Sponsored Post It's HOT - Keep your birds feeling their best!

[Chic_girl]

I have been taking in a lot of suggestions from this thread in the past week- We've had several days of 90+ degree weather, including a delightful 101 degree day today.
My chickens love eating frozen grapes and watermelon, so thanks to those who suggested that! They don't enjoy being dunked in cool water, but it does cool them down.
Our county fair is next week, and with more HOT days, I'm planing on adding ice to their water all week, as well as placing damp towels over cages to cool them down. Someone suggested freezing bottles of water and placing them in cages for the rabbits at the fair, but perhaps my chickens will enjoy that as well.

Here's a picture of my clever little Barred Rock, Cora, who has been the only chicken to discover the cold foot-bath in their coop! No, I did not put her in there- she discovered it all by herself...

 

[PiecesofAmber]

I have been taking in a lot of suggestions from this thread in the past week- We've had several days of 90+ degree weather, including a delightful 101 degree day today.
My chickens love eating frozen grapes and watermelon, so thanks to those who suggested that! They don't enjoy being dunked in cool water, but it does cool them down.
Our county fair is next week, and with more HOT days, I'm planing on adding ice to their water all week, as well as placing damp towels over cages to cool them down. Someone suggested freezing bottles of water and placing them in cages for the rabbits at the fair, but perhaps my chickens will enjoy that as well.

Here's a picture of my clever little Barred Rock, Cora, who has been the only chicken to discover the cold foot-bath in their coop! No, I did not put her in there- she discovered it all by herself...

Cora is a smart one!

 

[ChezPoulez]

thanks for the pic! I know that if you turn the brass part that suspends the bowl one way or another it adjusts the flow rate, but I haven't hooked mine up yet to give you more detail than that. Maybe it's been turned too far and has shut off??

Here's how I have mine...Big 18 gal. tub with Y-valve attached to split the flow to two waterers.

Because it's been so hot, I've been putting ice cubes into the bowls themselves (I tried freezing 3 one-gallon ice cream buckets, but...first, the ice broke the buckets during the freezing process so I only got to use each bucket only once, and second, I wasn't sure how much cold water actually got thru the hose and into the bowl for the chickens to drink).

There's a couple of "jobs" for hubby to do: make that hose stay up over the nest boxes and fix the larger bowl (pictured above...have a smaller one that you can't see on the second hose). For some reason, yesterday it overflowed (after 13 yr old son accidently bumped it), and now it won't fill. Hubby said that it's clogged up (with what?) but it was too hot for him to keep messing with it. {Today (Sunday) was the first day that we didn't have temps over 100 and he goes back to work on Monday so when is it going to get fixed???? Meanwhile, I guess I'll also be manually filling this bowl when I fill the 1 gal waterer outside.}

 

[johndino16]

I've browse within the forums which individuals typically simply dump poweraid or perhaps different energy drinks into water.

http://www.filmlounge.com/

 

[craftymama86]

I've had a gal. size bag of garden veggies in the freezer for a while now. I can't stand the taste of frozen veggies, even if they came straight from the garden so ANYWAYS, I got that out today and took it out to some of the chickens. They looked at it like "What is THAT?" Lol, it was really funny. One hen finally got curious enough to peck at it, then slowly pecking more at it and then the rest slowly followed along, lol. I'm sure once they get through the ice and to the veggies they'll go wild. Now I need to take another out to the other section of chickens.

 

[CGinJCMO]

thanks for the pic! I know that if you turn the brass part that suspends the bowl one way or another it adjusts the flow rate, but I haven't hooked mine up yet to give you more detail than that. Maybe it's been turned too far and has shut off??

Well, we found some rust, bug, or mold (something) clogged the holes (we saved some money by making our own hose to bowl connection and it might not have been totally clean inside). Now it's been adjusted too far to the right and it over flows. I'm trying to get it get it adjusted back but it's a slow process to get it adjusted "perfect". LOL At least the heat has broken finally (rain storm came thru - yeah to no more crunchy brown grass and to squishy soil) so I can spend more time out in the coop fixing it.

CG

 

[ladyalia]

The heat wave here in Indiana finally broke..for now. I'm relieved to report that I didn't loose any birds.

What I don't understand is if birds don't sweat, why does the humidity affect them? Can anyone help me out on that?

 

[omaeve]

smart girl you have there

 

[omaeve]

The heat wave here in Indiana finally broke..for now. I'm relieved to report that I didn't loose any birds.

What I don't understand is if birds don't sweat, why does the humidity affect them? Can anyone help me out on that?

like dogs they pant to cool off .

 

[omaeve]

YES!!!! Piecesofamber, my husband asked if that was MY post, LOL. We have a Blue moon bar umbrella shading the west side of the coop and flower pot bottom pools as well. I swear my girls are part pig because they plop down in the mud. Then they clean off in the "pool". I swear I'm about to put up a webcam and start my own 'Iowa Chickens' live feed... Hubby laughed and said I would be the only one watching

how if you do cam I WANT A TUTORIAL..PLEEEEEESSE