I am sorry this happened to you. I think I sold this guy silkies a few years ago and he did this with them. I never met him because his teenage son picked the birds up. At least they have a very fresh, clean bowl of water?

How are your babies doing? Feeling any better? I still have that poor silkie chick with the slipped achilles tendon.

That darn broody, I let her out of the vari kennel this morning and she just took off and those babies were screaming their little heads off and she never even came back for them. She was walking all around clucking like a broody does but she never came back to near where they were so I took them from her. They are too cute and sweet to let her neglect them and I don't want them to die out there!

The little polish chicks are the best of friends today! So cute. I swear, I don't know how they know they are both polish but they do!

So I am kind of aggravated with Ideal

Thanks, this guy wasn't too old, spoke spanish and had two younger girls with him. But it could be the same family anyway. Sure sounds familiar! So cute that your polish know each other-- like breeds tend to do that, and I have no idea how they know. Crazy broody!! She obviously doesn't know what the heck she is doing if she ran off without her babies. I got those two white roosters from Ideal hatchery. I bought my layer flock from Murrary, I think. I ended up with exactly what I asked for.

Well I'm pretty sure what I have in the turkey pen are two trios, so I'm going to have to pick out the trio I want & sell the other one. Anybody want a trio of Royal Palms?

The little peafowl chicks are growing, they're about twice the size already that they were when they came & they're eating well.

I noticed on the Poultry Swap that now that I quit hatching there are several people looking for Ameraucana chicks, it figures. Oh well, I'm pretty burned out on hatching for now so I'm glad I'm done except for that one egg, I need a break from it. It's too darned hot to put the chicks out in the brooders & it's been a mess having to have them in the utility room & storage room. I'm down to the one crate now & I'm glad. Next year I'm going to try to start hatching earlier & quit earlier I think. Most of the people that hatch every year stop at the end of May, I think with the way our summers have been that is probably pretty smart.

Argh! I wish I could take your turkeys!! My DH is worried we are moving next year... so we're done for now. Sigh. Glad your peas are doing great!! That is wonderful news! That is what I did this year with my incubating! I did everything towards the end of winter/Spring and then was done in June. I will do that next year, too. I don't want to be hatching in the summer. This summer is no fun so far.

Trish, I can't do a rain dance but I can do a Chicken Danz!

It was so miserable today and I haven't hardly accomplished anything.
I finally took my grand daughter to the creek and we caught frogs, tadpoles and minnows. At least it gave her something to do where it wasn't so miserable hot.
I have my partridge cochin rooster in here. He was almost gone. I got him in the house and set him in water for probably 20 minutes. Then he started shaking really bad even though the water wasn't cold. So I took him out laid him on a towel and covered him with another one. I figured he was going into shock. He laid there about an hour on his side before he could sit up. He is now walking around the dining room but he still is a little unsteady on his feet. Poor guy. I sure hope he will be okay. I don't have a good replacement bird for him.
I have the misters running today but some of the birds aren't near them.
I just hate this darned weather. We were going to take the boat out but DH is working on the carburetor. We haven't taken it out for a couple of years. I'm like Trish. I've always been a summer person but I'm not a desert person.

LOL!!! Funny, you are! (that was my Yoda voice) So neat that you took her to get frogs, tadpoles and minnows!! My kids would LOVE that!! I should probably take them down to our pond to hunt... but it's been too hot to walk out there. Bleah. I hope your DH can get the boat going! That would be a blast! I LOVE boating!!! Your poor cochin!! I hope he is okay! You are such a good chicken mama bringing him in and mothering him like that. You are having such a bad time with the heat up there! I remember this winter we were both talking about how we are summer girls-- how depressed I get in the winter. But this is brutal-- this is NOT the kind of summer I signed up for! What happened to our normal Kansas summers?? The fun ones where it didn't kill everything outside?!?!


Speaking of the heat killing everything-- AGAIN today my horses were down. Usually it's just my oldest mare that gets ill in the heat. But today I had both of my mares down. My poor gelding didn't know what to do! He kept nose nudging his mama. I got them up (took me a while, though with lots of cursing and clapping on their rears) and then got them tied up to the front of the barn and hosed them down for a good 30 mins and rubbed them down. I ended up having to hose down my oldest again only an hour and half later. Sigh. I'm afraid I'm going to come home to dead horses if I don't stick around here for the hottest part of the day, poor things.

 

[Hawkeye95]

we can see some storm clouds but not sure if will get any of it. The wind has picked up in the last five minutes we've been signing a rain song so maybe will get some

Danz have you tried this i just used plan salt
Heat stress and dehydration deplete the body of electrolytes required for a chicken's normal body functioning, therefore replenishing them is a priority when chickens suffer from heat stress and/or dehydration. The following instructions for making a homemade electrolyte solution can be found in The Chicken Encyclopedia, a book I highly recommend every chicken-keeper include in their library.

