Illinois...

[ChicagoClucker]

DuQuoin here. New to peeps and enjoying. Have 2 Buff Orpington, 2 Speckled Sussex ,2 Rhode island reds, 4 Dominique. Started two weeks ago.

Welcome to BYC and the Illinois thread! You have a nice selection of chicks, get ready they grow up fast!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

DuQuoin here. New to peeps and enjoying. Have 2 Buff Orpington, 2 Speckled Sussex ,2 Rhode island reds, 4 Dominique. Started two weeks ago.

Welcome to BYC and the Illinois thread. You have a nice selection of chicks. Get ready they grow up fast. I also have a Buff and RIR and many others. I just started my love affair with chickens a little over a year ago. Be careful, its can become an addiction! LOL

Edited, sorry for double post.

 

[wicked92]

Heat in Illinois. How do I keep them cool? I have 2 frozen tuper wares of water. That I will put in water bowl. Anything else? Thanks!

 

[Nwchickma]

How old is she? Does it look like its pus filled? Hard or squishy?  I know when I washed my girls at the beginning of summer, I don't remember seeing anything like that, but maybe I wasn't paying attention. The one thing I know that happens when its this hot and they have poopy butts is fly strike. I don't know if that's it, but if you are on FB there is a page called the Poultry Pages and it is very active and there are a lot of experienced chicken keepers there. Post the pick and you might get some idea of what it is and how to treat if necessary. Hope she is ok, let us know.

Thanks for your reply, I'll try Facebook. She is a year old. It feels hard, at first I thought it was a worm but it has something sticking out of it (which I'm starting to think might be a feather popping out). The area isn't swollen or painful. My other girls all got dunked yesterday too but there butts are so fluffy I couldn't see much.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Heat in Illinois. How do I keep them cool? I have 2 frozen tuper wares of water. That I will put in water bowl. Anything else? Thanks!

I have a mist setting on my hose nozzle, so yesterday I hung it on the fence to help keep them cool. And I put a fan in the window from 8 until 11 pm last nite to help cool them down. I also threw in bottles of water in the freezer last nite so I can put in the water today. Its going to be another hot one.

 

[Justso]

Had my first crow this morning from my juvenile Buckeye. Sounded like somebody blowing his nose!

 

[Faraday40]

Heat is bad! i have a mini dorm fan in the coop, but it only helps when they're in there. I actually sprayed the chickens lightly with the hose yesterday. I'm supposed to be gone most of the day, but I'm rather nervous about being away so long in this heat.

Nwchickma-
How's the hen? How are you? I was fortunate to be pregnant in the winter. The hot flashes were welcomed then. LOL

 

[Faraday40]

Had my first crow this morning from my juvenile Buckeye. Sounded like somebody blowing his nose!

My Lav Orp roo sounded like Homer Simpson saying, "Woooo Hoooooo!" He eventually got his big boy crow perfected.

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

Between the heat and the rain... I've been freezing grapes for the chickens. Leaving the coop open later to to try and keep it cool. Poor poor chickens.

 

[Nwchickma]

Heat is bad!  i have a mini dorm fan in the coop, but it only helps when they're in there.  I actually sprayed the chickens lightly with the hose yesterday.  I'm supposed to be gone most of the day, but I'm rather nervous about being away so long in this heat.  

Nwchickma-
How's the hen?  How are you?  I was fortunate to be pregnant in the winter.  The hot flashes were welcomed then. LOL

Hi! I'm actually doing quite well, don't think I'm big enough yet to be miserable. I've always preferred being hot though.
The hen is actually normal, a little feather pooped out of that spot so I wonder if the white thing under the skin are feather shafts that aren't pointed straight..??

I dunked all 4 in a tub of water yesterday and today. Just enough to get the undersides of their bellies, chests, and legs. Cheeks wouldn't let me catch her today, I had to corner her on the coop, She's quick!

As for the heat..
I have also been freezing watermelon slices for them and putting ice cubes in their water. I have a camping fan that runs in batteries I hooked up over the roost. It's not real powerful but enough to keep the air moving. They all started sleeping outside in the run when Cheeks and Skittles moved in and it's cooler than the coop. I don't have electricity out there and would need to run it from the house.I might do that this afternoon when I leave.