keeping chickens cool in hot weather - Page 3

I'm sure he's seen much, much worse!!! LOL

I have Serama crossbreeds. Seramas are originally from Malaysia so that breed is very heat tolerant, and in fact may need some extra help making it through our North American winters. Mine are crossbred with d'Uccle and Old English Game bantams.  This summer I have some pure d'Uccle chicks, too.

The fellow I got my chickens from has these kinds of bantams and also some standard breeds, including Naked Necks. He told me the bantams aren't bothered by the heat at all in comparison with the standard chickens.

I just want to make sure, do you re use the water bottles that you freeze?  If so, how do you sanitize them before putting them back in the freezer?
Can I put water bottles in a small stryofoam cooler or will they eat it?

thanks,

Yes, they will eat styrofoam. The idea of putting them in plastic bags is a good one, as sterilizing them each time would be difficult.

My husband just put a roof over our 16'x16' run (and the roof is bigger because of the overhang)...incredible what a difference that makes!  All that shade, and plenty of airflow.  Last year my chickens were miserable and I tried all of the suggestions already mentioned.  The roof makes all the difference so I think they'll be much better off this year.

Re-use: 

1.  hose off
2.  spray with no-rinse sanitizer (starsan, iodophor, or pH-adjusted bleach solution).   It pays to be a brewer.
3.  dry in sun
4.  wrap in grocery  bag to freeze

we're in arizona so we battle with 100+ degrees on a regular basis, but its a dry heat. we make sure there is ample airflow and lots of shade and fresh water at all times. we also just put a mister system along the run to help cool off the girls. we usually let them free range all day and they love to hang out by the rabbit hutches. we put burlap sacks over the wire on the hutches and keep misters on them to keep them damp/wet(we also have some misters out in the yard for the dogs). as long as there is at least a slight breeze it works like a swamp cooler and keeps the rabbits nice and cool(if you stick your head in there it feels like they have the AC turned on lol). the chickens like to sit under the hutch since it is so much cooler there so we gave them some misters of their own. they will sit under them untill they are  damp/wet then go off and scratch around and explore. once the water on their feathers dries and they are hot again they come back to the misters for a while. so far it's worked out great. we have all the misters on an irrigation timer so they turn on in the morning and off in the evening. that way we don't have to worry about forgetting to turn them on or off.

I know this is an old thread, but I typed "hot" in the search bar because BOY are my girls hot! It's not too hot yet, though, highs of 95's, but I want to make sure I'm careful. They're 3 months old so no eggs yet.

I will definitly try the 2 liter idea, spraying the dirt with a hose, and cold food. My chickens will appreciate your suggestions!

(south of Portland)
Adrienne

Hey, Adrienne, I was just doing the same thing.  We're in Forest Grove, OR so the high temps are coming on now.  I saw a posts of a large plastic trash can, on it's side, with two ice packs in the bottom.  The ice packs were in zip lock bags.  His chickens will then walk inside to cool off or lean up against the outside.  To refreeze, he slips the ice packs out of the bags as they have remained clean.
I'm thinking I'll try that one.
Good luck!

These are all great ideas. I live in Oregon also and it has been cool until two days ago and its gotten up to 80-90. The poor chickens were taken by surprise. They live in a three sided horse shed so the whole front of the shed is open for air and all the corners let in air but the roof gets hot so the shed gets hot. I take the hose and spray the roof so the water cools off the metal. My chickens are allowed to free range all they want so they go dig around under the trees and then lay in the holes. I also make up some of the "sav-a-chick" electrolite water stuff to help keep them hydrated.