pale yolks!

[rhondaa]

I just have noticed that my eggs that were always very orange and brite yellow now are very pale, very pale! My hens have a few different things going on, thay are losing alot of feathers (molt?) egg production way down, not eating as much. 1 or 2 of them has yellow poo. They seem fine they do not look sick and are not acting sick. I have lost 2 hens in the last month that was fine then died! It has been 105 for 4 weeks and no rain at all. In the hen house it has been up tp 114....hot hot! I have not let them out much because i have been trying to get every egg i can get (everyone wants eggs when they are not laying) so they have not been getting alot of grass and garden stuff. Is the pale yolk and yellow poo heat stress or what???

 

[Olive Hill]

Greens make dark, orange yolks. If everything is dead they're not getting any greens. Decreased egg production is normal in the heat, they're stressed. Do they have ample shade, cold water and -- if possible -- other methods of cooling themselves (ice bottles in the water and on the ground to "cuddle" with, a mister, etc)? The deaths very well could be heat related, I'd rule that out first.