Laying an egg or heat exhaustion?

[harriedhomemaker]

I went out to do my chores this evening and found one of my 19 week old Gold Laced Wyandottes sitting inside a nest box. She sat in there for a good long time until my overly eager cockerel grabbed her out of the box to have his way with her.

The whole time this was going on she was panting a lot. Not surprising since the temperature was well over 100 degrees today. She would occasionally close her eyes and make a funny face. You know the movie stereotype of what a woman in labor looks like? That was the look she had. We went ahead and brought her outside into the cooler evening air and tried to get her to drink some water.

Could she have been in the process of laying an egg? Or is it more likely that she was just over heated? Or do I just need a new hobby besides watching my chickens and over-analyzing their behavior?

 

[Judy]

At well over 100 I have to guess heat stroke. People do lose chickens to the heat this time of year. I have read that 100 degrees is their safety limit. Shade and breeze are essential. If one is that lethargic, just dunk her up to her neck in a bucket of room temp water for a minute and let her air dry.

 

[harriedhomemaker]

What a silly girl she was to hang out in a nest box when it was so hot! I did go ahead and bring a fan into the coop and I have it oscillating on the nest boxes so if anyone else decides to do this, it will be a little better. My GLW seems to have recovered. I haven't lost any birds yet to this heat. Fingers crossed!