Poor Miss Daisy! She was kinda a mean cuss of a hen, but I hated losing her anyway, mostly because she was one great layer! A few months ago, we in SoCal went through a heat wave where the thermometer reached triple digits - whew, was it ever hot!
Realizing that my chickens might be suffering in the stifling heat, I turned to my trusty source of information, Backyard Chickens, to see what could be done to keep the girls more comfortable. I found a great wealth of information as usual, but for some reason, my birds didn't respond to their proven advice. They evaded every cooling measure I took. I tried to put a fan near their favorite cool spot, no dice. I tried putting frozen water bottles near their food and water dispenser, thinking they would be like the other chickeners' hens that sat by the blocks of ice to keep cool - nope. Then I tried hanging wet towels up on their run fencing, thinking that the hot breeze would cause a nice cooling effect through evaporation. I think I made a steam sauna instead. The girls, in an effort to avoid all my attempts to keep them cool, ended up huddled in a pile in a central location as far from all of the cooling devices as possible - stupid birds!
Realizing that my chickens might be suffering in the stifling heat, I turned to my trusty source of information, Backyard Chickens, to see what could be done to keep the girls more comfortable. I found a great wealth of information as usual, but for some reason, my birds didn't respond to their proven advice. They evaded every cooling measure I took. I tried to put a fan near their favorite cool spot, no dice. I tried putting frozen water bottles near their food and water dispenser, thinking they would be like the other chickeners' hens that sat by the blocks of ice to keep cool - nope. Then I tried hanging wet towels up on their run fencing, thinking that the hot breeze would cause a nice cooling effect through evaporation. I think I made a steam sauna instead. The girls, in an effort to avoid all my attempts to keep them cool, ended up huddled in a pile in a central location as far from all of the cooling devices as possible - stupid birds!
Then on a day in the middle of September, I went to the coop to assess some possible cooling measure I could take when I opened the door I had quite a shock. Daisy was laying half in and half out of the farthest nesting box , where her last egg was resting. She wasn't moving. I called to her, no response. My heart sank. I reached out for her and she was as stiff as a board. I just started sobbing and I ran for the house. She was fine just a few hours before... I called to my husband, the poor man, I don't think he will ever learn to understand me while I'm trying to talk while sobbing. I finally got it out. He asked me what I wanted him to do - - not good, but he meant well. He suggested we put her under the compost heap - ewwwww! Instead, I just put her in a trash bag and threw her in the trash - sorry dear reader, I was in shock I guess.
Well, now we are one chicken short, I only have four hens now. I was so devastated and convinced that I killed her somehow. I went back on the Backyard Chickens forum to vent and a few people said that she was probably sick from something else. I was assured that chickens can handle heat fairly well, especially since the other birds had come through it fine. Another chickener said that chickens hide their aliments until it's too late to do anything about it. So she could have had a problem I didn't know about, either way, she was dead and I'm short a chicken. Immediately, Kyle wanted to get another Daisy. He would make a good farmer that's for sure. As for me, a few weeks later, I decided to start looking into getting more chickens! Way to pull myself up by the boot straps, huh? Now I want a few more birds. It's like- -Daisy? Daisy who? After all, remember, she was kinda mean, and she pretty much tormented my favorite hen Miss Olive, so I'm pretty much over it. I think I will get a Speckled Sussex, an Easter Egger, and maybe even another chicken similar to Daisy for Kyle, but not a Delaware hen.