Chicken in hot weather

[townchicks]

Do you have a picture?
How high up do you have it?
Does it drip water?
Does your ground stay dry?

I don't have a picture but I can try to get one later. I have it attached to the ceiling of a walk in run, so maybe 6 ft? I haven't measured it, I just built it high enough not to bang my head, I'm 5' 7". It drips water if I leave the hose attached, but that's because my spigot has a slow drip and is uphill from my run. Detaching the hose, stops the drip. Yes the ground gets wet. That's a good thing. I have deep litter in my run, and they dig into the wet earth to cool down. It dries quickly in warm weather.

 

[Shmemums]

I don't have a picture but I can try to get one later. I have it attached to the ceiling of a walk in run, so maybe 6 ft? I haven't measured it, I just built it high enough not to bang my head, I'm 5' 7". It drips water if I leave the hose attached, but that's because my spigot has a slow drip and is uphill from my run. Detaching the hose, stops the drip. Yes the ground gets wet. That's a good thing. I have deep litter in my run, and they dig into the wet earth to cool down. It dries quickly in warm weather.

Dang it, my floor is dirt and the feet are feathered so I have to find a way to keep it dry without spending over 1k on a 1000psi pump

 

[townchicks]

Dang it, my floor is dirt and the feet are feathered so I have to find a way to keep it dry without spending over 1k on a 1000psi pump

No pump needed, lol. Just spend 20 bucks on a couple of bags of wood chip mulch. My run is dirt/ deep litter. It does not get muddy, just damp.

 

[Shmemums]

No pump needed, lol. Just spend 20 bucks on a couple of bags of wood chip mulch. My run is dirt/ deep litter. It does not get muddy, just damp.

Idk the place that is making my coop says they recommend regular dirt floor with nothing added. So now I don't know what to do

 

[3KillerBs]

Idk the place that is making my coop says they recommend regular dirt floor with nothing added. So now I don't know what to do

Dirt alone without litter just accumulates poop and doesn't give it anything to react with.

I'm a great fan of the Deep Litter method for the run -- a moist, active composting system where the organic litter reacts with the poop to neutralize it.

 

[Shmemums]

Dirt alone without litter just accumulates poop and doesn't give it anything to react with.

I'm a great fan of the Deep Litter method for the run -- a moist, active composting system where the organic litter reacts with the poop to neutralize it.

I planned on raking the poo out from the roost every day and all the other parts maybe 3x a week

 

[3KillerBs]

I planned on raking the poo out from the roost every day and all the other parts maybe 3x a week

Some people don't mind that kind of intensive cleaning.

I cover some of the pros and cons in my Deep Bedding article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/using-deep-bedding-in-a-small-coop.76343/

 

[SilverBirds]

X2 on the deep littler method.

 

[Dreammaker]

We're facing a mini heat wave this weekend in MA and I am also wondering how my birds will fare with the heat. This is my first summer with them. I chopped up a bunch of fresh herbs that were overgrowing in my countertop garden and threw them in an ice cube tray with some water. I think a few "herbsicles" will be their treat this weekend.

I am glad someone posted about using a mister. I was wondering if they'd find it annoying, but it seems like it'd help, so I might try it.

 

[3KillerBs]

I am glad someone posted about using a mister. I was wondering if they'd find it annoying, but it seems like it'd help, so I might try it.

Misters help in DRY heat, but are useless or even worse than useless in high humidity.

I've had good luck with dampening PART of a shady section of ground -- not to make mud, just to get it a little moist. But let the hens pick whether to dig into the dry ground or the damp ground.