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION

1/2 teaspoon salt substitute
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water

*Note: Salt substitute is readily available in most grocery stores in the spice aisle near the salt, but if you do not have it, don't worry.​

​

what IS salt substitute?? Does it taste like salt? I have a Pom that has seizures when she's low in electrolytes or just stressed, so I just mix sugar, water and salt. I don't have that book, sounds like something to check out! I wonder if the library would have it so I could look at it before I bought it... hmmm...
I hope you get that rain!!!!

 

[chicken danz]

I haven't tried that solution but I have used pedialite for chickens which does the same thing. I don't know if this guy is going to make it or not. I can't get him to eat or drink and he is just standing in one spot. He is pooping green which means he doesn't have any food in his system at all. I may have to force him to take some stuff from a dropper to get him going again. I would sure hate to loose him. I've got lots of roosters but there are a few I really really need and he is one of those.
Guess I 'd better go see what I can do for him.

 

[msjfrizzle]

Salt substitute is potassium chloride, salt is sodium chloride. The potassium is important. You can also get "Lite" salt which is half regular salt and half potassium chloride, and just adjust the amounts a bit. The electrolyte solution I use calls 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. salt substitute, and 1/2 t. baking soda. I just use 1 t. of Lite salt instead of the 2 halves.

 

[sharol]

Thanks for the recipe. I'll get some no-salt in town tomorrow. The weather forcast for the next 2 weeks appears to be more of the same.

My chickens are staying around the mister, and I have an old garden sprinkler set on a trickle in the corner of the run near the misters, and they stand in the mud and water during the worst of the heat. At 9 it was 89 degrees in the yard and 97 in the coop, so I sat there with a fan blowing into the people door for a while and got the temp down a bit. They have an exhaust/intake fan in the window, but it just isn't moving enough air.

Sharol

we can see some storm clouds but not sure if will get any of it. The wind has picked up in the last five minutes we've been signing a rain song so maybe will get some

Danz have you tried this i just used plan salt
Heat stress and dehydration deplete the body of electrolytes required for a chicken's normal body functioning, therefore replenishing them is a priority when chickens suffer from heat stress and/or dehydration. The following instructions for making a homemade electrolyte solution can be found in The Chicken Encyclopedia, a book I highly recommend every chicken-keeper include in their library.

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION

1/2 teaspoon salt substitute
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water

*Note: Salt substitute is readily available in most grocery stores in the spice aisle near the salt, but if you do not have it, don't worry.​

​

 

[Hawkeye95]

Salt substitute is potassium chloride, salt is sodium chloride. The potassium is important. You can also get "Lite" salt which is half regular salt and half potassium chloride, and just adjust the amounts a bit. The electrolyte solution I use calls 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. salt substitute, and 1/2 t. baking soda. I just use 1 t. of Lite salt instead of the 2 halves.

Jill, you popped up right at the perfect moment! Thanks! I had no idea, but it sounds like the salt sub would be pretty important after all!

Thanks for the recipe. I'll get some no-salt in town tomorrow. The weather forcast for the next 2 weeks appears to be more of the same.

My chickens are staying around the mister, and I have an old garden sprinkler set on a trickle in the corner of the run near the misters, and they stand in the mud and water during the worst of the heat. At 9 it was 89 degrees in the yard and 97 in the coop, so I sat there with a fan blowing into the people door for a while and got the temp down a bit. They have an exhaust/intake fan in the window, but it just isn't moving enough air.

Sharol

Oh no, more of the same.... shoot me now! My horses barely made it thru today.

Danz--- I sure hope your boy comes around. I'd try to get something down his beak and see if he snaps out of it.

 

[medawinks]

Thank you for posting the electrolyte solution!! I had resorted to pedialyte today when my youngest Silkie wouldnt get off the ground and one if the EE seemed really off balance. I dont know how my BCM can stand it! They have lots of shade and have learned how to use what cooling help we have, but it isnt enough....We have had ice in the wading pool, a mister, an oscillating fan, ice bags and bottles of ice in shady corners and still these poor birds are HOT.... :-( I sprayed all the birds down and turned the fan on them and it perked them up enough to eat frozen yogurt and applesauce.... Spoiled little things.... My dogs had ice in their wading pool too. They loved it! They are all a misty muddy mess,but so far... OK tonight.

I can't imagine having a brooder in the house and worrying about younger chicks in this heat. I can see why folks stop hatching before the heat sets in. Do some start up again in the fall?

Hawkeye, I know your horses love you! It is even hard for humans trying to cope with this weather when we can come inside in the air conditioning.

Josie, that is too sweet about your polish chicks. I have one polish and one Favarolle and they stick together like glue and were in the brooder together. We originally had 2 but my sons died for no known reason, except that possibly the Favarolle squashed it sleeping? Sorry your broody flew the coop do to speak... More little ones to look after for you. I am not sure I will ever get brave enough to have a hen set on eggs.... But maybe. Maybe she got too hot with them close to her? I know my kids hugging and cuddling on me right now is a mixed bag! I love their cuddles, but it is too hot to cuddle!

