HEAT, How do you save your chickens?

[astatula]

I live in Central Florida and it has been in the middle 90's for over 2 weeks now. Then there is the humidity which brings the temps to around 105 and that's all day long. The only relief, if you can call it relief, is after 11pm when the temps drop to 87 degrees, yea 87 after 11pm and then 80 percent humidity, so still in the 90's for the night.

I have dumped bags of ice in their run and raked it into the ground for a couple of hours of cooling but it's not enough, I need some really imaginative solutions to this problem, if you have one, I am all ears. I am actually thinking of running an air conditioning duct out to the coop, but that will be a major project and lots of duct work, at least 50 feet.

They have shade in the run, 12x14 feet, after 2pm, but can hide out under their coop in the shade until 2pm. They are still panting and looking for something cool to get next to most of the day.

Any answers are worth trying so my 3 month investment of 15 chickens doesn't get cooked alive.

 

[TexasVet]

Put up tarps to block the sun. Sprinkle the ground in the run twice (or more) per day. Add ice to the drinking water. Put up a mister or two.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com, www.PivotalForce.com

 

[TerriLaChicks]

We've been in triple digits the past few days & are expected to continue all week long--and no rain in sight.

I found some sun tarps at Walmart that block heat & sun--they are $24 and one covered a good 1/3 of my run. I"m going back next payday & invest in a couple more-let's face it, summer's just started.

I change out water 3 times a day & buy bags of frozen chopped spinach, collards, turnips & brocolli & give those out at 1:00 when I go home for lunch. They like that a lot!

I put extra deep sand in the shady corner where they like to dust bathe--it seems to stay cooler than regular dirt.

Wonder if one of those misting fans would do any good for you? I don't run fans or anything as my runs & coops are all very shaded so it's not overly bad for mine.

 

[taxus812]

I was going to recomend a mister but run the hose through a cooler full of ice first (coil the hose several times).

 

[Sillystunt]

hey,i am in central florida as well! It's sooo hot here. I am about to go out and spay the ground to cool them. I also have been putting ice in their water. My coop and pen are in the shade but it's hot there as well. 95 today with index in triple digits...low was 81

Shade does help though! can you get a extension cord and put a fan out or a/c?

Oh yeah,i also froze water in a large ziplock bag. I laid it flat like a pillow and i am freezing then to put in their bed .....

 

[scarter]

Our llamas get really hot but here is what I do. We have a giant ag fan that we turn on. It's going on today when the temp hits 90. It's 88 right this minute so I'm guessing in the next hour we will go out and turn the noise maker on. It's pretty big and I wonder if the chickens will end up in the pole barn today too with the fan. Also we have a 5X5 square sprinkler that we turn on for the llamas. It was in the garden section and shoots upwards like a mini fountain. I sometimes turn that on for the hot times in summer.

I also got a mister from a yard sale a few years ago. I'll bet the chickens would LOVE that. Mine was 2 dollars. Maybe there is something like that on Craigslist for cheap.

We're no where what you get for summer. There are advantages to being so cold during the winter. Although that's a whole new set of problems!

 

[nsbchickens]

I'm in central florida too, well, New Smyrna Beach. The heat is getting ridiculous. My girls don't really move between 1 and 5, they just hide behind trees or lay in the shade, I give them ice in their water like everyone else said, and when I go water my garden I usually mist them a little bit with the hose, they act like they don't like it but I'd rather them be mad at me for a second than keel over and die.

 

[guesswhatchickenbutt]

Another Central Floridian here. Last night at 11:30 pm I went to weather.com and put in our zip code. The "feels like" temp was 93. In-sane.

I'm searching for heat solutions too, but so far not too many are feasible for us. I have 3 hens and they arent in a part of the yard where I can run a power cord to do a fan and they're so far away from the hose for a mister. I'd have to buy about 3 hoses to hook them together to get to where the chickens are...

Right now I have them in a mobile hoop-run in the day and it's in the shade with 1/2 of it covered with a doubled-up garden tarp. I put ice in their water and I've been freezing plain yogurt in those little Mott's applesauce plastic cups (leftover from the kids) and then giving them a frozen yogurt to snack on after lunch.

I feel so bad... they just sit and pant all day

 

[Sillystunt]

yeah, mine are panting and have dugg nice holes in their run...my duck is in his water and my goats seem to like it. Nigerian dwarfs i guess are used to the heat??? lol i put ice in their water and they looked at me funny.

 

[LilEmilysChknPen]

I'm in central florida (Ocala) also and my chickens are panting too! I gave them some Ice in their water, I hope it helps....My black coppers haven't given me an egg in 2 days!!!