Hi Everyone!
Our weather is doing a cruel and sudden shift from mid-60's to mid-90's with a week of icky 87-97 degree days in a row before cooling back to our normal weather.
The rest of the flock has the perma-shade area of their run to retreat to and the ground is still nice and moist for cooling down.
But Betty, who has been on fertile eggs for 9 days, of course, will not have the benefit of this area, so the challenge is to keep her cool enough to continue brooding without disturbing her. So far she's been great about getting up a couple times a day for a stretch, water, and a little bite to eat- based on her habits I'm confident she gets up when thirsty. Also new things added cause the others to swoop in and make mayhem when she wants peace.
We do have electrical in the coop so it's not out of the question to put a fan on her. Naturally I don't want to put fans in places where the chickens can get to them- not a big deal for the roosting chickens, because I can do a box fan through the hardware cloth top doors at night (3rd pic).
One thought is to replace the nest box door wood panel (2nd pic, very bottom) with a hardware cloth panel and put a small fan that way. Obviously this will let more light through too- not sure if that will bother her or not.
Any tips for the best way to do this or some other good cooling method is appreciated!
Here's a picture of the situation from inside. The lower left is actually the broody hen laying before she went broody- and that is where she's set up shop. (we've got a couple that love narrow deep boxes, so the middle row's for them) 2nd picture is from the other side of this laying cabinet. 3rd pic is the people door with the nest box areas to the right and left. The outside access door is a security screen door (like one for a front door) for airflow and of course predator security - pic is from when it was still under construction.
Our weather is doing a cruel and sudden shift from mid-60's to mid-90's with a week of icky 87-97 degree days in a row before cooling back to our normal weather.
The rest of the flock has the perma-shade area of their run to retreat to and the ground is still nice and moist for cooling down.
But Betty, who has been on fertile eggs for 9 days, of course, will not have the benefit of this area, so the challenge is to keep her cool enough to continue brooding without disturbing her. So far she's been great about getting up a couple times a day for a stretch, water, and a little bite to eat- based on her habits I'm confident she gets up when thirsty. Also new things added cause the others to swoop in and make mayhem when she wants peace.
We do have electrical in the coop so it's not out of the question to put a fan on her. Naturally I don't want to put fans in places where the chickens can get to them- not a big deal for the roosting chickens, because I can do a box fan through the hardware cloth top doors at night (3rd pic).
One thought is to replace the nest box door wood panel (2nd pic, very bottom) with a hardware cloth panel and put a small fan that way. Obviously this will let more light through too- not sure if that will bother her or not.
Any tips for the best way to do this or some other good cooling method is appreciated!
Here's a picture of the situation from inside. The lower left is actually the broody hen laying before she went broody- and that is where she's set up shop. (we've got a couple that love narrow deep boxes, so the middle row's for them) 2nd picture is from the other side of this laying cabinet. 3rd pic is the people door with the nest box areas to the right and left. The outside access door is a security screen door (like one for a front door) for airflow and of course predator security - pic is from when it was still under construction.