Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Grandmas Coop]

It's to hot for chickens when they are holding their wings away from their body in conjunction with some of the following symptoms that you may need to take action.

Panting. Chickens only pant if they are hot, so this can be the first indicator that they are becoming overheated!
Their comb and wattles will feel hot to the touch.
Seems to have lost her appetite.
Lethargic behavior. Weakness.
Closed eyes while standing.
May be staggering when walking.
The may lay down completely spread out with wings and feet extended.
Watery droppings caused by increased water intake
Decreased egg production (though admittedly this sometimes happen during heat waves without the chickens suffering from heat stress!

 

[pennyJo1960]

Time to spray them lightly with water and give them frozen treats.
I spray the ground they stay on in the day.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

Time to spray them lightly with water and give them frozen treats.
I spray the ground they stay on in the day.

Yes, I just hosed the run and dumped /refilled the water

 

[pennyJo1960]

I am going to the old coop to dig out another part of a water tank allot of them stand in the water after I have filled it.

 

[Smokerbill]

Most of my chickens seemed to be out of sorts this morning, like they didn't have any energy. There were two or three wet spots on the woodchips that looked sort of like egg white, but maybe it was diarrhea. Plus there were a couple of torn soft shell eggs on the floor.

I wonder if the grapes I gave them yesterday evening affected them? I fed the 8 birds about 20 grapes total, but I'm sure some of them got more than their fair share.

Maybe it was a delayed after-effect of the extreme heat yesterday. It hit 103, but they acted perfectly fine through it. And it was nice and cool this morning.

Last guess, maybe my wetting down the woodchips in their run to help them stay cool exposed them to more coccidia or some other bug. Except for the wet spots (maybe diarrhea), the other poops looked normal.

But now, a few hours later they all seem to be acting fine, with normal energy, pecking and scratching as usual. And they laid 6 normal eggs in the boxes.

I guess I'll just monitor their behavior and poop, and see how it goes. Maybe I should go buy a bottle of Corid, just to have it on hand.

 

[Smokerbill]

I was taught before I could walk wear shoes with animals.
Mine will get frozen peas tomorrow.

I was wearing my flip flops walking around. I took them off when I kicked back in my camping recliner, and my toes were at eye-level to the chickens. They must've looked tempting. LOL

 

[ValerieJ]

Most of my chickens seemed to be out of sorts this morning, like they didn't have any energy. There were two or three wet spots on the woodchips that looked sort of like egg white, but maybe it was diarrhea. Plus there were a couple of torn soft shell eggs on the floor.

I wonder if the grapes I gave them yesterday evening affected them? I fed the 8 birds about 20 grapes total, but I'm sure some of them got more than their fair share.

Maybe it was a delayed after-effect of the extreme heat yesterday. It hit 103, but they acted perfectly fine through it. And it was nice and cool this morning.

Last guess, maybe my wetting down the woodchips in their run to help them stay cool exposed them to more coccidia or some other bug. Except for the wet spots (maybe diarrhea), the other poops looked normal.

But now, a few hours later they all seem to be acting fine, with normal energy, pecking and scratching as usual. And they laid 6 normal eggs in the boxes.

I guess I'll just monitor their behavior and poop, and see how it goes. Maybe I should go buy a bottle of Corid, just to have it on hand.

I keep Corid on hand along with many other medications for chickens. It's a good thing to do. I don't want to have to make an hour and a half trip to town when I need something for them now.

My chickens react to changes in their environment. The heat will effect their egg laying. Cooper is effecting their egg laying. But they always seem to work it through so I don't worry too much about it.

Seriously, not much we can do about the heat. We can water their runs, give them cool treats, provide a shady area to roam, and even set up fans, but I know of no way to air condition a chicken coop and run. At some point we just have to hope they are resilient enough to get through it.

I'm sure your girls are fine. They will be back to themselves by tomorrow.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Possibly was because the grapes you gave Bill this heat is horrible frozen veggies are a better option.

 

[Hinotori]

I feel like an awful pet owner It was 109 yesterday and my dog got a paw burn when I let her walk from my office to the car. She comes to work with me. I've never had that happen before. I feel absolutely terrible. Ugh!

I had to have booties for my schipperke when we lived in a city apartment. Waterproof ones in winter so the ice melt wouldn't burn her feet then either.

 

[Hinotori]

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I only leave my dog in the car because he doesn't like shopping. He does have the windows rolled down. I don't think he's capable of getting out through the window.

Did I say dog? I meant husband.

The dogs stay home and chill out in the AC normally. If they go with us, they stay in the truck with hubby. We've finally gotten Hermes through his motion sickness issues.