Our introduction to keeping chickens, the high's, the lows and pics of our journey.

[ozexpat]

Yeah, I just walked through the run barefoot to see what the ground temp was like and it was much cooler than thought, damp sand in teh shade has made a big difference.

Out in the sun though.......not the same. Poor quality vid but you get the idea.

as long as your chooks arent laying them hard boiled you should be ok

 

[Fancychooklady]

 

[Bens-Hens]

Maybe I should float test todays eggs just to be sure hey Oz!

 

[Wrightsx4]

As much as I'd love to share a pic of the happy couple - Bruno and Daisy, I think I'll wait until they've had their spring bath, lol! It warmed enough to rain so now we have thick ice and mud. The chickens are wet, covered in dirt from their indoor dust bath, and have dirty greasy vaseline heads - not pretty! Nonetheless, they will have adorable chicks. I ended up keeping Bruno after getting input from many of you and from the faverolles thread , well, and Daisy's opinion.

 

[babyfoot]

AH, we weathered that winter storm well. No birds were lost to the cold. The phoenix even did well. I let them out of their run today, and they headed straight to the big run to hang with the other birds. If Rod Stewart and Florus wouldn't hurt Gainborough, I'd leave them all together... BUT they'd rip out his tail in no time.

On the opposite end of the spectrum I found a hen at 6am looking very droopy and lethargic, comb fallen over, wattles thinned out, eyes droopy. Tongue inside mouth looked dry and sticky. I am presuming heatstroke although we did all we could yesterday for them. Showering them down four times during the 44c day and oscillating fan inside roost at night with doors open for any welcome breeze. She is now inside with us in front of a fan and she will only drink from a syringe, being careful to only give her a drink occasionally as too much too soon could do more harm than good. Her wattles look a little redder and plumper and her comb is a tiny little bit better, she seems a little more alert than earlier too. She won't eat anyhting yet but I may have to tempt her just to kick start her metabolism. Just going out to check the others again as today is already at 40c and it's only 10.30am. The youngest chicks at almost three weeks old are faring well, the 'teenagers' at 11 weeks are okay too. Hubby is out there now setting up a misting network from the irrigation hoses and setting it on a timer. They hate being showered so a mister will be better and the water in the air cools the whole area down. Keep an eye on yours too Ben

 

[babyfoot]

Yes some pics would be cool!

You guys are having a cold snap and ew are in a heat wave. I watched an amazing video of what looks like a frozen river bursting it's banks and sweeping over a lawn into a house. Unbelievable!

Meanwhile, downtown Perth is having a 44C (111F) day, just north of Perth is supposed to hit 50C (122F) I have been running the soaker hose every hour or so foe ten minutes to given the birds some relief.

we had 44 in the shade, I dread to think what it was in the open air, we are lucky that the chook area is heavily treed so they have some shade and the shed shileds them from the worst of the sun but we stil soaked them and the trees a few times yesterday to help cool it down

 

[ozexpat]

On the opposite end of the spectrum I found a hen at 6am looking very droopy and lethargic, comb fallen over, wattles thinned out, eyes droopy. Tongue inside mouth looked dry and sticky. I am presuming heatstroke although we did all we could yesterday for them. Showering them down four times during the 44c day and oscillating fan inside roost at night with doors open for any welcome breeze. She is now inside with us in front of a fan and she will only drink from a syringe, being careful to only give her a drink occasionally as too much too soon could do more harm than good. Her wattles look a little redder and plumper and her comb is a tiny little bit better, she seems a little more alert than earlier too. She won't eat anyhting yet but I may have to tempt her just to kick start her metabolism. Just going out to check the others again as today is already at 40c and it's only 10.30am. The youngest chicks at almost three weeks old are faring well, the 'teenagers' at 11 weeks are okay too. Hubby is out there now setting up a misting network from the irrigation hoses and setting it on a timer. They hate being showered so a mister will be better and the water in the air cools the whole area down. Keep an eye on yours too Ben

if you have some pedialyte or even gator aid she may perk up faster

 

[babyfoot]

Quote: I just asked on another thread for an alternative, I have nothing here to add to water and live too remotely to get anyhting on a sunday. I have ACV or a soda drink I could add a little to water???? I have no electrolytes at all

 

[lindz8504]

http://www.fresh-eggs-daily.com/2012/07/hot-weather-acidosis-and-homemade.html


You can make your own

 

[Wrightsx4]

I'm thankful we don't see temps that high. Last summer was an unusually hot one for us but even the hottest week hovered in the mid and upper 90's (37°c? Attempting...) I was so worried about my birds, seeing them pant and holding their wings out. Heat bothers ours much more than the cold I think.