How do you keep your chickens cool?

[nerfworthy]

Fortunately, my coop is situated to where the entire run is shaded in the late afternoon sun when it's the hottest, but my chickens are still panting and looking really hot by the end of the day. I want to know how you guys keep your chickies cool in the summer!

 

[Redfisher1997]

Shade is the best, my run is dirt/sand combo so it helps them cool off to dust bathe, frozen watermelon or strawberries, on REALLY hot days i put ice in their water, kiddie pool with shallow water my turkey used to love to sit in it when it got hot, chickens not so much but it was cool and they could lay up next to it!

 

[chickengirl778]

Also you can put homemade or storebought electrolytes in their water during the days leading up to a heat wave, during the heat wave, and perhaps a few days after.
Thanks to @texaschick84 for that idea!

 

[coach723]

When it's really hot I put frozen water bottles in my waterers to cool them, or change the water out often to keep it cooler. I put shallow dishes of water in the shade that they can stand in (deeper plant saucers work for this). On super hot days I will put a frozen jug of water in front of a fan in my coop for primitive air conditioning. I have mine set up so I can hang both from the rafters out of the way safely, and put a drip pan under it to keep bedding dry, as condensation will drip a lot. I tried misters, but to have them low enough to help the chickens it just made a wet, muddy mess, but hosing an area down can help too. I keep an eye on them and if anyone shows signs of severe heat stress I bring them into the house to my spare bathroom for awhile to cool them off in the a/c. (I have some older birds that struggle more in the heat). Here are some tips that might help:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/beat-heat-helping-chickens-survive-high/

 

[X_and_Z]

My girls have a lot of shade so they do fairly well until we hit the high 90s. I use misters when it is really hot, but I have a dry climate where misters work really well. I do still get some mud from the misters, but it isn't that bad (more small puddles directly under each mister).

Someone here mentioned making trays with a layer of rocks/sand then filled with water. Apparently the chickens will walk on the rock/sand but not on the bare tray filled with water. I will give that a try later this summer when temps are horrible.

 

[Flamens Farm]

I have a kiddie swimming pool in my coop. The chickens will stand in the water to cool off when it reaches 95 and up here. 80% of my coop and run are shaded but the heat index is what gets them. I have also seen where you can freeze corn in muffin pans and put that out for them. I just bought a lot of corn to start doing that now, it's already in the 90's here.

 

[townchicks]

Shade, ice in the waterers, (several of those around so there is always at least one in the shade as the sun moves) mister, and when it goes to 100 or up, they come inside to the air conditioning. I only have three, so that works for me. A friend who has way more chickens, lost several in the heat waves we had last summer, so I don't take chances.

 

[PrettyChickens15]

I freeze watermelon slices and the girls LOVE those!
You can also freeze organic applesauce for a cooling snack.
I also use shallow plant trays filled with water and ice cubes that they can drink out of. Its good to keep a bucket of cold water ready on the really really hot days just encase somebody is looking really rough and hot to dip them in.

 

[PouleChick]

Eek I dont' know yet (only got my Chickens for Christmas)! My whole coop and run area is under lovely big trees so i'm hoping they'll be OK as it is the coolest part of the garden. i like all the ideas though and will use them when we start getting above 30c.

 

[nerfworthy]

These are all GREAT ideas!!!! THanks guys.. it's getting in the 80s and 90s here and I don't want my babies to suffer.