Extreme heat, lathargic cochin. UPDATE. It's Not The Heat!!

[CarriBrown]

We are having record temps where I'm at. The chickens have a coop and run totally covered with trees (ie. Lots of shade). They have fresh water, etc. etc. I'm noticing that, even though none of them like the heat, Chicken Hawk is handling it the worst.
She's a standard Cochin and I think all those feathers plus the "pedi coat" is really making her hot. She is acting normal (as in, still bulldozing everyone over for a tomato, sitting up on the front porch, etc) except she is much more tired than the others. She is still laying.
One thing I've also noticed is she doesn't have the energy to jump onto her favorite high roost.
Will electrolites help them through this heat?

 

[justusnak]

Carri...I would think electrolytes would be a good idea. Do they have a fan or are the freeroaming? Maybe toss some cool watermelon to them? Something cold and sweet! yum!

 

[CarriBrown]

They free range when DH and I get home from work, about 4pm. We do toss them watermelon, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
What kind of electrolytes do I get? Suggestions on brands, etc?

 

[Napalongtail]

The Brand I use is made by Agri Labs, its about $2.79 for a 4oz package . 1 package makes 128 gallons. It is an e;ectrolyte plus solutioon that also contains vitamins,minerals and microbials for better digestion. Safe for use with most farm animals.

 

[CarriBrown]

DH and I decided to take her to the vet today. She was still eating but was very lathargic and, frankly, we were worried about her.
Two hours and $100

later, we found out that she has coccidia...??? The vet said that poultry can get it from wild birds. I also looked in her feathers and saw that she is TOTALLY infested with mites!!!

I feel like such a bad chicken mom!! He said it's likely she got mites from the wild birds, too!
Ugghhhhhhhhhhh.
But she's still eating, so that's a good sign. She has lost A LOT of weight... She is a standard cochin and weighs 2lbs.

Poor thing.
She gobbled down a nice helping of lettuce, tomato, cooked chicken, black beans and watermelon and even put a pretty good dent in a second helping. She seems more alert now. I'll be getting mite dust tomorrow and EVERYBODY is getting dusted, along with their run, coop and nests.
So, please, everyone... Keep my Chicken Hawk in your thoughts!

PS. All the other birds appear perfectly fine, but I'm still keeping an eye on them.

 

[joanm]

Oh, Chicken Hawk, here's hoping you will get better fast!

 

[JackieK318]

Ugh! How stressful for you! You're a great chicken mom for taking her to the vet. She'll be back on her roost in no time. Animals just get mites and illness - these things happen. It's how you act when they do get sick that determines a good owner!

 

[rachel]

I hope she's back to normal in no time! It's been well over 100 for months now at my house and 115 for the past week, I put a couple of frozen water bottles in the coop and they have plenty of shade and water. I'm sure they aren't thrilled with the temps, but aside from panting and holding their wings away from their body, my chickens don't seem to act any differently then they do at 75 degrees. Hopefully that will ease the minds of some of you folks that aren't used to the heat and are concerned with unusually high temps.

 

[CarriBrown]

Thank you for your thoughts everyone, but we lost her last night.

 

[lurky]

Sorry for your loss