MJ's little flock

[BDutch]

Fancy Nancy, Martha, Hilda and Nelly the Welly.

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Fancy Nancy and Nelly the Welly do sound a bit off for a family name.

Maybe Mad Martha and Hilarious Hilda would fit it the series ?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I feel you with the heat. It's still 33 here @ 7pm . My chicks are spending very little time under their hens but are still caged. I have a murder of crows about & the chicks are just the right size for being a choice tit-bit. Wrold had Anixe out in the run by now. I did close the coop for a couple of hours this morning so they could explore a little but it really needs to be open for the layers.

It sure gets hard to keep them safe and thriving in excessive heat. The chicks have been ok at my place but the hens have needed a few options for keeping cool.

I’m trying to remember what I was doing in last summer’s heatwave (it’s 7°/-14°C here this morning .)

One huge success was partially burying a large rectangular plastic Rubbermaid tub in the soil and filling it with water from the garden hose to belly depth. A few submerged bricks allowed them to first cool their legs before getting up their nerve to go all in. Heavily panting pullets cooled off within minutes.


A second was having a shade cloth-covered area for deep dust bathing. 8-10 cm down, the soil was appreciably cooler than the air and the surface soil.

The final partial success was using small clip-on camping fans to keep a breeze blowing on them. The ones I bought had rechargeable batteries, had four speeds, and oscillated so that there wasn’t just an endless blast of air. The “partial” success was because the Buff Orp noped right on out, suspicious of the little black whirring things.

I hope the heat breaks for you and your ladies soon!

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