A
Anonymous
Guest
On a slightly different note and following on from another post regarding hens out in the rain.
I have, over the past 2 months, lost about 7 ex batts.
The loss has always been after heavy rain. I cannot stop the ex batts from going out in the rain and many of them do not have the sense to comein from the rain.
I assume that the rain for them is a bit of a shock and when they come back into the chicken house wet, they seem to succumb to distrees during the night either by crushing or just the exposure to the rain.
I have observed them during the night and notice that they actually walk and sleep on top of each other (sometimes 2 or 3 deep. No amount of effort will get them to use the perches and if I do leave the nest boxes open, then they sleep 4 or 5 to a box and once again crush each other.
They have ample floor space but still insist on cramming together in a pile on a night time. I honestly believe that the cold rain saps their strength to escape from the bottom of the pile and they suffer from a form of crushing. The two I took to the vets were slightly inconclusive. The vet said there was nothing wrong with them disease wise and internally nothing was amiss, he assumed they had died from distress but could not say exactly what the cause was.
So I understand that many people leave their chickens out in the rain with no detriment to them at all. However, I now trully believe that quite a few ex batts, whom, for the last 70 odd weeks of their lives have been kept in an environment with a constant temperature, cannot handle the shock of even summer rain and manage to make it through the night whilst soaking wet.
I have managed to rescue 3 hens which were unable to walk or even stand, having placed them away from the others and introduced some warmth to them for a few hours in a quiet place and they have recovered fully.
Yet many of the other ex batts quite happily go out and get soaked with no ill effects whatsoever.
Sorry to go on for so long and to go off track slightly, but it is just an observation from my experience over the past few months with a large flock of ex batts (presently over 200 and more to arrive in a couple of weeks).
cheers
steve
I have, over the past 2 months, lost about 7 ex batts.
The loss has always been after heavy rain. I cannot stop the ex batts from going out in the rain and many of them do not have the sense to comein from the rain.
I assume that the rain for them is a bit of a shock and when they come back into the chicken house wet, they seem to succumb to distrees during the night either by crushing or just the exposure to the rain.
I have observed them during the night and notice that they actually walk and sleep on top of each other (sometimes 2 or 3 deep. No amount of effort will get them to use the perches and if I do leave the nest boxes open, then they sleep 4 or 5 to a box and once again crush each other.
They have ample floor space but still insist on cramming together in a pile on a night time. I honestly believe that the cold rain saps their strength to escape from the bottom of the pile and they suffer from a form of crushing. The two I took to the vets were slightly inconclusive. The vet said there was nothing wrong with them disease wise and internally nothing was amiss, he assumed they had died from distress but could not say exactly what the cause was.
So I understand that many people leave their chickens out in the rain with no detriment to them at all. However, I now trully believe that quite a few ex batts, whom, for the last 70 odd weeks of their lives have been kept in an environment with a constant temperature, cannot handle the shock of even summer rain and manage to make it through the night whilst soaking wet.
I have managed to rescue 3 hens which were unable to walk or even stand, having placed them away from the others and introduced some warmth to them for a few hours in a quiet place and they have recovered fully.
Yet many of the other ex batts quite happily go out and get soaked with no ill effects whatsoever.
Sorry to go on for so long and to go off track slightly, but it is just an observation from my experience over the past few months with a large flock of ex batts (presently over 200 and more to arrive in a couple of weeks).
cheers
steve