Does this sound like a heat stroke...or something else?

[TXmom]

I'm so sorry you lost your hens...my RIR pullet died last week, too. I'm pretty sure it was the heat.

What part of TX are you in? I'm near Houston, but it's HOT all over. I have a large tarp over the run, and I was wetting down the run with the hose. Now I've added a mister out there...I got it at Steinhausers (local feed store) for $14. So far my other 12 chickens have been OK...panting and holding their wings out, but surviving. They love to run around the yard after 6:30 when it starts cooling down a bit.


By the way, my name is Andrea, too

 

[tree13ag]

Quote:
Sorry to hear about so many people loosing their chickens. This REALLY sucks!

I'm in Arlington, DFW area. I think I'm going to check the feed store for a mister. The ones I've found run $30 at Costco/Walmart....the fans run $100-180 for an outdoor fan. I guess I can just put a box fan out there as long as it doesn't rain. Someone on the DFWPoultry message group mentioned putting a thermostat on the box fan...I wonder if I can figure out how to do that?

Something else strange....
my friend that has the 3rd girl of the group these 2 came from told me her hen died yesterday morning of heat stroke. All 3 dies within 2 wks of one another. She said the lady we got the girls from (freecycled) fed them EVERYTHING from the table, even lots of hamburger, so maybe their weight contributed to them not being able to withstand the heat. they were bigger than her other full grown hens, but not HUGE.
I feed my girls table scraps (mainly veg/fruit/breads) but its their daily treat in the scratch-post pile.

 

[TXmom]

I was just in Dallas and FW last week...my mom lives north of Dallas, and one of my best friends lives in FW.

The mister I bought is very simple...it screws onto the hose...it looks like a curvy hard plastic hose that stands up vertically and sprays a fine mist when you turn on the water. My husband bought a water timer so now the mister comes on several times throughout the day by itself.

 

[ruth]

It is the heat - we are having the same awful 100 degree days with no rain in over two months. The larger/fatter birds have it the hardest. I was going to recommend running a hose on low on the ground so they could play in it but it looks like you are already doing that. We have a fan in the coop but it looks like you have that as well. Other than having nice shady places where they can dig in cool wet dirt I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions.

I have a huge black orp from Cyn's Suede and every day I thilnk he's dead or going to die because he's in the coop, in a hole he sort of digs out, with his face buried face down in the dirt and he's heaving and breathing hard. He's over 20 pounds and even has a hard time walking he's so huge. The heat is really getting to him. The younger, leaner birds are running around the farm like it's a nice cool day.

 

[TXmom]

Same here, Ruth...100-105 degrees, and it's the dryest it has EVER been going into July. We are in a "Severe Drought" according to the news last night. But it's still humid considering the drought...just makes it worse because it's even hard to cool off with water (or sweat).

My poor RIR pullet was only 5 months old...but I'm guessing since they were developed in Rhode Island...they are just not that heat tolerant. I have seen my Buff Orps digging deep holes in the coop (dirt floor with shavings). I hope that helps them stay cooler.

 

[AZ Heat]

Here in the Phoenix area has been extremely hot too. Mine were panting quite badly and my buddy lost 5 chickens in one day. I bought a mister for myself and one for him. I have a small coop so only have 2 misting nozzles on. It lowers the temperature dramatically. I turn it on during the hottest part of the day and the panting stopped. They seem to be doing very well now, so you might want to try it out.