It's been in the upper 90s consistently down here in sunny South Florida and my little chicks are panting their beaks off!
In an attempt to give them some relief I created a little 'Cooling Ice Rock Oasis' for them to enjoy last weekend. This really helped cool them off in the heat of mid-day and gave them something new and interesting to investigate. (Note: My chicks are at the 4 week mark so they are rather big, if you have newly hatched chicks be careful with this because you don't want any water in the brooder or coop deep enough for them to drown in.)
So, here's what I did, I grabbed a hummus container from the recycle bin, washed it very well and added a rock from the garden. Then filled it with water to about 1/2 way up the rock and froze it:
Before putting it in the coop I added some pine shavings on top of the ice so my flock could cool their little feet without it being too cold to stand on:
As soon as I put the new Oasis in the coop, there was immediate interest: (You'll see my crazy little barred rocks right out front and you can see that open beak because they were so hot. They are also so adventurous!)
Within 15min my little flock were all investigating the new addition to their environment:
The 'Cooling Ice Rock Oasis' lasted a good couple of hours and my peeps enjoyed standing, sitting and pecking around it. After the ice melted and all that was left were shavings and the rock, I removed the Oasis from the coop and have it back in my freezer so it will be ready for the chicks to enjoy this weekend! I hope you have fun creating one for your own chicks and please don't forget to post pics!