Canada Day

[WLLady]

happy canada day!!! we drove back from north of montreal today-and amazingly the traffic wasnt too insane! we saw 34c on the temp in the truck...had a hot day yesterday and a glacial lake to freeze our butts off in. the water was so cold!!! now back to warm and dry....watermelons are loving this weather lol. my beans barely sprout. my peas didnt sprout....so tomorrow for the holiday i get to weed. happy birthday canada!

[SusanH]

Happy Canada Day everyone! I celebrated with a chilled watermelon for everyone, which yielded some fun Chicken TV to watch. After the watermelon, two of them seemed to have what our Jamaican friends call "n***itis" (aka post-prandial stupor) and lay down on their sides using each other as pillows, a bit like the kittens in this month's photo. Meanwhile the Wyandottes are having voluptuous dust baths and making pleasure sounds. Are Wyandottes known for vocal expression? They are not loud, but always talking, chuckling and growling and cooing and whatnot. The Polish also make an amazing range of sounds, all more songbird-like and not chicken sounds yet. None of them seem to mind the heat. They're not even hanging out in the shade. The whole flock is out in the sun. What signs of heat distress should I watch for?

[poultry_admin]

Happy Canada Day everyone!
Yup, we did lots of driving today.
As you would have seen the report from DW the traffic was not tooooo bad. Toronto is always slow and it didn't disappoint today either. Nice vacation, but it's also nice to be home again. Even with the scorcher of a day. Fun to come home to see what all broke while we were out.
In our case: Internet connection and toilet seat?????

Anyways stay cool everyone
And Happy Canada Day

[Killerbunny]

@SusanH I notice that my wyandottes are always commenting on something. I put frozen bottles of water in waterers to keep it cool. Keep an eye out for extreme panting. Mine just hang out in shade with the odd dust bath.

[windwalkingwolf]

We took our old pool down several months ago when it developed an unrepairable liner leak, because the whole thing was falling apart anyway and we have a better one to put up. Still have the old pool liner in that spot, because the birds quickly discovered the joys of standing in the cool water. And drinking it even though there's fresh cool water just steps away The turkeys especially have been using it the past two days to cool their feet. The waterfowl, well, I think they take bets on what shade of green their will turn the water on any given day. I keep a hose in it on at a trickle to try and keep the water sort of fresh. It doesn't work, but at least it stays cool. In past, I have used a snow saucer filled with water for the same purpose. Remember that birds drink LOADS when it's hot, but that can 'wash' salts out, that they need. A little electrolyte mix in their water is helpful.
As for overheating, if they start head twitching, or seem too weak to stand up, they're in big trouble. It may seem counter-intuitive, but if you find a bird in trouble, do NOT force water and/or electrolytes, as a matter of fact you should ration intake carefully, as too much all at once in a dehydrated bird will cause brain swelling, and if they survive, they'll never be quite right ever again.

[Kbr42]

I just had little ones hatch on Wednesday they are in with one of my broodies. I was way too worried about them. I've been building an extension to one of my coops but the roof isn't done yet. We used an old umbrella and put the little ones and Mama in the unfinished run..in the thing I made for them.
Going to be even hotter today!

[Shnookie]

There were no Canada Day chicks, and no signs of life yet (day 22). I haven't even set up a brooder yet because it's not looking good. This could be my worst hatch.

[kenya]

Happy Canada day.
Sorry to hear that Shnookie.

[Jaye]

Don't give up yet, Schnookie ...our Biscuit was hatched near the end of day 24 last year (or was it day 25?), from a clutch of eggs that had more than it's fair share of misadventures and should have been a total disaster.

[Happy]

Have a great one all. Nearly 30 years here for us.
Thought you'd like the new gazebo and turkey misting station we put up in honour. Didn't have enough skids to make a really redneck one!
It gives good shade when the sun comes around a bit.
freddie.jpg

KB I knew I'd seen this picture and went on the hunt for it! Is this the dog kennel from TSC?
Theres one near me on Kijiji for sale and I'm thinking about grabbing it. Looks pretty new. I would like to set it up very much like in your picture with the open end against the coop wall. Then use a second panel on the roof and tarp it. Do you think it would hold up in the winter? Alternatively I could set it up as intended and get the roof that is sold separately. But I'm unsure of how durable that is. Any experience or suggestions?