Losing another hen to this awful heat

[ChicksterJo]

Well I think I lost one of my 23 week old pullets last night or this morning from the heat. Scratch was completely fine yesterday. She laid an egg, I let them out to forage around for a bit, she was running up to me every time I picked up the shovel thinking it had a mouse on it, she was clucking and acted normal. My SO found her dead in the coop this morning around 10 a.m. and she was his favorite so I can imagine his devastation.

She was the mouser of the group. She loved grapes and oats...oh how she loved grapes and oats!! She would jump up to grab those grapes and oats from your hand. But she never minded being picked up or scratched on the back. She didn't even bother any of my other chickens. She'll be sorely missed.

Her sister seems a bit sad this morning. She was making a big ruckus while we were burying Scratch. Here they are together. Scratch is the golden one. See how inseparable they were.

It has been continuously hot since June and it will be hot until September. I am trying my best to keep my chickens cool such as spraying them down and giving them plenty of cool water. But you can see how fluffy Scratch was. I'm sorry for anyone who has lost a chicken to the heat.

 

[ranchhand]

So sorry, this heat is brutal.

A lot of folks are using box fans blowing across cold water or ice to help during the hottest part of the day.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

So sorry for all the chicken losses, including my own. We "cooled down" to the 90s for the past few days but we're looking at 100* tomorrow, and 104* for Friday and Saturday. Time to have to fight for their lives again... I'm ready for October!

 

[gritsar]

Sorry you lost Scratch ChicksterJo

 

[babygirl5719]

how horrible!! temps and humidity here in missouri are horrible too - going to wait before i get my chicks...it is stifling!!

 

[ChicksterJo]

Thank you all for the condolences. I still miss her very much and I always think, If only Scratch were here to join the others, I miss her big fluffy butt and her loud squawking, believe it or not. At least I saved her first egg. I only got a handful of eggs from her before she passed.

I wish this heat would just go away! I don't have insulation and yet I think I'm almost as hot as my chickens!

 

[speckledhen]

Almost lost my Dellie rooster, Isaac, this afternoon (my avatar). He was trotting alongside me, taking the hens back to the pen after free ranging. I went through the gate, threw some scratch, turned around and he was outside the gate, so dark purple, he was almost black in the comb and face, gasping for air. We rushed to the hose and wet him down to cool him off, but he cannot take the combined heat and humidity. He has trouble breathing, especially when humidity is very high. I'm afraid I may lose him before this horrid summer is over.

so sorry for your loss, ChicksterJo.

A lot of folks are using box fans blowing across cold water or ice to help during the hottest part of the day.

I'm doing that for my broody hen, who is on Day 10 right now. Everyone gets frozen water bottles in their outside water in the afternoon in every pen, too. Today is horrible.​

 

[ChicksterJo]

That is so scary, Speckledhen. My Delaware is VERY fluffy around the sides and backside. She is always laying down now especially because I soak the ground beneath them. She scratches up a hole and sits. So does the other red sex link I have in the pic up there. After she lays she is panting hard so I give her water even as she's standing in the nest box.

Today I gave them some frozen plain yogurt. They all enjoyed it.

 

[gritsar]

My little silkie Jethro has decided to go broody again in this heat. Ain't happening. She may not have better sense, but I do. I'm dragging myself out there half a dozen times a day anyhow, might as well throw her off the nest while I'm at it.

 

[BayouPoules]

Oh gritsar,.. we are so sorry,..

You're right! It is too hot,.. we put our roo in a covered pen for the summer just because he would chase the girls until they dropped,..he can come out when it's cooler,..

again,.. so sorry about Doe