Heat wave claimed life of my hen Daisy.

[Kuntry Klucker]

Yesterday I wrote in about my rooster. He's fine and has been put back with the flock. Thank-you so much everyone for your posts. They helped me a lot. This is our first attempt at raising chickens. I didn't know that you could get so attached. They each have their own little personalities. I love all ten of mine, and my heart feels for each of your losses. Summer has just begun down south and it's HOT !!! Good luck to each of you !!

I am glad that your roo is much better. I know what you mean about getting attached to them. I had three hens in my shower
and my broody hen in the other bathroom in the shower stall. Never thought I would go to such great lengths to take care of
my girls. They are like my kids. I have all boys so having a flock of ladies in my backyard makes me feel a little less out-numbered.
Nothing like some quality time with the ladies to balance the testosterone. At least I know that they understand where I am coming from.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. Sounds like you did everything you could and more. I have been so worried about this heat wave. My birds are only about 6 months old...they seem to be dealing pretty well. I have their chicken tractor in the shade and the attached run in the shade. I put up 2 fans in the run so they could get constant air to cool them off....They went into the coop and would NOT use the fans! I was so mad!

I am putting up a fan in the wire window to blow around in the roost area. They are so much creatures of habit they will roost with the fan in the window. They get on and off the roost all unsettled about the fan being in the window but eventually settle down. The other day when the temps hit 108, I locked them up in the run so they couldn't really get away from the fans and misted them with the hose several times a day. Not sure if this is good for them but it did cool them down. They didn't like it AT ALL! I tried a pan of water for them to get into but they wouldn't have anything to do with it. My neighbor thinks I am crazy putting up fans and such....I asked her what she does for her chickens...she responded with nothing....they deal with the heat. I guess we can all try to help our birds the best we can, but in the end there is only SO much that can be done.

Thanks, my girls did not like the fans in the coop at first either. They resisted, but when they realized that it felt good in there they were okay with them.

Yesterday when it got to be 108 + humidity here I actually locked them out of the coop. Even with the fans on the coop was 106. I did not want any of them
going into the coop to lay and die. They did not like my kicking them out of the coop but in the end they all survived the heat. After it cooled down in the evening
I let them back in to go to bed but I left the fans on all night. They layed their eggs in the pen and in corners around the yard when I closed the coop off to them.
It was no doubt the hottest place to be. I had to go on an egg hunt at the end of the day but in the end all my ladies are here and happy.

You are right, we can only do so much for them, they have to do the rest. I will be so glad when this heat wave leaves my area. I have never
seen it so hot and I have live in the south for a long time.

 

[Dylan6]

Hi All,

I lost one of my Buff Orphington hens Daisy to the heat wave. I did everything that I could do for them
to help them make it through. Fan in the coop, ice in the water, pool and mister in the pen.

She died in the coop, I feel so bad, I did all that I could do for them. She had a good life,
all my ladies are pampered and get the best care and love. It just hurts since I tried so
hard to make it as easy as possible on them to handle the heat.

Thanks for listening, I know that I can always count on the other chicken loves on BYC.

I'm very sorry that the heat did that

 

[kahi00]

I am very sorry to hear about your loss. We lost our first hen yesterday to the heat. Am pretty new to chicken raising, so I was naive and thought heat-tolerant meant they would be fine with just a little misting. I have been reading all the posts and am planning on using some of these great tips to hopefully prevent any more losses. What can we use to help replace some of the electrolytes? I've read watermelon, applesauce, Gatorade.... Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Nicole01]

I am very sorry to hear about your loss. We lost our first hen yesterday to the heat. Am pretty new to chicken raising, so I was naive and thought heat-tolerant meant they would be fine with just a little misting. I have been reading all the posts and am planning on using some of these great tips to hopefully prevent any more losses. What can we use to help replace some of the electrolytes? I've read watermelon, applesauce, Gatorade.... Anyone have any suggestions?

That sounds good. I use Gatorade and watermelon. Yesterday at 105F I was dunking them in cool water. Some hens loved it, others did not. One hen tried getting back in the bucket, but tipped it over. I also dunked them on the roost about 2 hours after they went to bed. I could hear them being uncomfortable. I also ran a hose going into the woods on the ground where they lay all day for cool water. Every single hen had their feet wet. They were pretty happy despite the heat. I keep their food and water in the woods, so they don't use any energy they don't have to.