I am sure hoping a Chicken Danz brings rain!!! I am from the desert in NM..... It is much more comfortable there!!! At least it cools off at night!!!! :-(. This 90 degrees stuff at 9pm is insane....

Take care!!

 

[Trish44]

Thanks for the electrolyte solution recipe, I'm going to try to gather up that stuff in case I need it when I go to the store again. Danz, I hope your rooster makes it, gosh are we all going to make it through this summer, this is horrible!

Hawkeye, I'm sorry to hear about your horses, wow I hope you can keep them cooled down enough.

I went out this evening & moved all the rest of my chicks to the shadier pen, that was quite a chore. I had to catch a few at a time in the net & usually while I was trying to catch some one or two would escape out the pen door through the crack then I would have to catch those. This was after I had hauled two loads of dirt up & shoveled it around the new pen to make sure there weren't gaps underneath for the smaller chicks to get out. I sure hope none figure out anyway to get out of there. They were all kind of freaked out being completely outside because they have been in that pen in the run & it's been kind of confined & covered. The Cream Legbars just had moved outside last night, so they really were kind of like where did you take us when I moved them to the new pen. They will all have so much more room there & it has much more shade there. I still didn't get the tarp over it, but I don't think we're in danger of any rain tonight. I will probably go out in the morning & put the tarp on. I just found out my DH is going into work early tomorrow, so that will give me more time to get some things done & I need to make a feed run too. Anyway, they should all be better off out there in the shade than where they were panting their heads off, I already lost one chick & I hope I don't lose any more. My Ameraucana roo was honking today when I went out to spray everybody down, so I sprayed him with the hose. They don't like it at all & run into their house, but I know it makes them feel better for awhile anyway. It's the same with the rabbits, they run all over the place trying to get away from the water, but at least they're not so hot for awhile. I go out every day & put a blanket over part of the peacock pen & wet it down, it gives them some shade & cools things down some for a few hours. Oh I hope we don't have another whole month of this, it's going to get really old.

 

[sapphireblu76]

Oh no!!!! I hoped it was purely coincidental!! No wonder you couldn't understand their correspondence in email... I apologize for laughing at their spelling. I sure dont see any humor in what they did with them. I wonder if they even know that they need to be fed!!! Poor babies!
Trish, I am sorry you lost a chick. I have wondered what that kind of chick looks like. They sound extra unique :-( I hope you have more.
Danz, I know your granddaughter will treasure the memories of her summer trip to see you Not every girl gets to stay at a bird zoo and learn all about them . The dress preference is a nice thing, I think. I loved to dress my girls in dresses when they were little and they both love them still. Won't catch me in one often though Sorry the heat is causing you so much loss... This heat wave is merciless.
Saphire,I love that splash hen! What breed is that?
Wow!!! Grand Champion!!! Congrats!!! Please share a pic! ( sadly, I don't know what a rose comb is) I want to learn
I am planning on checking out the Douglas County and Shawnee Co poultry shows. Is anyone on here entering in those?

The hen is a Splash Copper Marans and the roo is a Black Copper Marans

Sapphire, I meant to tell you your marans are beautiful, I love the splash hen! I have a roo just like that, his name is Rusty & he is getting just huge. I got him to go with my BC Marans hens because the roo I had died. My marans hens are looking really ragged right now due to the heat, in fact all of my adult hens look pretty ragged right now, this summer isn't doing them any favors for sure. I just hope they all make it through it.

Thanks! Yes, all my other big girls and a couple of my roos look terrible, feather-wise It has to be this heat nothing else seems to explain their condition.

Okay let's all put our minds together and think rain and 75 degrees. Maybe a combination of the minds working together will make a difference.

75 degrees and rain,

75 degrees and rain,

75 degrees and rain...PLEEEEEEEASE! It's rained near us twice and both times it stopped about a mile before it got to our house

we can see some storm clouds but not sure if will get any of it. The wind has picked up in the last five minutes we've been signing a rain song so maybe will get some

Danz have you tried this i just used plan salt
Heat stress and dehydration deplete the body of electrolytes required for a chicken's normal body functioning, therefore replenishing them is a priority when chickens suffer from heat stress and/or dehydration. The following instructions for making a homemade electrolyte solution can be found in The Chicken Encyclopedia, a book I highly recommend every chicken-keeper include in their library.

HOMEMADE ELECTROLYTE SOLUTION

1/2 teaspoon salt substitute
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 gallon water

*Note: Salt substitute is readily available in most grocery stores in the spice aisle near the salt, but if you do not have it, don't worry.​

​

Awesome, thank you for posting this!

 

[sharol]

Woke up to thunder this morning. No measurable rain (less than a tenth), but at least there was water on the patio on grass. It is still 75 degrees at 6:30, though.

Good luck to everyone on the heat and cooling their animals.

sharol