Dead barred rock :(

[KBrammell]

I had my first hen death experience today... it was over 95° here in San Jose California, and while I put out ice and frozen berries, my barred rock crawled into her nesting box and died. Feeling guilty but I don’t know what I could have done differently. My other hens seem hot but ok. Any tips on disposal, or (gentle) tips on prevention during heat? I am pretty traumatized so please be kind with comments.

 

[ejtalbert]

I had my first hen death experience today... it was over 95° here in San Jose California, and while I put out ice and frozen berries, my barred rock crawled into her nesting box and died. Feeling guilty but I don’t know what I could have done differently. My other hens seem hot but ok. Any tips on disposal, or (gentle) tips on prevention during heat? I am pretty traumatized so please be kind with comments.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.
If the other chickens seemed fine, she might have died for another cause. Was she just old and it was her time?

 

[ejtalbert]

I'm so sorry this happened to you.
If the other chickens seemed fine, she might have died for another cause. Was she just old and it was her time?

Also, for heat prevention, the berries and ice is good, you might also want to consider purchasing electrolytes. They mix with water, but also have plain water constantly avaliable.
You could also think about running a small fan to the coop during those hot spells.

 

[springvalley123]

Sorry for your loss. As for keeping cool in the heat, I live north of Phoenix and here's what I have:
2-liter soda bottles half filled, frozen. Put them in a shady spot so the birds sit next to them to get cool.
Toss a tray of ice cubes on the ground in a shady spot.
Misting system or stand mister --if possible, have a fan blowing the mist into a shady spot.
A misting fan that sits on top of a bucket and runs on a battery pack (from home depot, ryobi brand I think)
Hose off the coop/run periodically (run the water to get it cold first)
I also have shade cloths, but taking down one side of the roost/shelter helped the most. I cut two big windows in the north side of my roost and put shade cloth up for "windows" there, so the birds could get a draft at night but still feel secure enough to roost there.
Over the years I've lived in a few places and had at least a few adjustments to make at each place to get the setup closer to what I felt was needed.
best of luck, it's a learning process.

 

[KBrammell]

I'm so sorry this happened to you.
If the other chickens seemed fine, she might have died for another cause. Was she just old and it was her time?

She was only a year old. It was very sudden... she gave me an egg yesterday during 90 degree heat but died today in her nesting box. I assume from heat but I have only kept chickens for a year

 

[whitewood]

Dear KBrammell,
I am so so sorry to hear that you have loss your hen. I just started rearing chicks in April so I do not have much experience to share with you. Just saw your post and I am also in SJ with the heat wave so I feel very sorry and want to send you my condolences. One of my chick was injured 2 days ago and it breaks my heart so I can imagine how devastating it must have been for you.

While we are still keeping our chicks in the brooder boxes at home at night, we let our chicks roam in the run during the day. Last 1-2 weeks when there was another heat wave, we check on them regularly and when we saw that many of them have their mouths opened (like panting), we give each of them a quick bath to cool them down. My kids also use misting bottles to spray in the run or close to them but we think the bath works better. Not sure if this is the right way to do but it helps our chicks.

Sorry again for your loss. Sending you a *virtual hug*

 

[hayley3]

Anytime I noticed panting, I fill a deep plastic tote (purchased from Walmart) half-way with water and let it sit for a hour so it won't be too cold and then I will hold the bird's wings and place them gently in the water, to esp get water under the wings to cool them off. They hate it but it really cools them off and then let them go into the grass somewhere, near a fan if possible.
In addition to having a fan and shade, cold water to drink is very important.

I also have a cold kiddie pool (cost $5.88) filled with water (it's for my ducks actually) and will just place their feet in there and hold them there for a bit.

I never had good luck with the frozen water bottles.

 

[KBrammell]

I'm so sorry this happened to you.
If the other chickens seemed fine, she might have died for another cause. Was she just old and it was her time?

I inspected her later and discovered a large egg stuck near and blocking her vent.

 

[ejtalbert]

I inspected her later and discovered a large egg stuck near and blocking her vent.

So sad It's good to know you didn't do anything wrong, at least. I hope you feel better soon.