Rough day here! Temps went up to 103 and the “babies” (hatched March 1st) were struggling. I integrated them into the flock a bit over a week ago, but there is still some chasing and pecking going on and the little ones spend all their time in the coop, not venturing out into the run. Turned my misters on today and of course the babies stayed inside panting and miserable. I took them one by one and cooled them down in a tub of water and put them on a high roost in the run to enjoy the mist. of course they jumped back down and ran into the coop again. Ended up closing the pop door and locking everyone into the run (it was 90 on the run floor, 105 on the coop roost where the babies wanted to be). Put the little ones back on the run roost (to be out of the way). Gave everyone watermelon - handfed the babies their first watermelon, it was a big hit! Spent the day dunking babies and offering them water on the roost. When I checked on them again around sunset they were still sitting on that roost after everyone else had gone inside for the night. Had to put them on the ground one by one and made sure they still got to eat before hitting the roost inside for the night. Oufff.
I hope everyone will calm down again very soon so the babies can move around better! Luckily tomorrow is supposed to just get to 93 and then cooler still the rest of the week….
I hope everyone will calm down again very soon so the babies can move around better! Luckily tomorrow is supposed to just get to 93 and then cooler still the rest of the week….