Losing another hen to this awful heat

[Coffeemama7]

Robin'sBrood :

I'm sorry to read of your losses, Gritsar.

I lost my 2 year old Silver Lakenvelder hen, Tiny, to this blasted heat wave yesterday.

Today I made my broody hen get off her eggs and go out in the run (I'd rather save her life than have more chicks) and closed the door to the coop enough so she can't get back inside. I doused the chickens down with the water hose and sprayed the dirt in their shady areas, hoping it will cool them down some. I have 2 big umbrellas in the run, trying to give them extra shade. I have a kiddie pool but with 3 little chicks in the run I'm afraid to put it in for them. Any other ideas??

Robin, at walmart, in the dog section they sell a metal feed pan, about $3, I use this for my little chicks to splash in. they can get in and out without any trouble.​

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Quote:
Robin, at walmart, in the dog section they sell a metal feed pan, about $3, I use this for my little chicks to splash in. they can get in and out without any trouble.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll have to see about getting one of those. For the past two days I've gone out during the sweltering afternoons and sprayed the chickens and the run down with water. It seems to have helped, some. The weekend is supposed to be as bad as it has been these past two days, then we're supposed to cool down some...to the upper 90s.

 

[Kriston]

I lost a silver wyandott girl to the heat Monday. So sad :-(

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Sorry for your loss.

 

[bietsch624]

I ended up losing two of my girls to the heat here in Central PA. It is a horrific experience. I'm hoping this has all past and all will be okay from this point forward.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Sorry

 

[bietsch624]

Thanks so much. It's so hard when you grow attached to them. I was out with them a lot today keeping an eye on them.

 

[FlockMama]

Sorry to hear about Doe. I am in the only state that it think has perfect weather

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
My chickens would drown. Once they got over the shock of all that rain, they'd pack their bags and head home.

 

[CarolB]

I'm freezing liter plastic bottles or larger and placing them in front of the fans on the floor. Seems to help some. Also, we are letting them free range all day. Still, I wish we had place our coop under more shade. What were we thinking? We have planted more trees but that will take awhile. Sorry about doe. I have lost two lately and one was a complete surprise. I forgot to notice closely enough. She was young and shouldn't have died.