UPDATED Condition / Help 100 degree heat wave is chicken too hot?

[FlockMama]

Hi all. So I am live in Seattle Washington and we just had the hottest weather in history for this state. All week it was in the hight 90's and two days were over a hundred. My coop is in the shade so they have direct sunlight when they free range each day. Anyway on of my ladies Henryetta (she is about 8-9 months old) doesn't seem to be doing well and I am kinda worried. Her comb is turning really pale. She has still given me an egg everyday and huge ones too. When free ranging yesterday she staied away from the flock and on her own which is really unusual for her she always stays with her buddy Red. I don't know if this could be heat related or not. It seems she got really hot and just can't cool down like the other girls have. Last night about midnight I went in the coop to check on Henryetta and she seemed to have thrown up water. Her crop doesn't seem as full as the others either. I checked her poopie area too and she doesn't seem to have a blockage. Also I saw her drinking water this morning and doing alot of picking at the ground.

Any info would be greatly appreciated and if you need some pics I can take some too.

I hope it's nothing too drastic she is my favorite!

I have given the girls ice water and misted there coop often but she just never seemed to cool off like the others.

 

[jjthink]

So sorry about the dreadful heat you guys have been having.

I would get her into comfortable temps right away (temporary setup in small bathroom or whatever), with a good feather-buddy like Red if you think she would be less stressed with company. This way if she is compromised she won't have to get worse in more heat. Unless the heat wave is over now? In any case, you need to monitor her eating, drinking and pooping very closely to be able to sort this out.

Do you have fans running to help keep them cool in bad heat? Those temps are indeed very dangerous. Hopefully it is cooler there now though.

Have the birds been wormed?
Thrown up water - she could have a crop issue.
When is the last time you saw her eat well and eagerly?

JJ

 

[FlockMama]

Quote:
Thank you. Yes the heat wave is kind of over. We only had two days above 100. Right now it is 85 and there run is the coolest place in the yard actualy. No i didn't use fans when it was that hot but misted frequently and kept them out of the sun. Right now I just went out with some pea pod treats and they are all eating well including Henryetta. Her crop feels better this morning like there actually is food in it as of last night it was soft like she hadn't eaten anything. I have seen her drink water no problem and she and the other girls have been laying in there cool dirt. She did not give me an egg today though which is unusual for her she has given me one everyday since she started laying. I have to say she does look better this afternoon though. When it was really hot I would go in at night and put a bowl of water up to there roost so they could have a drink in bed

Any info is greatly appreciated and thank you for your response. The temps here are supposed to drop this week and there is finally a small breeze.

 

[Mahonri]

Just went out to the coop. It's 111 outside right now... thank the Lord for the AC unit I put in there.

June was the coldest June in Phoenix since 1913.

July was the HOTTEST July on record in Phoenix... here's to hoping that August will be more like June.

We lost three hens, got the AC, put the roos in another pen and still had one get sick. We isolated her in the house in a pet carrier and then let her free range a little more than the rest of the flock. She's doing great now and we are expecting a day any day now from her.

 

[FlockMama]

Quote:
It was the coldest winter here too and the hottest summer in history. In direct sun it is 115 on my back porch but 85 in the shade. I thought about an AC but we just don't usually get this kind of heat here!

 

[FlockMama]

What would cause the white comb? I have not wormed ever. The others combs are bright red.

 

[RanchGranny]

Hi, Flock Mama! I don't know about the pale comb-thing, but I live in La Center, WA, about 45 mins north of Portland, OR, and we've had that same, horrible heat here. One day last week we hit 113 degrees here!

I have 8 hens, & spent most of the week running in and out of the house to the coop, hosing them down. I had two fans on them, too. When it hit over the 100 degree mark, I blocked off the back yard so they couldn't get out to the front easily & turned them loose (not previously free range). I figured it was more of a risk that they'd die in their coop than that a hawk or coyote would get them in the yard. To my surprise, they did fine outside.

