South Carolina

[Lroach711]

Well..looks like I've lost 2 chickens today

They were about 10 weeks...one a blue orpington cockeral and the other a little pullet. She's still breathing right now but I'm pretty sure she isn't going to make it. They were fine yesterday and then today I found the one little guy inside the tractor dead and the other was kind of stumbling around. I brought her inside and tried to get her to drink some but she's just getting worse and worse. I haven't lost any to heat before but I'm assuming this is what happened. They've been perfect until this point. All the others in the tractor seem fine. I hope it couldn't have been anything else...

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I lost 2 pullets today, 6 and 8 weeks old. Their cover got knocked off the pen and their water was turned over so they died from heat stress. I lost a duck yesterday due to heat. She came off the nest and went for water but stumbled and died right at the water pool.

I feel the pain of it, too. I hate this heat. I can't stand the winter wind but I do not mind the cold. This heat though is such a killer!

I am sorry you lost some. I know I will probably lose more as the summer rolls on. It seems no matter what I do, it isn't enough. I can't complain too loudly though or DH will have them all in the house!

I hope everyone is staying cool and is not partying too hard. We are doing our cook out tomorrow.

 

[Lroach711]

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I hate losing them...and I especially hate watching one die. I was hoping if I got her cooled off she'd come around but apparently I was too late. So sorry that you lost some too. I know that I'll lose some but it still sucks

I think I'm going to get DH to help be build a pvc frame to put a shade cloth on top of to go over the chicken tractor. At least then it'd keep the water from getting hot and maybe they'd stay cooler.

 

[Joycats]

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Just a bit of information, coccidiosis can also make them stumble about and appear drunk. It could have been the heat but I just thought I'd point that at considering their age.

 

[Lroach711]

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Just a bit of information, coccidiosis can also make them stumble about and appear drunk. It could have been the heat but I just thought I'd point that at considering their age.

I've been feeding them medicated feed but I guess I'll get a stool sample and check it at work on tuesday. I work at an animal hospital...What do you use in chickens to treat coccidia?

 

[Jackie B.]

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poor babies! You wanan bring some of those tractors and birds over here? My coop registered at 82 degrees at 3 pm. Not too shady, er, shabby!

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Yup, I check a stool sample every 3 months on mine.
Just got through doing Sulmet on my guys in the brooder room which is where these stayed. I like Sulmet for coccidiosis because I do not feed much medicated starter. I get the Sporting bird starter that is always medicated but only with Amprolin. I feed it to the Marans and now the keets but so few others get it.
So anytime I see a spot of blood in the brooders I treat everyone with Sulmet.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

Jackie B. :

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poor babies! You wanan bring some of those tractors and birds over here? My coop registered at 82 degrees at 3 pm. Not too shady, er, shabby!

Oh wow! 82 is wonderful! Mine was saying 98!! And that was the shed under the trees with a fan going in the window on high!
You definitely have some nice trees for shade! I would miss my babies if they were waaaaaayyyy over at your house...but you would love it! The more birds, the better!

 

[gvilledh]

Losing one to the heat is one of my biggest fears right now. What is highest temperature we should ever let inside the coop reach? The girls will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. So far we have been able to keep it around 88. It got up to 90 once yesterday, but that was before we got the new ventilation added. Lou Ann did notice they all went back inside mid-day today. At least they seemed to realize it was cooler in there.
When I realized part of their run was more hard red clay than anything else, I went and picked up a few bags of topsoil and a couple of bags of sand. They immediately found those areas as soon as I put them down and seemed quite happy. the plan is to put sand in the whole run in the next month or so.

 

[Joycats]

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I have found sand to be the best thing to have on the ground too. I wish I could afford to put it everywhere. I do try to keep it topped off in the duck yard. Sand dries quickly, stays cool in the summer and warms in the winter sun and it doesn't harbor much mold or bacteria. Works great for me. The babies really love to dust bathe in it too.