We had three of the meat chickens die of heat exhaustion yesterday. They had water, they had shelter but I was off the property for a few hours buying supplies, then we treated ourselves to lunch and did not see them go down. 
By the time we had got home the wind had turned and was blowing hard and hot from a different direction, gale force hard and I think the fat chickens just got too hot and as they are coming to the end of their time they are a bit hefty. They have a moving wall that shields them from the wind but I was not here to shift it in time.
Immediately the girls and I dragged the cage further in under the tree, moved their wall, put ice into their water, actually standing the worst of them in the cold water for a minute, put electrolytes into their drinking water and they were all ok an hour or so later, except for the three who had already succumbed.
Everyone else was fine, the turkeys, who are also in a chicken tractor, were standing in their water when we got home. And they are not known for sensible behaviour. The pigs had their wallows and the cows were loitering under trees. (I took these few shots in the last of the daylight yesterday after it had started to cool down).
I am trying to think what we have learnt from this except not to go out for lunch! I have raised hundreds of chickens for the freezers and never had this happen. A combination of bad luck and bad timing. 
The little pigs are finally allowed out in their garden with a mud puddle. They are a very happy bunch especially when they found a hidden cat toy! Poor Egoli moved fast!
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
37 responses to “Heat Exhaustion”
Glad your loss was only 3, but it’s a kick in the shin when they were almost ready to harvest. I hope the rest of the day was more rewarding.
Oh I’m sorry to hear about the meat chickens. I remember reading an essay or short story I think by Sherwood Anderson how delicate chickens are. Our weather–yours and mine–has been just terrible for flowers, that is for sure. My Gerbera daisies aren’t doing well at all. Ive lugged them in and out of the house for at least 3 weeks now. Today it’s supposed to be 90! Too hot for them.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your chickens. Bad luck.
It’s not too hot here yet but not enough rain > almost drought -like conditions already!
Love your blogs
Your picture quality has changed so much….love the look of it….brilliant:)
Thank you! Though the low light got me last night! c
Oh, now I know what it is – I put a polaroid filter on – I found it when i was tidying my desk! c
I love the idea of the piggy garden! What do you have growing in there? How long did it take to grow, and how long will it take to recover?
It is full of edible weeds and alfalfa, it really only works once in a year, but grows fast in the spring.. c
It stinks when these things happen while your back is turned, so to speak. We had a hen who got her head stuck in a feeder and die and we were right there. We plant trees over our fallen fowl! Somehow your description of it all made me feel all prickly and hot – those cool green leaves in the photos made me feel better!
And it is hot, hot again today so once more with the ice and electrolyte.
I had no idea chickens were so fragile. And to think we just had snow. But it is nice to hear that hot air is coming my way.
We have LOTS of these on our tiny road – big ones, medium ones, wee ones – but they’re wild. And so cute 😉
Land and animals. You can not turn your back. Bad things happen when you don’t watch. This is a great post as it ties into this week’s theme for me, ‘sentinels’. Thanks
Unfortuhate about the chickens. Hard to be everywhere, and there are no foolproof plans… as Egoli discovered.
Sorry to hear about your chooks Celi .. Beautiful images
Chickens are very smart, are they? At least I’ve found them to not be too smart. As I mentioned before, the Rhode Island Reds we had still had some sense of Chicken Intelligence…. but the white ones…. they had had all the Chicken Intelligence bred out of them. My husband’s cousins raised meat chickens for a while in Quebec and they tell a story of having to go home one time because it was raining… and the chickens wouldn’t have know enough to come in from the rain. Actually, that’s an old folk tale that seems to be true. Do you think the turkeys may have been standing in the water to cool off?? ; o )
Alex swishing her tail caught my eye in the first photo.