Dropped Dead with No Symptoms

[Hogs and Horns]

We live in North Texas with two Red Sex Links about 2 years old. Their egg production had started to taper off, with one egg, sometimes two, a day. Yesterday they were out free and acting normally until around 1pm, when we had to leave the house for the day. We put them with food and water into their coop when we left.

This morning, hubby took out fresh food and water, but the girls were not active. That should have been our clue. This afternoon I checked on them and they were dead in their nest boxes. No signs of predator, no signs of trauma, they looked like they'd been sleeping and simply died. Their food from this morning was untouched, so we think they died during the night. Last night we had some rain, and it was warm. The coop has an attached covered run. The door to the run is left open in the summer, there is heavy-duty screen (hardware cloth) under the eaves of their coop, and there is a window about 8" by 10" in the door of their coop. Do you think it's possible that heat killed them or should we look for some other reason? Thanks so much for any help you can provide.

 

[Angelicisi]

Heat would be my 1st guess if there are no other signs of illness/injury/poisons they could have gobbled up on accident

it happens with lil warning and eggs often taper off if they're over heated for periods of time (hot summers in the south here in Louisiana are pretty brutal) shade/water help but sometimes I re s just too hot

 

[Txchicky]

We too live in North TX. The heat has been hard on our chickens too. It very well could have been the heat. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Hogs and Horns]

Thank you so much for your informative and kind responses. It is very hard to lose the girls, our first and only hens, but somewhat easier to know that we did what we could for them and loved them while they were with us.

 

[ghostwolf211]

It actually gets pretty brutal with the heat and humidity here in PA.....What I found that works out well is frozen watermelon quarters.....When it gets extremly hot, around 1pm I'll take a quarter of a watermelon that I have frozen out to them....It lasts for quite some time and helps cool them down....I also give lots of berries...I grow my own raspberries

 

[Angelicisi]

Watermelon works well!
I also freeze milk jugs of water and will place one on the coop near (but not in) the nest boxes and other places in the run or where they hang out free ranging.

 

[Txchicky]

I have a big fan that I keep on high, plenty of cool water and lots of shade.

 

[bird zoo]

summers can also be brutal in Colorado. I have turkeys and they get so hot that cricket was standing in the mister that we water with!! the winds also almost blew my daisy away!!!!!!!!!