[Oliveview]

18 months aprox ago we were given 21  1-2 day old chicks.... all female we were told (1 was a cockerel)  they were due to be culled as the meat factory only wanted males..... they were smuggled out (so we were told).  They are extreemly fat, massive hens, far bigger than our RHR hens.  We had 5 left (sold 12, ate 1, 1 died when about 2 weeks old, 1 cockerel and our dogs killed one, it flew over the gate onto the patio while we were out one day)
Jim commented on  Wednesday how he didn´t see the hens getting through the hot summer this year because of their weight.... that evening Jim was working on the veg plot, I went to check the hens and one of the big hens was laying there dead.  She was still warm so had just died where she sat in the shade.  At least she had a nice 18 months, had she been a cockerel she would have been culled very young and even younger had she not been ´rescued´  It had been in the high 30´s on Wednesday, so it wasn´t a surprise.  The hens have plenty of shade and water and we wet the ground where the shade is, so they can try to keep cool.
Down the end of the garden they have made a dust bath that is about 12 inches lower now that the surrounding garden, think they are trying to make an escape route into next door!
Pamela