I put a sprinkler on near them so they could get wet if they wanted to .. they hated & avoided it like the plague. I remembered I'd read a post here last summer that mentioned putting a large container out with water in it so they could use it like a wading pool. I bought an underbed storage box, took off the lid, put it in the shade, and put about 3"-4" of water in it. Sometime during they day (I didn't actually see it happen) one or all of them got into the water! It was absolutely trashed - full of dirt, weeds & leaves, like someone (or several someones!) had a good dirt bath & followed up with a water bath.

The end result is that now I'm letting the girls out in the yard everyday & they seem so much happier, & I'm keeping their pool cleaned & refilled daily. Hopefully, neither of us will have any more record breaking heat to deal with this summer! It really was miserable.

However, if we DO suffer another heatwave & your hen seems sick again, if you have an airconditioned bathroom & if there are sliding doors on your tub ... you can leave her & her friend loose in there for the day. It'll help you keep track of her eating/bowel habits for the day, and it's an easy clean up, too!

Good luck!! Stay cool!

 

[detali]

The comb turning light colored is definitely a sign of a sick chicken.

Try feeding her some yogurt. I had one 4 week old chick that I thought was dying, after eating some yogurt he revived. Now I can't tell which one it was.

Here in Az we get high heat all the time. My chicken run is in the shade of mesquite trees. Also the trickle irrigation that keeps the watering dish full overflows and wets the ground downslope from it. The chickens dig wallows there and spread out during the heat of the day in the cool moist soil.

 

[FlockMama]

Thanks for your comments and help.
RanchGranny, What a miserable heat wave! I do let mine free range daily but have been doing it later in the day when my yard is cooler. I am constantly wetting the grass and running a sprinkler near there run. I will try the tub of water though. I did read that on here before I bet mine would love it! Thanks for the great info....

detali, Yes she seems a little under the weather. I will give her some yogurt,actually used to give it too them weekly they love it. Especially peach. It would be cool and refreshing too and I am sure add some calcium to there diet. I will give it a try and thanks for the yogart reminder.

An update I just went to look at my girls and Henryetta is laying her egg for the day, guess it is just later today for some reason. Usually have two eggs by breakfast.

 

[Serrin]

Don't be the least bit surprised if more of your girls hold off laying for awhile. Over here in the high desert country of Eastern Washington, we see this all of the time. About 3 days into a heat wave, the girls will slow way down in production. From about 6-8 eggs a day on average between 9 girls of laying age and condition, down to around 3 or 4 a day. It's just part of their way of coping with the heat.

I've not run into the pale comb issue, so, sorry, can't help you there.

Someone else had posted a great idea a couple of weeks ago. I sure wish I could remember who it was so as to give proper credit for what could be a life saver for some of our birds in extreme heat situations.

Here's what you do. Get yourself a tall kitchen garbage can, preferably plastic and light in color. Place the garbage can on its side in a shady location in your yard or run.

Place a number of those reusable "Blu-ice" pack or any large block of ice, near the bottom end of the garbage can (or any other suitably large container) and perhaps some bedding of whatever is your preferred kind.

Introduce your chickens to this mini air conditioned room one at a time until they get the idea.

While I haven't tried this method personally, I've heard great things about it. It might be just the answer you're looking for and far cheaper than buying an actual portable air condition unit.

As to the wading pool idea....It's very possible, and quite likely they all got into the act!

Every day I run water to clean my girls two big water dispensers so that they start the day with nice cool fresh clean water. In the process of doing this, the drain to the deep sink just goes to a ditch that directs the water to a few lilac bushes that I have over by the fence line.

Without fail, every day, the girls will spend the entire time the water is running engaged in what I call "Puddle Time"

It's quite a sight to see. All of them up to their tummy feathers, wading around, scratching and finding little bugs that the water has forced up out of the ground. Try it! It's a great treat for your birds!

We also run the sprinklers on what passes for a lawn around here at night time. That way, the next day, the girls have lots of places to stretch out on the nice cool damp ground. They evidently enjoy it because that's where they spend the bulk of their time every day!

Hope things start to cool down for you over on the coast. Take comfort in knowing you're not alone. As it starts to cool down over there, where do you think that heat is headed next? Yup! You guessed it! Right HERE!! We hit 103 in the shade by 4pm yesterday. Last I looked at the thermometer around noon, it was already 97. I'm afraid to look at it now!