Four silkies, and on any warm afternoon at least two of them stand about with their beaks open breathing fast and their wings held off their bodies. The run has one small tree and not much else.
The other hens I keep do not seem to do it as much, which made me wonder whether the fluff is working against them. Is panting just how chickens cope, and how do I tell it from something going wrong?
Know the escalation so you can see it coming. Mild is panting, wings out, less active, drinking more. Serious is lethargy, staggering, lying flat, pale comb and wattles, eyes closing, unresponsive, and at the far end seizures or collapse.
That far end is an emergency rather than a bad afternoon. Dampening the ground in a shady corner so they can lie in cool earth is one of the cheapest things that helps.
Broody silkies get very warm sitting tight for hours. Make sure she is getting off to eat and drink.
The one that is not about heat: an open beak when it is not hot and she has not just been chased. With wheezing, gurgling or rattling, sneezing, nasal discharge, swollen or bubbly eyes, coughing, head shaking, or sitting fluffed and off her food.
Separate her and ring somebody, because respiratory disease moves through a flock. A bit of panting after being handled that stops within a minute or two is nothing at all.
@shade_cloth_up · 3w ago · 3 replies
You have worked it out yourself. Chickens do not sweat, they pant, hold their wings away from the body and go and lie in cool dirt. Silkie plumage does not lie flat the way normal feathers do, so shedding heat is genuinely harder for them than for your others.
One small tree is not enough shade for four of them. Tarps, shade cloth, anything that makes real shade, plus water in several places rather than one, and airflow at roof level in the coop.
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@fluff_holds_heat · 3w ago
What do I actually do if one of them looks like it is going past uncomfortable?
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@do_not_soak_her · 3w ago
Move her somewhere cool and shaded and briefly dip her feet and legs in cool water, not ice cold, then ring somebody. Do not soak a silkie all over: that fluff holds water and a drenched bird struggles to recover from being wet on top of being overheated.
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