Heat and chickens

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Texabaman

Texabaman

Hatching
Aug 23, 2015
4
0
7
I just lost 2 of my 4 chick's today and the heat index was over 100 the 2 that I lost died in a cardboard box but the other 2 were roaming in their pen.My question is can chick's die of heatstroke in their sleep?
 
Yes, they can die in a cardboard box, with little or no ventilation. Please be very cautious with the others, heat and humidity can really do a number on them fast. They need shade, shade, and more shade. Natural or manufactured. A fan in the coop to circulate air makes it feel cooler. They also need lots of cold, fresh water. A shallow pan with water is great for the chickens to stand in. When their feet are cooler, their body cools off. Feed them cold treats like watermelon - use a water mister. Freeze bottles of water and set them around the run - so birds can stay near them and cool off.

They may have died first, and it appeared they were sleeping.
 
I had 2 cardboard boxes on their sides so that they could have shade since I am in the middle of building the chicken coop and the two that passed away were behind the flaps of the boxes one in each.I'm freezing 2 Two liter Dr Pepper bottles right now so that I can put them in the water for the remaining 2 tomorrow. I think that they are to young for fruits and vegetables right now, How do you know when they are ready to go to other foods besides the beginner feed?
 
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Sorry for the loss of your 2 chicks. Heat and humidity are harder for chickens to deal with than cold so it takes some work to keep them comfortable in warm weather. When you see chickens panting and their wings sticking out from their sides, they are hot.

How old are your chicks? I started offering mine small treats around 3 weeks old. The rule on treats is 90% feed and 10% treats. Here is a listing of acceptable treats that might be handy:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chicken-treat-chart-the-best-treats-for-backyard-chickens
You'll want to stick with the more cooling ones in the summer...things like melon, grapes, berries. You can even freeze some treats in water to give the chicks something cold to peck on.

Good luck to you, again, I'm sorry for your loss.
 
Hey Texbaman
I'm sorry about your chicks dying from this heat. I feel for you. We're in Tampa, Fl. and I had to come in from working out on the chickabee's house on account of this heat. I'm soaked through and through!
The weather deal on the computer says it's "91 and feels like 108 with 70% humidity" I just finished popping a window out on the door we access the hen house by. Screening it up and hung a big box fan in front of it. Stood in there for a spell with a thermometer in hand and after 10 minutes and still getting 90 degrees and dripping sweat...I decided that they needed a fan on the opposite wall facing the screened window facing out. Now hopefully they got a good air flow convection like through their house.
THANKS for the idea on the frozen water bottles. Still trying to find a shallow something or other for them to cool off their tootsies.
AAAAHHH! I hear thunder! Maybe some rain'll cool things off some.

Hey NorthFlChick! Guess what my daughter figured? Refrigerated rice makes a yummy cool treat! We had some leftover from last night's dinner, on a whim, walked out with a cat bowl of that and the about mugged me!
 
chickrunfun said:
Hey Texbaman
I'm sorry about your chicks dying from this heat. I feel for you. We're in Tampa, Fl. and I had to come in from working out on the chickabee's house on account of this heat. I'm soaked through and through!
The weather deal on the computer says it's "91 and feels like 108 with 70% humidity" I just finished popping a window out on the door we access the hen house by. Screening it up and hung a big box fan in front of it. Stood in there for a spell with a thermometer in hand and after 10 minutes and still getting 90 degrees and dripping sweat...I decided that they needed a fan on the opposite wall facing the screened window facing out. Now hopefully they got a good air flow convection like through their house.
THANKS for the idea on the frozen water bottles. Still trying to find a shallow something or other for them to cool off their tootsies.
AAAAHHH! I hear thunder! Maybe some rain'll cool things off some.

Hey NorthFlChick! Guess what my daughter figured? Refrigerated rice makes a yummy cool treat! We had some leftover from last night's dinner, on a whim, walked out with a cat bowl of that and the about mugged me!
Click to expand...

Our girls like rice too...cold is the only way they get it (I save the hot rice for me, lol).

If you have a Dollar Tree close by, check out their plastic tubs. I got 2 of them there that are about 5" deep and probably measure 10x15". Just the right size for a hot-footed chicken to stand in. And because they were from Dollar Tree, they were only $1 each. That's where I also got the girl's plastic bowls (actually dog bowls) that I use for their fermented feed in the winter and snacks in the summer.

Here are the plastic bowls (this one has obviously been emptied by the rascals):
 
Hey NorthFlChick, can I call you NFC? WJ here.
So I found this little casserole pan that looks to be about perfect. It's 8 x 10 and 3 inch deep tin...ish and the chickabees were ALL OVER in the way whilst I was leveling out the ground to place it. Nosiest creatures in the world, chickens! I guess they figured I was working on digging them up some bugs or worms or some such thing.

Wanna hear something silly? I'm gonna confess something here now.
I put a night lite in there for them tonight. Yep. Uh huh. Night lite. Let me explain. Since they got moved out to their hen house and the night's have been so danged hot these past few, they been without the heat lamp and all night long I hear them fussing and cheeping through the baby monitor. Last night was the worst. I don't think them or me got much sleep at all. At one point I even went out to check on them on account they sounded scared or something, cheeping like crazy. Got to them and they were all over on top of each other and squeezed in a corner but I couldn't see what had them spooked. Only way something could get in Fort Knox is if they had hands and wire cutter and knew how to open doors. It's like Alcatraz! Only nice. So today I thought and thought and figured maybe a big ol dark was to much for them. Brooders are small, cozy like. Safe feeling and all. Well, all I hear now at 9 PM and 24 minutes is quiet little purring cheeps now and then. Well I say, BINGO. All is right with the world!

Goodnight chickababies!

(Go ahead and shake your head at me, I got NO PRIDE! These little girls got me bad)
 

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