Hi all, I am Mog, 35 years old from Australia, living with my husband, 2 cats, 3 snakes and a turtle (plus my new chooks!). I have been reading avidly here for the last couple of months in preparation for fulfilling a life long dream by becoming a first time chicken owner, and finally decided to actually join up and make a membership today. I have 4 young bantams (2 wyandottes, a plymouth rock and a light sussex) at approx 10 weeks old. I have had them just about 5 weeks now and it has been quite a learning curve. Unfortunately they became sick almost as soon as they were brought home, so I spent the first couple of weeks battling runny noses and sneezing - this site was invaluable during that time, and with lots of TLC the girls have pulled through nicely. Having just got that behind us we have now run headfirst into an epic heatwave of 35C+ temps in SE Australia. I am pretty worried today as it has been above 30C since 9am (currently 40.5C) and as I work I won't even be able to check on them for another 4 hours or so. Hopefully I will still have all 4 chooks when I get home. I have done everything I can think of to give them the best odds against the heat. Looking forward to contuing to learn from everyone here, and to contribute too.
Hello and welcome to BYC I'm glad to hear your chickens are better! What a horrible way to start your journey with them. Heat can be a problem with chickens, but as long as you make sure they have lots of shade and fresh cool water to drink they should be O.K. I made little mud pools in the run for my flock when our temperature went over 50*C some days! (In South Africa where I used to live) and we didn't lose any birds, but it was scary some days! You can also give them some watermelon slices to snack on. Chickens love watermelon and it will help hydrate them.
Greetings from Kansas, Mog, and ! Pleased you joined us! Sorry to hear about your sick birds! ! X2 sumi's advice- hope they get to feeling better soon!
welcome Mog, from Utah! Hope the chicks are feeling better soon. I've always dreamed of visiting Australia.
