keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[featherhead007]

Do what I do... Take a foot bath!

 

[Cierabug]

Hi friends I just wanted to hear some ideas on how you keep your chickens cool in summer. I live in a very warm area of California. It gets over 100 most of the summer. We kept this in mind when building our chicken run and built there run under a huge shade tree. The run also has a roof so chickens are not directly in the sun. In fact there area is all shaded. I'm still worried about keeping them cool. I have been taking water and wetting each one so they don't become over heated. Does anyone else have any better ideas on how to keep them cool? I was thinking of a misting hose to mist water what do you all think of that? Any more ideas are appreciated. Thanks for reading

I live in Cali too and I had the same problem last year. If you can you should make sure one side of the chicken coop is uncovered so that wind can blow through and keep electrolyte water with ice cubes to keep it cool in their water dispenser. Frozen blocks of ice and frozen/cool pieces of fruit help too. If it seems like your birds are panting/some are going into heat stroke you should bring the affected bird to a cool area place their feet in water and mist them. Or just mist the flock if they seem overly hot but don't have heat stroke.

 

[Duck~Diva]

I live in central MD so we never really get weather that's too bad but there is the occasional 100 degree day. So what i do is i put a fan in their run and i make sure that the 2 wading pools are filled up. Also i give them some chilled watermelon and a frozen bucket of water with some things like celery,lettuce,apple, and any type of melon i have on hand. And so far i haven't had any heat causalities with my ducks.

 

[Nardo]

Would it work to freeze plastic water bottles and hang them up by the ceiling in the coop? Would that cool the air, or would the effect be negligible?

When I was a kid in New Orleans (way back) my Mom wet sheets and hung them over windows and doorways. We had an attic fan (now called whole house fan) and windows cracked open. It would get so cool we wanted blankets. I think the secret is air blowing OVER or PAST that water/ice/whatever.

 

[poultry person]

I take a Tupperware container, put fruit and water in it and stick it in the freezer, then when it's done dump it out and they'll go crazy!

 

[ronott1]

So many posts from humid places! We are not humid here so automatic misting systems work great!

https://www.amazon.com/Orbit-30060-...8-1-spons&keywords=orbit+misting+system&psc=1

 

[Dawnclucks22]

I hose off part of the run so it's nice and cool, and often they like to come and dust bathe in it. I also have a chicken pool that I fill up (only about an inch deep as I have a bantam that's half-serama and I want her to be safe too, of course). Sometimes I add ice to their water. What breeds do you have? Some are especially heat-hardy.

 

[Joe V]

 

[Colt Frost]

I just set this up today, but to keep my chickens water cool, I have a water pump, that pumps the water back up into the top waterer and then falls into the bottom one. It's already reached 105 this year, and I'm gonna put a kitty pool in the coop for them to play in. And try the frozen water bottle idea.

 

[alexa009]

Living in Texas, we wear our jackets in 70 degree weather. Chickens keeping cool is important here too since I have actually seen ours die from heat exhaustion and its too late to help them. Here are some tips I use on keeping my chickens cool during summer time.
1: Dust bathing/Sand in pen area.
2: Switching vent in coop.
3: Ice in water.
Etc..