Hello, I've finally decided to sign in after a year of stalking this community. Up until Sunday I had a beautiful flock of chickens: a Barred Plymouth Rock, a Red Sex Link, three Easter Eggers, and a Wyandotte. The scorching 122° heat here didn't give my girls a chance and now I have an empty coop. I'm ready to start over, but my husband is still worried about the heat. I just wanted to finally introduce myself and get to know you all a little better.
Some folks in Ariz. actually air condition the coop. I don't mean to delightful temps, I mean somewhat lower than outdoors. Even a 10 difference can make a change to hot chickens. and humans. Also moving air (fans) can help the flock make it to the next day. You can freeze bottles of water and set them out. The chickens love to sit near them. They need shade, shade, and even more shade- natural or manufactured
We're thinking about running power to the coop to run fans and setting up a mister. Thanks for the other ideas!
Welcome to the forums! I'm sure you'll be able to find all the info you need here. The people here are very friendly and have taught me a lot about chickens and other poultry, along with many other things I'm sorry about your chickens, that's a crazy hot temperature!
Hi and welcome to our community - glad that you have joined and sorry for the loss of your flock. In addition to your plans to cool the coop, you may wish to consider planning on getting breeds that are heat tolerant - if you check out the Breeds section, it may help you. Best wishes CT
Thank you, Easter Eggers are considered heat tolerant and we kind of figured that our local feed store would have suitable breeds. We will be doing more research for the next flock.
and Hey @LadySin I am so happy you joined our roost at BYC! I would like to welcome you with open arms! Many of us lurked before joining! I am so sad that your flock did not survive the heat. It brought a tear to my eye... I am so sorry and if you ever do get a new flock I hope they do better. I hope you enjoy BYC and make sure to post pictures of your new flock if you get one and give us updates on how you are doing here https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/40/family-life-stories-pictures-update All the best of luck to you and your flock, and I hope you get a bunch of tasty eggs soon! Justin
