Illinois...

[cavemanrich]

My run is in almost total shade on north side of house, with tarps providing shade and rain out. If I see them panting, I may consider giving them the mister I have, or give them cool baths.
Heat is supposed to be over after Saturday,

 

[homeschoolin momma]

Now if we can only keep them cool for the next few days

Tell me about it. Mine are suffering. Lila, ebony, and perryhave been staying in the coop to avoid the boys. The afternoon sun his hard there. I've got fans going and windows wide open, but no matter what, its still really hot. Then to add the horrible flies to boot. They are miserable.
Babies are doing well though. They all have learned how to squeeze under the fence and hang out in my neighbors yard. Not that he cares....

 

[BReeder!]

Tell me about it. Mine are suffering. Lila, ebony, and perryhave been staying in the coop to avoid the boys. The afternoon sun his hard there. I've got fans going and windows wide open, but no matter what, its still really hot. Then to add the horrible flies to boot. They are miserable.
Babies are doing well though. They all have learned how to squeeze under the fence and hang out in my neighbors yard. Not that he cares....

Happy I am not the only one with fly issues. I will say they have gotten better in the coop since I put the ducks in the pond. Their brooder was just so wet all the time, and the flies loved it.

 

[BReeder!]

This sands cools after being wet. Pretty neat stuff. I doubt it is cost effective for a run, and not sure if it's completely safe for chickens. It would be nice to add to a dust bath though if I could find an inexpensive version of this that I knew was safe.

 

[cavemanrich]

I use fly traps and my fly problems are under control. I think I'm cleaning out the whole neighborhood, since there are sooooo many caught. Wish I had a mosquito trap. There are such things,,,, but they are quite pricey. I do have an electric zapper inside garage. Overnight, it is the only light on inside garage, so it cleans out the garage of them sqeetos well.
In regards to dust baths, it seems that what we think chickens should use, is in reality different than what chickens choose. I have a section of sand in the run area. Chickens still prefer the dry soil instead. They also do jump into some of my large flower pots in the springtime before they are planted. Pots have a mixture of potting soil, and peat-moss.

 

[BReeder!]

I use fly traps and my fly problems are under control. I think I'm cleaning out the whole neighborhood, since there are sooooo many caught. Wish I had a mosquito trap. There are such things,,,, but they are quite pricey. I do have an electric zapper inside garage. Overnight, it is the only light on inside garage, so it cleans out the garage of them sqeetos well.
In regards to dust baths, it seems that what we think chickens should use, is in reality different than what chickens choose. I have a section of sand in the run area. Chickens still prefer the dry soil instead. They also do jump into some of my large flower pots in the springtime before they are planted. Pots have a mixture of potting soil, and peat-moss.

My chickens bathed in the dust bath I made until they eventually flung all the dust out. Now they too use the dirt. I have ever larger pot holes in the run. I hope to convince them to use the dedicated dust bath again...

 

[Faraday40]

Cuteness alert:
Here's the blue SLO chick I've been waiting for. it's toes are in need of some tape, but otherwise it's just adorable.

Since Blizzard was not accepting of these chicks, I put them with Trouble & her 2 wk old chicks. Neither Trouble or the chicks even noticed. They all slept together. Since today's high should be about 100'F, I won't have to worry about their temperature. LOL


In other cute news, Xansie was allowed to free range with her remaining chicks.

Her chicks are:
an 11 wk old Leghorn
a 6 wk old serama male
a 6 wk old white orp female
a 6 wk old laced orp of unknown gender.
* It looks female by the comb/wattlles, but the slow feathering and frequent laying down make me think male. (My roosters like to rest & get off their feet. They are relaxed / chill and like to sit there & observe their surroundings while the females busy themselves.)

 

[Molpet]

Bad pic of incubator chicks for 2 broodies. One who the turkey stole her nest

well the grafting did not go well
I did it at sunset, but I think the heat made them cracky
The 2 hens had taken chicks last year. One is mean so I was worried about her. I should of worried about stinker.
stinker, the chicken who had her nest stolen 2 years in a row, attacked the babies. Breaking ones leg, I was busy watching the other one I thought might of been a problem instead.
I waited a couple of days to see how it would heal but it started shaking its head weird and I just put it down.. so hard when they are babies, I should of done it right away, but it seemed healthy except for cuts and a floppy leg.


Anyway, I tried again the next day w/2 chicks and after a while stinker seemed to be ok with them... however a couple of hours later i found one chick had squeezed out of the bars running around the coop. So instead of 5 chicks stinker has one and the other has 8. Everyone seems to have been accepted and happy, except for poor floppy leg RIP

 

[Faraday40]

well the grafting did not go well
I did it at sunset, but I think the heat made them cracky
The 2 hens had taken chicks last year. One is mean so I was worried about her. I should of worried about stinker.
stinker, the chicken who had her nest stolen 2 years in a row, attacked the babies. Breaking ones leg, I was busy watching the other one I thought might of been a problem instead.
I waited a couple of days to see how it would heal but it started shaking its head weird and I just put it down.. so hard when they are babies, I should of done it right away, but it seemed healthy except for cuts and a floppy leg.


Anyway, I tried again the next day w/2 chicks and after a while stinker seemed to be ok with them... however a couple of hours later i found one chick had squeezed out of the bars running around the coop. So instead of 5 chicks stinker has one and the other has 8. Everyone seems to have been accepted and happy, except for poor floppy leg RIP

So sorry about the broody troubles.
I always feel so guilty when a hen attacks a chick. I only hatched 5 chicks & then Blizzard killed one. I'm now trying to "break" her of the broodiness and the heat is not helping.

Thankfully all your remaining chicks have mamas now, so all is well again.

 

[Faraday40]

DD needed a pic of Big Blue for her project, so I brought her inside for a photo shoot. (She got to stay in the AC for a little while until she stopped panting.)