HELP! Heat stroke chicken very weak

[DianeB]

Hi

I came home after work to find my chicken laying on the ground panting. She was very hot and weak. I brought her in the house put fans on her and syringed her water. She seemed to be doing a little better after about an hour. Then later on she became very lethargic again. I can still get her to stand up, but she's not as alert. Her comb is now cold. I gave her some more water with electrolytes to see if this will help. What else can I do? Is there any hope that she can pull through?

Thank you,
Diane Bailey

 

[DianeB]

She just had a seizure and died

 

[DianeB]

I feel so terrible. I always make sure to bring them in on hot days. Just didn't get to her in time. She got caught in one of my covered vegetable beds and couldn't get out. She dug it up quite a bit, so she must have felt fine up until this happened. I also highly suspected she was starting to internally lay. She was straining to lay a wind egg after I got her cooled down. That probably led to organ failure.

 

[DianeB]

At least it wasn't something contagious. I still have the other three hens. The thing is, they either live to be 7 or 8 or die before 3. She was going to be 3 in July.

 

[Banana01]

Hi

I came home after work to find my chicken laying on the ground panting. She was very hot and weak. I brought her in the house put fans on her and syringed her water. She seemed to be doing a little better after about an hour. Then later on she became very lethargic again. I can still get her to stand up, but she's not as alert. Her comb is now cold. I gave her some more water with electrolytes to see if this will help. What else can I do? Is there any hope that she can pull through?

Thank you,
Diane Bailey

Heat stroke can take a long time to recover from. Keep her hydrated and cool and likely in a couple days she will recover. Hopefully you can prevent it happening again with some of the articles about preventing heat stroke that usually get published here every year.

 

[Banana01]

She will need to rest for at least the entire day, and assuming she sleeps all night you should see normal behavior in the morning.

 

[Banana01]

Again you seem to have caught it early, there shouldnt be any damage long term. Overheating causes death by exhaustion or stress due to how chickens have to breathe to cool down their bodies. You gave her water and if you can just put her aside to rest in a cool shady place the rest of the day.

Hope she recovers and stays cool the rest of the summer.

 

[DianeB]

Thank you, again.

 

[kurby22]

Thank you, again.

So very sorry for your loss. Chicken losses always hurt more than you expect. Hugs.

 

[DianeB]

Thank you for your kind words and support. Yes, they do have shade and access to cool water. There is a large dog crate in a spare room I usually put them in on hot days.

I've been really upset with myself over this. But, I am wondering if there may have been something else going on. The other hens were perfectly fine this afternoon. No panting or any other signs of heat stress. They were acting completely normal.

Years ago, I had another hen who died all of a sudden, too. She also had a history of egg laying issues like this one. My girl who died tonight was laying a fart egg just as she was cooling down. This probably pushed her over the edge and caused mass organ failure.
I'll find out after the necropsy.

Thank you, again.