Great idea! I've been using gallon jugs, but they're too big. I think I'll try the smaller bottles.Idea for heat relief for chickens:
I don't know if everyone already does this but I collected a bunch of 2 Liter bottles and filled them up about 3/4s full of water. Put them in my freezer overnight and around 1-2 pm I bring them up out and make a biiig bottle bed by fitting them all together. I was worried the chickens wouldn't figure it out but actually they did! They all climbed on top of the bottle nest to cool off in the shade. Reduced their panting a lot! I had put a roost bar in their yard and saw they were hanging out on it (it's like 6 inches above the ground)- so today I am going to put the bottles underneath the roost bar so the cool air can rise and try that. They were kind slipping around on the ice bed before. So maybe this helps. My next experiment if possible- an old thin sheet on top of the bottles so their feet can grip but the coolness can get through the thin sheet. The chickens really liked huddling on it yesterday without the sheet!
it's 100 down here, expecting to get to 103.