Deadly Heat

Today was a bad day for our chickens. One of our year old hens died in the coop a victim of the heat, it was 108 today. And we have 2 other hens missing at nightly role call. I had no idea chickens could die from the heat even under the shade. We had the coop open and the chickens were free to run out and into the pasture. This afternoon we installed a box fan to keep our flock cool. I hosed down the coop and the yard. The coop and the pasture are under the shade of trees. Tomorrow I will hose down the yard for the chickens and give them watermelon to keep them cool. I hope the heat will be ending soon before I lose all my chickens.