Dead Chicken - Heat? Water? Fighting

[farmland5]

We have 5 Columbian Wyandottes in NJ in a 6x8 coop. Their coop has an underneath run. They were all fine this morning at 9am. We gave them fresh cold water and let them into their underneath run. I put a few cold water bottles out.

I checked on them at 1pm and found 1 dead. she was laying by the water.

I’m guessing she died of a heat stroke.

We only have 1 water source. Any advice on water sources/systems?

We have a metal standard chicken watered. I don’t like that it gets dirty. We use to use nipples screwed into the side of a plastic bucket but they kept leaking an and the chickens seemed to not drink as much from them.

The other 4 chickens were all walking around but with their beaks open. They are in our kitchen now cooling off.

Another problem I’ve noticed is now 2 are fighting…which makes me wonder if they had picked on the dead one or blocked her from the water.

We had 1 broody hen that we put with keet eggs in a chicken tractor the past 2 weeks. I think she was the alpha. Now she and another keep fighting in our kitchen. I was going to put her back with the other hens this week but now I’m afraid. We had total harmony before….

So any advice on keeping chickens cool, water, or fighting is welcomed.

I am so upset I didn’t check on them sooner. . I spent 2 hrs moving other animals to cooler locations. Clearly our chickens were the ones I should have been moving.

 

[farmland5]

We had 5 Columbian Wyandottes in NJ in a 6x8 coop. Their coop has an underneath run. They were all fine this morning at 9am. We gave them fresh cold water and let them into their underneath run. I put a few cold water bottles out.

I checked on them at 1pm and found 1 dead. she was laying by the water.

I’m guessing she died of a heat stroke.

We only have 1 water source. Any advice on water sources/systems?

We have a metal standard chicken watered. I don’t like that it gets dirty. We use to use nipples screwed into the side of a plastic bucket but they kept leaking an and the chickens seemed to not drink as much from them.

The other 4 chickens were all walking around but with their beaks open. They are in our kitchen now cooling off.

Another problem I’ve noticed is now 2 are fighting…which makes me wonder if they had picked on the dead one or blocked her from the water.

We had 1 broody hen that we put with keet eggs in a chicken tractor the past 2 weeks. I think she was the alpha. Now she and another keep fighting in our kitchen. I was going to put her back with the other hens this week but now I’m afraid. We had total harmony before….

So any advice on keeping chickens cool, water, or prevent fighting is welcomed.

I am so upset I didn’t check on them sooner. . I spent 2 hrs moving other animals to cooler locations. Clearly our chickens were the ones I should have been moving. . Im heading to tractor supply to buy another chicken tractor that I can put in thick shade on days like today.

 

[farmland5]

Also the fighting I’m seeing in the kitchen is brutal. Is this possibly because we removed the alpha to brood chicks and then another became alpha in the coop? Anything I can do to stop them? I’m afraid to put her back in the coop. Will a rooster prevent the hens from fighting?

 

[FrostRanger]

First, how big are your coop and run in feet and for how many birds? Second, any signs of injury on the dead pullet? If not I'd refrigerate her and contact your state poultry extension to arrange for a necropsy if you're curious and/or concerned. Third, how hot was it and how much shade do they have?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Large black rubber feed bowls filled with water for the chickens to take foot baths. The close proximity of blood vessels to the skin cools down the whole body. I float a frozen 10 oz water bottle in the foot bath to keep it cool.
Get more water founts. They have to be elevated so the rim is at the height of the chickens' backs to prevent scratching debris into them.
Hanging 1 and 2 gallon plastic founts work best for that.
Shade is of utmost importance.

 

[farmland5]

4 chickens were in a 6x8 coop. The coop has 5 large windows but it’s not in the shade. The underneath run is same size and obviously shaded. It’s basically all dirt. Their water was moved to the underneath area but in a corner.

All were totally normal this morning but it was only 88F then. Is 97F this afternoon.

I’ll go look at the dead chicken now. What signs should I look for?

 

[FrostRanger]

4 chickens were in a 6x8 coop. The coop has 5 large windows but it’s not in the shade. The underneath run is same size and obviously shaded. It’s basically all dirt. Their water was moved to the underneath area but in a corner.

All were totally normal this morning but it was only 88F then. Is 97F this afternoon.

I’ll go look at the dead chicken now. What signs should I look for?

Any signs of physical trauma. If she seems bruised or otherwise beaten up, she may have been attacked (or it could be postmortem too 'cause chickens are cannibals). Can you post a picture as well?

 

[farmland5]

Her body is not even totally hard yet. I am so upset. If I had just checked an hour or two sooner maybe I could saved her.

 

[farmland5]

I’m assuming with her eyes rolled back like that she’s dead, yes?… not just unresponsive?

 

[aart]

Hard to know if the heat killer her.
But here's some tips about...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/