keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[Joan71]

I got some info from the thread "Got Sand". After reading their thread, I followed some of their suggestions, made some simple changes and the hens are very comfortable and happy. I removed the straw from their floor in the coop and replaced it with sand. The sand is cooler. Can be sprayed down so the sand is damp and cool. Chickens can scratch in the sand. I put more sand in their run so they would have a place for a dust bath. That work well too. Their area is well vented. I have tarps over the top of their pen/coop and run. When it gets really humid, I lift the tarps up so the air can circulate. We have been struggling with rain here in SC, so I have the tarps rigged so I can drop them down quickly when a bad storm comes in.

We have flies and more flies. Putting the sand down in their areas has helped eliminate some of the flies. With the sand, when the chickens scratch, they cover their business so it doesn't attract as many flies. I use box fans when it gets 90 or more, to circulate the air. If any of this helps, great. I check on my flock more frequently during the heat of the afternoon. If they seem stressed, I put the ice bottles in the pen, too. Good luck with your flock.

I read some place here on BYC, not to cool the birds down to much during the summer. Said, it would mess up their feather growth for winter.

 

[KilnChick]

I live in Saucier MS so I am sharing your pain! We just integrated our 3 BCM hens with our 3 RSL hens, we've been putting it off because the first 3 just came off being broody and were underweight. We wanted everyone to be laying eggs and healthy and now we get 4-6 eggs a day. When we give them free range time in the evening, trying to get them to sort out the pecking order, they fight a bit and one of the BCMs tries to mate the RSLs!  We used to have a RSL rooster that would chase the BCM girls around because they were separated all day and he could see them but not get at them. He went to live on a farm with 2 of his sisters last month. So now one of the marans hens took his place I guess!

We made 2 enclosures for the girls. They are made from pvc, one with hardware cloth for nighttime and one with heavy duty plastic mesh fencing for extra daytime room and they are entirely portable, and they are pushed together during the day.  They are covered with silver tarps that are raised on the sides to permit air underneath. In winter we will turn them over to blue and lower the flaps to help keep the girls warm and we are going to install plastic sheeting over the back end by then. Right now, I have a fan pointing towards their nestboxes, and another fan pointed towards their feeder and waterer. So they don't roast while trying to lay eggs in a small box and also so the flies don't have much of a chance to land on their food and water. I also have a metal pan in the run that's intended for feeding large dogs, it looks like an oil pan for cars, and I fill it with fresh cool water when I check them. We go out about every hour right now, through this heat, and we have to wear long sleeves and pants not shorts or we will get drained of blood from the mosquitoes.

(The insects I was wondering about, there are so many of such different types but we have tons of birds. Why are the birds not eating the bugs? It was because I was feeding them too much food! I stopped filling the finch feeder and the big multi bird feeder and the wire cage feeder and the hummer feeders (oh the bee swarms! All kinds of bees no matter what I do!), and the insects are slowly going down. The birds are now flying around the yard, and foraging in the grass, and going from tree to tree looking for bugs and grass/plant seeds instead of the expensive stuff I was giving them. The bees are flying in the flowers and the garden at the bottom of the property. It was a tough decision but I think a smart one because we will soon be able to wear shorts and tanks again. Our chickens eat the crickets and spiders and sometimes ants that get inside their pens and when they free range but the wild birds need to get the flying insects right? The other house on the property has 2 hummer feeders and they don't get near as many bees as we did, so they will continue to feed the hummers. I will return to filling all my feeders when it starts getting cold of course, there will be many many hummers in 2 months. But that is for a different forum I guess!)

Anyway, at the end of the run we have a mister, which slightly hits the tarp, and drips into the metal pan. The girls don't care much for the mister when we are outside but they go in it when we go in the house. I put ice in the pan sometimes and they walk and stand in it. And when we see them panting heavily or holding their wings out, we give them a little soaking with the hose directly. We live on a hill so it drains pretty well. I got inside the coop area today to make sure it wasn't hot in there, it was nice and cool especially by the nest boxes. And when the clouds cover the sun we all breathe a little easier. MS is hell on earth for about 90 days a year and this is our first year with chickens. We really love our girls and them giving us so many beautiful eggs must mean they like us too!

I live in the Kiln. Guess that's about an hour from you? I too have a fan in my coop. It def helps! And I put a small pool in there with water and I put ice in it. Also have one on wood line with sand and water for when they are out. My coop has a green tin roof but I'm going to paint it white. Maybe one day I can come see your chickens? I go to Biloxi pretty often. I want to get a mister soon too! This heat is atrocious !!

 

[KilnChick]

Hoping to get started on my addition to my pen this wknd! Can't wait to see what they do when I put the window a/c in!!

 

[KilnChick]

Is it common for hens to fight? I know they assume a pecking order but I have one that flares up(like a rooster) to the other hens. Never saw this behavior in a hen before? Has anyone else?

 

[TJPENN]

I got some info from the thread "Got Sand". After reading their thread, I followed some of their suggestions, made some simple changes and the hens are very comfortable and happy. I removed the straw from their floor in the coop and replaced it with sand. The sand is cooler. Can be sprayed down so the sand is damp and cool. Chickens can scratch in the sand. I put more sand in their run so they would have a place for a dust bath. That work well too. Their area is well vented. I have tarps over the top of their pen/coop and run. When it gets really humid, I lift the tarps up so the air can circulate. We have been struggling with rain here in SC, so I have the tarps rigged so I can drop them down quickly when a bad storm comes in.

