Desperately need ideas on how to keep the flock cool!!

[booksandcranies]

The sad fact is that sometimes chickens just drop dead for no apparent reason and unless you get a necropsy done (or perform one yourself) you may never know what happened. I've had chickens for ten years and last year I had a perfectly healthy pullet who was the only one I kept of the ones my broodies hatched that year and I came out to the coop one afternoon and found her dead as a door nail. There was no apparent cause and the rest of the flock was fine. You are doing your best! Everything will work out

Thank you


We really do try our best for them, I think it just hit so much harder because I don’t know why it happened. With my other hen a giant bird of prey snapped her neck… but with this it’s just a mystery. All my other friends with chickens told us to be prepared for death, to love them and mourn them if I want but I do need to be prepared. And I totally didn’t take their advice.

I will just be thankful for the time we had, not furious for the time taken from her. Thank you for your kind words, I truly appreciate it so much. My spouse did go over her and she was in perfect health, just stone cold in the doorway.


I will take everything I learned from this thread and do better for my birds

 

[Mrs. K]

While more ventilation is always good, I really don't think that was the problem. Ventilation would affect all of the birds in the coop. This sounds like it was sudden death syndrome. It happens, and it happens just like you describe, they are fine, active, alert, eating and then dead. You can hardly believe they are dead, they were so alive just hours before.

A more experienced keeper than me at the time, thought it was a genetic heart ailment. She had a massive heart attack and died. Almost no pain, just gone, (we should all be so lucky). She says if it is going to happen, it tends to happen in the first year, as the bird becomes full size. She thought the ailment was able to be kept up with, with a smaller body, but as the body became full size, it gave out.

It is always your favorite. Now, I am going to ask you to consider this. This might not be a good hobby for your tender heart. Chickens are not real long lived animals. Few will live to a ripe old age of past 6, but a lot won't live much past 3.

What you can do, is give them a good life, you obviously do. After that a quick death, is called the coup de grace.

Mrs K

 

[U_Stormcrow]

It has been very hot here. And I feel awful knowing I played a hand in her demise when I was meant to protect her.

If the bird wasn't trapped in the house, the heat of the house wasn't it.

and there is no reason to conclude "you had a hand in" its demise.

LOTS of things can kill chickens, some the keeper may be responsible for, many they are not.

I had a hand in the death of four birds today. I sent them to freezer camp with my own hands. While processing, I paid careful attention to the quality of their internal organs - tells me a good bit abou the health of the rest of my flock. I have to, because my birds free range, which has effect on their diet. Too much fat? (it can kill, by the way) Too little fat (likewise). How's the liver? (one of the 3yr old birds I sent to camp today had a healthy liver with signs of an occasional fatty diet - the other 3yr old bird, bought the same day, same breed, raised together all their lives had a liver showing far more frequent excess fat, light tan and almost buttery in color and crumbly in my fingers. Had I not culled today, there's decent chane she would have suddenly fallen over on her own some time in the coming months of FLHS). Signs of excess calcium? Does the skin tear easily, or is it like thin leather? How about the joints? Foot and toe condition?

All we can do is our best, and to keep learning - but one of the first things we learn is that some things we may never know the answer too. Life. You rolls your dice, and you takes your chances - knowledge and wisdom help you pick the tables with the best odds, but at the end of the day, the House ALWAYS Wins.

 

[booksandcranies]

If the bird wasn't trapped in the house, the heat of the house wasn't it.

and there is no reason to conclude "you had a hand in" its demise.

LOTS of things can kill chickens, some the keeper may be responsible for, many they are not.

I had a hand in the death of four birds today. I sent them to freezer camp with my own hands. While processing, I paid careful attention to the quality of their internal organs - tells me a good bit abou the health of the rest of my flock. I have to, because my birds free range, which has effect on their diet. Too much fat? (it can kill, by the way) Too little fat (likewise). How's the liver? (one of the 3yr old birds I sent to camp today had a healthy liver with signs of an occasional fatty diet - the other 3yr old bird, bought the same day, same breed, raised together all their lives had a liver showing far more frequent excess fat, light tan and almost buttery in color and crumbly in my fingers. Had I not culled today, there's decent chane she would have suddenly fallen over on her own some time in the coming months of FLHS). Signs of excess calcium? Does the skin tear easily, or is it like thin leather? How about the joints? Foot and toe condition?

All we can do is our best, and to keep learning - but one of the first things we learn is that some things we may never know the answer too. Life. You rolls your dice, and you takes your chances - knowledge and wisdom help you pick the tables with the best odds, but at the end of the day, the House ALWAYS Wins.

Thank you so much for your words, it really means a lot.


Instead of being upset she died I’ve decided to be happy I made it to a full year without a single Chicken death before it finally happened. It really sucked 2 happened at once but I went a full year with no illness, no big injuries and no death.

Chickens are fragile creatures, and to think otherwise is naïve of me. Sometimes they do just drop dead without showing a single sign, other times they die a warriors death (taken by a predator). And sometimes they’ll even make it to old age.


I think I was just really shocked because two birds in three days was a punch to the gut. And it was made worse by the fact it was our favorite bird. But I am just going to be happy that I had her for a full year.



P.s it’s super cool how you’re able to process your own meat and then take a look at the internal organs to make sure everything‘s OK. i used to work at a vet clinic and I’ve seen a few necropsies done on animals before but that’s obviously different. I wish I could do that!!! But I could bond with a darn rock and wouldn’t be able to let go. So meat chickens are a no go for me because I understand how detrimental it is if you DONT butcher them, and chickens deserve a clean easy death

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Takes all kinds, society does. I make a better butcher than psychiatrist.

and yes, I don't full blown necropsy, but with practice and experience, you get to know what a "healthy" bird looks like.

They are prey animals, and very good at hiding illness/injury - to do otherwise would result in them quickly being singled out by predators.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am glad you are making sense of it all. The circle of life happens fairly tightly in a chicken flock. Now you have room to get chicks. Which eventually leads to a healthier flock. Personally, I think you really don't want all your chickens to be the same age, it is better to have a few hens of each year. It helps in smaller flocks, to actually have something move on, so there is room for new ones.