Pant Pant... 101 DEGREES!!!! pant pant

[Reyvaughn]

Mine were grounded to the hen shed today - boys were allowed out. The girls are in because the 14.5wk old Brown Leghorn realized last night he was a boy and they are girls. He ripped down some of the fence and a couple got out. Thankfully the run is large and it's a cool, cement floor. I put jugs of ice in the shed, large ice cubes in the waterers, set up a fan and gave them cantaloupe around noon. Everyone is still alive. I guess that's what matters. I thought about buying them a little kiddie pool to wade in, but I don't want the pool in the shed and they can't be out until I make an appointment to get the BLH processed. Oh, and the boys were digging in the dirt under my one flowering bush to lay in the cool dirt and got cantaloupe and ice, too. They all seemed fine.

 

[earnhardtlvr]

Quote:
What age should u wait to put a kiddie pool in? we actually have a kiddie pool in the run already, but we have been just putting sand in it for them to dust bathe. I was worried about them drowning?? Is that silly? My girlies r 8, 9, & 10 weeks old. Would it be ok to hose the sand pool and have water stay in there for them to play in?

 

[gale65]

I thought I had a dead one today. She was all stretch out, head and neck all stretched, wings out, feet stretched out. She was just keeping cool. Once she saw that I was looking at her, she jumped up, fluffed her feathers, and sauntered away. We had a breeze going but it was still hot in there. I'm pushing dh to get the run done so we can let them out during the day.

 

[gvilledh]

I am heading to my neighbors right now to take some frozen watermelon and rinds to her hens and chicks. She has two brooders right now, so we have been especially concerned about them. This is day 21 so hatching should be anytime. The fear is that the heat may have caused some problems with the eggs. Since I have some time off this week, I get to be the chicken nanny. I'm enjoying it and I'm loving learning about them.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Quote:
What age should u wait to put a kiddie pool in? we actually have a kiddie pool in the run already, but we have been just putting sand in it for them to dust bathe. I was worried about them drowning?? Is that silly? My girlies r 8, 9, & 10 weeks old. Would it be ok to hose the sand pool and have water stay in there for them to play in?

Mine are 10-14.5wks. I think that's an okay age. I wouldn't with any that aren't at least 6-8 weeks, but I really don't know.

 

[mszekely]

My chickies are 5 weeks old and enjoy standing in the 13/11" pan I have full of water in their run. It looks like they are wading! I have been giving them cool bites of veggies which seems to help too. Last night we had their screen door open and a fan in front of it bringing in cool(er) air. They seem to prefer being out in their shady run to anywhere else. I had the same experience as another member earlier; I had a chick laying on it's side with its feet out and head back and eyes closed. I thought she was dead until another chick bumped into her, she then got up and moved away as if nothing happened.

 

[gvilledh]

I had so much fun at the neighbors, I almost didn't come back home! The mama hen has already figured out I'm a source of food and it didn't take long for her to come across the yard (almost running, it seemed). As soon as the little ones saw what she was doing, they were there in a flash. At least mama got a couple of bites of watermelon in before they all started clamoring for it, too. It was hilarious to watch them. They weren't quite sure what to do with it.
The brooders were fine and actually took some watermelon from me and ate it. I was surprised since I'm not as familiar to them, but apparently, it was quite tasty and cool, so they weren't too picky about who was feeding them. I'll have to upload some pictures later.

 

[earnhardtlvr]

Quote:
YEAH!!! PICS, PICS, PICS!!

 

[BoltonChicken]

It gets hot where I live. Really hot. NOT desert hot, but lots of humidity hot. The heat index here most of last week was around 105.

We have chickens here. We have had chickens here for more than 200 years. A pattern of survival has developed over that time. Here
is what chickens need to survive this much heat.

Item 1: Shade, lots of shade. Underneath trees if you have them. Do not let them sit in direct sun.
Item 2: Dirt floor, that the little darlings can burrow into and give themselves dirt baths.
Item 3: Water. Not ice water. Just cool, clear water. Lots of water.

AND the commercial people who stack the chickens one to the square foot use big ole fans. You can too if you want.

Chickens of many breeds have adapted to this kind of weather. They will open their little beaks and spread out their wings
if they get hot. That is how they cool themselves. I've seen lot of wild birds doing the same thing. Chickens have a tropical background, remember.

You do not have to give them ice water baths, furnish them a swimming pool, spray them with water, or bring them inside the house.

They'll be fine. Just relax.

 

[Reyvaughn]

Our last round of heat (last week in the mid 90's) a friend lost half his flock to the heat. I know they had shelter, water and shade. He threw in the towel on raising chickens, though, and had the rest butchered. I didn't get all carried away last week, but this week there was the high heat index which we didn't have the last round. I just wanted to be sure they'd all still be alive at the end of the day. Plus, these guys are pets to me and many others on the forum. I'm sure we don't mind spoiling them a bit with a few luxuries.