We have flies and more flies. Putting the sand down in their areas has helped eliminate some of the flies. With the sand, when the chickens scratch, they cover their business so it doesn't attract as many flies. I use box fans when it gets 90 or more, to circulate the air. If any of this helps, great. I check on my flock more frequently during the heat of the afternoon. If they seem stressed, I put the ice bottles in the pen, too. Good luck with your flock.

I read some place here on BYC, not to cool the birds down to much during the summer. Said, it would mess up their feather growth for winter.

Thank you Joan, this is excellent information. I live in a sandy soil area and have put a "leaky hose" around the fence of the run. It does an excellent job of cooling the ground about 1 foot wide and my chicks will not move from this area during the hottest part of the day which is also shaded. I turn the hose on around noon and leave it on until 4:00. This takes a very small amount of water since the pressure is very low to make this type hose work properly. If they peck a hole in it, it's well worth the money spent anyway to prevent heat collapse in this brutal weather.

(BTW, for those that might not be familar, a "leaky hose" is black rubber that allows very slow water to bubble out all along the length of the hose. You turn the water down extremely low at the faucet and it uses very little water).

 

[Hypertay]

Is it common for hens to fight? I know they assume a pecking order but I have one that flares up(like a rooster) to the other hens. Never saw this behavior in a hen before? Has anyone else?

I live in the Kiln. Guess that's about an hour from you? I too have a fan in my coop. It def helps! And I put a small pool in there with water and I put ice in it. Also have one on wood line with sand and water for when they are out. My coop has a green tin roof but I'm going to paint it white. Maybe one day I can come see your chickens? I go to Biloxi pretty often. I want to get a mister soon too! This heat is atrocious !!

We've never been to the Kiln, but I know it's as hot there as it is here. Right now for a mister we are using one of those hose handle sprayers with 8 different spray patterns, one of them is mist. We pound an upside down L shaped piece of pvc into the ground, and hook the handle on it, and point it whatever direction we want. We have a really deep well so no worries with using too much water! But we are going to get a proper mister that makes the water much finer mist because it seems to saturate the chickens a bit too fast as it is. I'll get pictures later and post them of our setup.

About the "rooster" behavior, all my hens do that occasionally, even now chest bumping and chasing and pulling feathers. One of mine takes it a step further and mounts the others! I'd never thought that a hen could try to mate another hen, but knowing their anatomy I guess it is entirely possible. It's probably just alpha hen behavior, showing the rest who is boss. Seeing her getting refused and spitting out a mouthful of feathers is kinda funny, but if they keep up not getting along we will have to separate them again.

 

[KilnChick]

We've never been to the Kiln, but I know it's as hot there as it is here. Right now for a mister we are using one of those hose handle sprayers with 8 different spray patterns, one of them is mist. We pound an upside down L shaped piece of pvc into the ground, and hook the handle on it, and point it whatever direction we want. We have a really deep well so no worries with using too much water! But we are going to get a proper mister that makes the water much finer mist because it seems to saturate the chickens a bit too fast as it is. I'll get pictures later and post them of our setup.

About the "rooster" behavior, all my hens do that occasionally, even now chest bumping and chasing and pulling feathers. One of mine takes it a step further and mounts the others! I'd never thought that a hen could try to mate another hen, but knowing their anatomy I guess it is entirely possible. It's probably just alpha hen behavior, showing the rest who is boss. Seeing her getting refused and spitting out a mouthful of feathers is kinda funny, but if they keep up not getting along we will have to separate them again.

Can't wait to see the pics and thanks for the 411 on the hen. I have had a lot of chickens and never saw a hen act like this. And when you said "chest bumping" I said that's it! It never last long and there's no blood shed so I guess she is just trying to prove something.

 

[Joan71]

Thank you Joan, this is excellent information. I live in a sandy soil area and have put a "leaky hose" around the fence of the run. It does an excellent job of cooling the ground about 1 foot wide and my chicks will not move from this area during the hottest part of the day which is also shaded. I turn the hose on around noon and leave it on until 4:00. This takes a very small amount of water since the pressure is very low to make this type hose work properly. If they peck a hole in it, it's well worth the money spent anyway to prevent heat collapse in this brutal weather.

(BTW, for those that might not be familar, a "leaky hose" is black rubber that allows very slow water to bubble out all along the length of the hose. You turn the water down extremely low at the faucet and it uses very little water).

Thanks for reminding me about using a dripping hose. I have them in the flower beds. I can divert one to the pen so they will have water during the afternoon hours. Our temps are starting to get into the 90's and with humidity hitting the low 100's now that the rain has stopped. I checked my hens, if they are moving around, playing in the sand, or just resting as long as they are not panting, I figure they are comfortable. Letting them free range in the cool evening, helps them get their exercise, eat and scratch to their hearts until bedtime. Good info is invaluable to us all. Thanks...J

 

[TJPENN]

Urgent Update Regarding the leaky/dripping hoses. I have 2 chickens with serious respiratory problems after 2 weeks of using soil moisture to cool the ground. Does anyone have experience with wet ground/wet leaves, and respiratory infection?

My chickens (and me) are exhausted from continuous humidity and 100+ degree days. I've done all I know to cool the inferno down BUT it may not be worth risking the entire flock to respiratory infection. Please share any experience you have with wet ground/wet leaves and onset of any sickness

 

[KilnChick]

I've got a small pool in my pen and I put a half bucket (mop) of ice and a full bucket of water in it. My chickens get in and cool off throughout the day. I also add ice to their waterer. Seems to be working well in this 100 degree heat!