How to prevent heat stroke

AM11782

Hatching
Sep 5, 2022
1
2
4
Hey there. New member. So unfortunately we lost our favorite hen today to what I believe was heat stroke. Her name was Pam…. She was more like a dog than a chicken. Anyways, I’m in Wildomar CA, it was 109 today with high humidity, it was miserably hot. I tried my best to keep them cool, kept a mister running in one part of the yard, plenty of shade, cool water etc. but it wasn’t enough. This heat is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, how do I keep from losing more birds?
 
I am so sorry for your loss! It's just wrenching to lose a favorite! I want to welcome you to BYC, which I usually do with a :frow, but it sounds like you need a :hugsinstead.

Unfortnately I have no advice to offer as it sounds like you're already doing all you can for your birds to keep them cool. Oh wait, I do have a suggestion! When it was very hot here a few weeks ago here's what we did. We had some empty PowerAde bottles, 16 oz size. Filled half full with water and froze them. About 10 am I topped them off with cold water and put lids on them, and put two in each of the chickens' water buckets. If their water was not cool I dumped it out and put fresh cool water in first. Made sure each bucket was in the shade. I had enough bottles to be able to swap them out about 3 pm if needed. I did lose two older hens during that heat snap but this really helped.

Good luck and I hope this helps!
 
Welcome to BYC, we' re happy you joined us. I'm also sorry you lost your favorite hen.
The heat has been terrible but, it's typical this time of year. I'm in Florida so I can appreciate your heat & humidity at 90%. Here's some things I do to help my girls stay cool. I put a frozen water bottle in the water, offer chilled watermelon, give them frozen grapes and offer them chilled fruits and veggies. I also keep available a bucket of Hydro hen (safe chick) to help with hydration. Fortunately, in this heat I can let them free range to dust bathe and hide out wherever they want in the heat of the day. I will also mist them while in their run and will run a fan.
I know, you can't always do everything but some of these might give you some ideas.
Sorry to read about your hen.
 
I am so sorry for your loss, it’s heartbreaking to see how many people are loosing birds right now. The heat is horrible. We drench the grass, trees, sidewalks and basically any where that they walk or hang around. Plus their coop roof and sides, too. Hose it all down multiple times a day and it’ll help cool the air. We also run our sprinklers early before they come out so they get a little cool ground beneath their feet first thing in the morning .
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom