Lost 2 today.....

[aart]

This day and time I’m not sure if any person is without A/C (I’m certain there are), but I honestly cannot imagine the stress, the anxiety, the everything else it brings on.

Yes, thank you, all that is real. I don't have AC and it can be a bear. It's very humid here and although the heat here is not constant it can get pretty bad at times, especially if it doesn't cool down at night.

 

[Melanie9565]

This day and time I’m not sure if any person is without A/C (I’m certain there are), but I honestly cannot imagine the stress, the anxiety, the everything else it brings on. I haven’t been to LA in the summer months, so I was wondering if you have humidity in conjunction with the heat? Here in Alabama you can cut it with a knife and I hate it. I feel for all the older people who are suffering from the heat as well.
I do worry about my chickens and my two outside dogs suffering from the heat. The horses do get hot, but several of them will roll in the water at the edge of the pond. My oldest dog is an outside dog. He will be 11 the 17th of this month, but he seems to be holding up fairly well. Both the dogs get under our big deck, along with our four original hens and stay cool. They lay next to the vents under the house. Unfortunately we have too much cool air under the house. I suspect an air duct leak, but they enjoy it.
I am sorry for your loss and hope you can find a couple of the Sussex. I know you will love their personality.

 

[Melanie9565]

We did have some humidity, but I’ve been to the south and it was nowhere near what you have. But humid enough where we could feel it for sure.

 

[Anagram]

I am so sorry for the loss of your girls. We lived in the San Gabriel valley for many years. I was born in Glendora up against the foothills there. We moved out to the inland empire and boy was it hot out there. These more recent temperatures have been showing the LA areas hotter than the inland empire which is pretty rare. I think you guys were 118 and Palm Springs was *only* 115! Nuts! I did all the same things that you do with the ice and misters and I would put frozen vegetables out for them. I would mix oatmeal and yogurt with crushed ice too and give that as a slurry to them. I also would just take my hose and wet their whole area for about 10 minutes several times per day. I had them under trees, ficus and fruit trees so maybe that helped to keep them cooler too? I don’t know but it is so brutal when the temps are so high. And it goes on for day after day - and doesn’t cool down much at night. It was 10 pm last night and still 97 degrees in the inland empire last night when we were looking. Again, I’m just so sorry. The heat is horrible.

I’m in Oregon now, we still get heat but it cools off well at night so there is some break.

Good luck to you with your new ones. Looks like you have a great start!

 

[Mimi13]

Yes, thank you, all that is real. I don't have AC and it can be a bear. It's very humid here and although the heat here is not constant it can get pretty bad at times, especially if it doesn't cool down at night.

Oh lord, bless you. I work, well mostly piddle, out in the heat during the day, but I do like to come inside at the end of the day to the coolness.

 

[Melanie9565]

Yes, thank you, all that is real. I don't have AC and it can be a bear. It's very humid here and although the heat here is not constant it can get pretty bad at times, especially if it doesn't cool down at night.

I am so sorry for the loss of your girls. We lived in the San Gabriel valley for many years. I was born in Glendora up against the foothills there. We moved out to the inland empire and boy was it hot out there. These more recent temperatures have been showing the LA areas hotter than the inland empire which is pretty rare. I think you guys were 118 and Palm Springs was *only* 115! Nuts! I did all the same things that you do with the ice and misters and I would put frozen vegetables out for them. I would mix oatmeal and yogurt with crushed ice too and give that as a slurry to them. I also would just take my hose and wet their whole area for about 10 minutes several times per day. I had them under trees, ficus and fruit trees so maybe that helped to keep them cooler too? I don’t know but it is so brutal when the temps are so high. And it goes on for day after day - and doesn’t cool down much at night. It was 10 pm last night and still 97 degrees in the inland empire last night when we were looking. Again, I’m just so sorry. The heat is horrible.

I’m in Oregon now, we still get heat but it cools off well at night so there is some break.

Good luck to you with your new ones. Looks like you have a great start!

Hey....I’m in Glendora. Small world!

 

[Anagram]

Hey....I’m in Glendora. Small world!

Hey there!! Yes such a small world. I went to Charter Oak High School. My older son was born at Foothill Presbyterian. So many memories! It was really a great place to grow up. There were strawberry fields everywhere. Totally built up now. Still a lovely place even without all the strawberry fields.

 

[Melanie9565]

I remember the fields. GHS myself. It has changed a lot but I’ve not left yet!

 

[MickWithChicks]

Sorry for your loss . We had some cracker days here last summer which got to that 47C (118F) mark. You did everything you reasonably could to keep them cool. Heat like that is horrible, so please don't second guess yourself.

I don't know what you use for the flooring in your coop/run, but in climates that get to that sort of heat, I highly recommend using woodchip and mulch so you can give it all a really good hose down when it's hot to get everything wet and cool. Maybe even buy a few bags of ice and spread it around the ground for them to enjoy. Sand and dirt both prove to be difficult to displace the heat, and sand in particular is near impossible to cool as only the top layer really gets wet.

If you're looking for some gorgeous heat hardy breeds, my wyandotte and ancona seem to barely notice when the mercury gets into the 40's (105-120F).

 

[SimplyLivinthatFarmLife]

Well, my originals and my littles are not completely integrated just yet, but they’re getting closer every day.
I built a new coop this past winter/spring and moved the littles into it first. My originals hung out around the run off and on for about 6 weeks. I would feed all of them together several times by throwing out treats next to the run. They were still separated by the wire. Last week the littles turned 11 weeks old and something just made me go ahead and let them out one evening, about an hour before roosting time. Of course the four old biddies came running/waddling across the yard to check them out. I was worried, but that’s my MO. They all did surprisingly well. Only a few pecks. The littles can run/fly to get away from the hens and it’s not bad because they aren’t confined. There is still quite a size difference in the hens/pullets, but the five cockerels are almost the size of my hens, just not as fluffy as my BO’s.
Now when I let the littles out (they don’t venture too far from the coop), the hens will come over as if to say Hi then mosey on to do their own thing. However, the originals have now started going inside the coop/run some. I look at that as a plus because that is soon going to be their coop/run as well.
The littles have ventured over into the originals’ run and even snuck in a dust bath in the good, soft, well-turned dirt. But the older ones aren’t too keen about them being in there. The other day I was collecting eggs and saw my little Dominique dust bathing in the originals’ run and saw the hens were headed that way so I decided to hang around. My head hen, a BO, snuggled down into an adjacent hole and started dust bathing with her. It was neat to see that. Two of my others came in and tried to run her off, but I didn’t let them. I know I shouldn’t have interfered, but I did. Both big and little continued to dust bathe. My last old biddy came up and was successful at stopping my little Lena (named after my DH’s grandmother who raised “dominikers.”) But now, the precious part. Lena scurried out of her hole and scooted in beside Biscuit, my head BO. They both just layed there for several minutes cooing back and forth to each other. I almost teared up. It was so sweet of Biscuit to take the little one “under her wing.” And of course I snapped a picture. Made me proud.
I think they may just be helping me in the integration process.

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Oh how sweet!