I've been giving Fleur and Gloria a little yoghurt each day, laced with Nutridops. Sasha and Faye have had a small amount too. Poppy has had a little, but not so interested.
I've been feeding them lettuces, and some watermelon, during the day. We changed their free ranging area - DH mowed the grass especially - so that they have access to all the area under the trees at the back of their run. This also gives them more under-hedge space, so adds to the amount of shade they already had.
Sasha had been in the nest box for a long time. I opened it up to have a look, and she was in there looking very unwell. She was so very hot. I shut the nest box door, and ran into the house. I pulled some old towels out of out old towel basket, put them in a bucket, and covered them with cool water. Not too cold, I didn't want to risk shock.
Back at the coop , I lifter Sasha out of the coop and onto a towel, I wrapped it over her, covered her head with a small towel, and held her carefully. The towel was baking. She dozed off (which wasn't a good sign). I swapped it for another one. I put a small towel underneath each wing.
When she was cooler, I let her go. I then went and gave Fleur and Gloria a wet towel treatment. They seemed to enjoy it. Poppy didn't want it, so I let her go. I couldn't catch Faye.
I noticed that Sasha had gone back in the nest box, and when I opened the door, she had her head underneath Poppy.
I took her in the house, and sat with her on my lap, both of us getting soaked in wet towels. I syringed some water (laced with Avipro) into her, but she didn't want to drink. After nearly an hour of towel changing, she had cooled down, and I put her back in the run. Faye came and tried to peck her head.
I picked Sasha up, took her back in to the house, and this time I put her in a sink with some cool (not cold) water. She was again covered in a towel, and this time I used the kitchen spray,m on low, and sprayed the towel. Spraying her directly would be too painful for her, and I also needed to be careful about the temperature of the water.
As the sink filled, she sat down, and gradually got very drenched. She was dozing, and I held her head so she didn't drown. I syringed more water in to her, a tiny bit at a time, stopping each time to let her 'swallow'. She looked in a bad way.
I've had a hen with heatstroke before. Years ago Milly, our horrible horrible bully hen, suffered from it and I had been through this with her. She survived, and had been in a worse state than Sasha.
Eventually, she seemed much cooler. She sat there, most unlike her. I put her in a dry towel, and we made up a dog crate in the kitchen for her. Water, chick crumb, Alfamix chick, in pots. When she was drier, I put her in the crate. She stood there, tail and wings down, looking very unwell. She wasn't interested in the water, which was the most worrying thing.
Things didn't change much during the evening. She stood in one place, and I was preparing myself for coming down in the morning to find her dead.
She didn't die.
She looked better, but still didn't look right. She wasn't eating or drinking, She was dry, of course. I put her back in the run with the others. She had a long, long drink. Then she stood around a bit. A few minutes later, she was on the arm of the chair.
And an hour later, she's squawking in response to Faye's egg announcement.
She looks better. Here's hoping.
