Summer Heat

[ChickenDrummond]

We did it! We brought our little dude back to life!
After I had left for work Thursday morning, my boyfriend, Jake, found little Rudy barely breathing in the coop. He was undoubtedly moments away from losing his life. Jake called to tell me what had happened, and knowing that he had to leave, I left work early to rush home and see what was going on. Was it illness? Injury? Are the other chickens okay?
Turns out, he had a heat stroke. And it was not pretty. He was convulsing, unresponsive, and had a weak, craning neck. We wrapped him in a cold towel with ice cubes underneath, and pumped him full of Pedialyte every 10 minutes. I stayed up to care for him through the night. I was positive he wasn't going to make it.
And now, he's eating his yogurt mixed with electrolytes and mushy food all by himself...although he still wants me to spoon feed it to him.
My point is, the heat is nothing to sneeze at. It may not be as hot in Flagstaff as it is in other parts of AZ, but it still hurt this sweet little boy. Even with plenty of water available, I had no idea what he was going through until it was almost too late.

Also, never give up. Your chicken may recover no matter how unlikely it seems! Love can do wonderous things <3

 

[13ChickenGirl]

Yes!! Here in Queen Creek it is HOT. We've lost 3 so far.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Glad to hear Rudy's pulling through & spoiled Sorry to hear of your losses 13ChickenGirl It's going to be a HOT SUMMER even here in Hawaii the heat's intense, worst is when the humidity is added I've lived in AZ (St David), loved it there, returned to assist aging parents. Prefer the "dry" heat to this humidity but it's the animals that are really affected. Hope you all the best....

 

[ChickenDrummond]

Yes!! Here in Queen Creek it is HOT. We've lost 3 so far.

I am so sorry to hear that. It always hurts; I know my heart still aches for the ones we've lost. All we can do is our best!

 

[ChickenDrummond]

Glad to hear Rudy's pulling through & spoiled Sorry to hear of your losses 13ChickenGirl It's going to be a HOT SUMMER even here in Hawaii the heat's intense, worst is when the humidity is added I've lived in AZ (St David), loved it there, returned to assist aging parents. Prefer the "dry" heat to this humidity but it's the animals that are really affected. Hope you all the best....

Yes! We visited Florida for the first time last year and the humidity was unreal. I know I could never survive there! We do all we can for the animals to make sure they are all comfortable and happy.

 

[FLChickens]

One thing worked wonders for us on the farm. In TX we had over 3 months of over 100F with high humidity - most of it closer to 110F. And while the chickens did fairly well, being able to get into dense shade, we had rabbits (who could tolerate the heat even less) and a llama that didn't do well with heat either.

We set up a heavy-duty fan under a cover, and put tubing around the front with misters attached to a hose. The result was amazing. It felt like being under an air conditioner. We were able to hit the entire bank of rabbit cages, and the llama used to station herself in front of the fan on hot days.

For chickens, I'm sure a much smaller setup would do, especially if shade is available too. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing they would use it. It can be really cheap to set up, and if they don't like it, it's something people could really enjoy outside as well.

 

[13ChickenGirl]

Lost a Buff Brahma today.

 

[13ChickenGirl]

This heat is unreal! It feels like an oven! There is a hot dust breeze along with scorching heat.

 

[ChickNanny13]

So sorry for your loss Not complaining about the weather here anymore. FLChickens idea with the fan w/misters does work great, used that when I was raising rabbits & never had a problem. I enjoyed cooling off in their enclosure

 

[FLChickens]

I'm sorry to hear about the Brahma.

We had one hot, windy summer where the spring winds never stopped blowing. Stepping outside hit you in the face like the heat that comes pouring out of an oven door when it's opened. All the vegetation died, so the ground was exposed, and the wind started to carry gritty sand. I literally had to wear safety goggles all day every day to do my farm chores outdoors.

Do they have deep shade? Can you wet down the top of wherever they are? Given them frozen blueberries, peas, cut up grapes, etc. as treats? Freeze large blocks of ice (Rubbermaid tubs or milk jugs) and put out for them? Sprinklers?

But the fan with the mister really will cool a large area by about 20 degrees. It's a lifesaver.