Heat killing chickens

[Buttercup Chillin]

I'm just north of Houston and don't have quite that heat.

When Its real hot in the afternoon I bring ice cubes out to the Basins of water I have under the shade tree that the chickens and ducks all hang out under. Each basin (Wal mart dog dishes that look like oil pans but shorter and smaller) will have 1 or 2 chickens standing in it. They take turns. Ducks have a dog pool they use and splash around in, wetting the ground, chikens stand around the pool after ducks have splashed about. I'll be putting jugs of ice in it pretty soon. My chickens don't like frozen jugs or bottles, thus the ice cubes.

Nesting boxes have screen back doors on them so they don't get heat strokes while laying eggs in the afternoon. If your quail are laying in an enclosed box type and then dying, take that section down or block it off so they can't use it and overheat.

Hottest part of the day snacks - Frozen--- peas, berries, Small Shredds of Carrot, icecubes made of yogurt. Cucumber peel that is chopped small (cuc is a natural cooler), watermelon, cantalope. Could throw it all together but it in a rould tube mold, freeze it and put it in the water basins for them to munch on as it thaws. Have yourself some melon and give them the rinds with a goodly amount of melon still on.

If you give them grains for snacks or as scratch STOP especially stop corn - NO CORN. Breaking down the large grains heats up the Metabalism more than chicken feed does. When its really hot I only give my hens and ducks grain in the early morning. In the evening they get vegetable scraps from preparing dinner.

Are they free ranging? Is there shade for them where they free range. I'm not talking about a tractor assisted free range, that could be too close in this heat

Good luck, I know my turn is coming.

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

In that heat I don't know how fast a carcass would start putrifying. If you have processed them, you can age them while you find out if its safe to eat them. I think it would be if you processed them immediately.

I would call your county extension office and check with them. I am sure this has come up before and they should be able to help you. Or if there is a large farm around with animals that you know of, check with them. With those temperatures, you must be in an area of Texas where this has happened before.

After morning chores I'll check with mine and see what they say.

 

[Mahonri]

I've got to get a better AC unit for the coop.... that or insulate it.

The smart chickens jumped up on the roosts where the AC was blowing and they didn't seem to be panting.

111 here today.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
I was going to suggest this too. I haven't needed to do it with chickens, but it works great for my daughters rabbits when it gets really hot here. We are mostly in the 70-90 degree range during our "summer" but usually have a week or so of upper 90's to low 100's with fairly high humidity and since they're not used to it it can be really hard on the rabbits. The frozen gatorade bottles that we put in the hutches have been life savers. Hope things get better for you!

 

[Buttercup Chillin]

Forgot its Sunday. Check the Texas thread in Where am I? Where are you?. I PM'd Allenranch asking her about using the meat for you, hopefully she'll check her PM box soon and answer you here or PM you. Last year was a cool summer so look for messages from 2008 or earlier.

Another thought I know everyone is saying Misters, Sprinklers,but . I don't use them because the water from the hose is quite warm and down right hot in the heat of the day and the chickens just walked around the sprinkler. But they came back when that area was in shade and wet. So I wet down the ground instead.

The survivors you should breed for your futute main flock, their chicks will be conditioned for your area and your conditions. That is one reason, when I do order chicks I start with chicks from Ideal. But at 120 degrees birds start falling from the sky and there isn't that much you can do. I was surprised that you are also loosing quail, I have reas that they can tolerate more heat than chickens.

I haven't read about anyone in southwest Texas air conditioning their flock or even using fans on them. They do have open hen houses though and they use cinderblock on the bottom of the housing to keep the low area cooler. I have wood and I have been known to hose down the area around the hen house at night, so they'll have a cool down period and be ready for the next day of heat. It might help.

Edited hicks to chicks.. My cccccccc button sticks.

 

[dancingbear]

Happyfeetfarm, where in Texas are you? I never had temps quite that high to deal with, even in Oklahoma. I'm so glad I'm not there, I thought we were hot here, at high 80's and low 90's. It gets hotter later in the summer, but I think the highest I've seen here was 112F, I lost a bunch of meat-type broilers, but the dual purpose breeds were fine.

I think shade and wet/damp ground, maybe a fan might be the best you can manage for them. Can you run the hose long enough to clear out the hot water, or does it just heat up as fast as you run it?

I'm so sorry for your losses, and counting my blessings for the weather here in KY.

 

[jaj121159]

Look at the bright side, they will be ready to eat and fully cooked by the time you finish processing them. I don't think my slow cooker on low gets much above 122 degrees.

 

[jaj121159]

Quote:
Are the hicks from Ideal poultry consultants or what? Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[terri9630]

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I used to live in S. Tx (Premont) and we regularly had temps of 115 with 85% or so humidity. It was opressive. I kept the dogs in the house and hosed the horses off 3-4 times a day. The horses got to where they would wave the hose at me when they wanted to cool off. I finally put the sprinkler in the oak tree and put it on a timer for them. It turned on for 10 minutes every hour. The San Antonio area wasn't quite that bad but still awfully hot.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

so sorry about your flock! It was 110 on our property 2 days this week. We have to hose our girls down 3 times a day, AND we have a misting system low to the ground, along with a fan up in the corner pointing down towards the ground. Not to mention if someone looks as if they are having a hard time DH or I will snatch em up & dunk em up to their necks in cold water. Our turkeys LOVE getting soaked down! We turn the hose on about medium and just lay it on their backs, sometimes we hose em off. We have turks from 3 weeks to 2 years. I hope you don't lose any more!

2 liter bottles, milk jugs, anything that can hold water put it in their coops for them. We also made sure that the ones that don't have shaded coops have tarps over the tops with the bright side pointing up, BUT not fully covering the coop!