keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[ChickenyChickeny]

Maybe your chickens will like wading pools, but I tried one for mine and they wouldn't go in it
Though, maybe that was because the bottom of the container was to slippery?

Last summer, I froze water in two-liter soda bottles. I laid the frozen bottles in the run for the girls to lay beside. I also fed them very cold watermelon. Finally, I sprayed the run area with water so that their feet were muddy and cool. I've considered a wading pool for this summer. Does any one have experience or an opinion about that?

 

[Birdsong 82]

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!

Have always wanted to do that but always scared they will crack their beaks on the ice. I’m over paranoid. I think I’ll give a try on our real bad days

 

[Keeperoflock]

It was very hot here a few days ago and my chickens were unhappy. The coop has a large window that we put a fan in. Then hung 2 large bottle of frozen water up next to the fan so the cold air was being pulled into the coop by the fan. It dropped the temp in the coop by 8 degrees really quick. Don't mind saying I rested easier that night knowing they were much more comfortable. I did get up several times to go check on them.

 

[perchie.girl]

I havent read the Whole thread so if this has been addressed please ignore.... and I apologize in advance.

I live in an eensy nub of the Sonoran Desert in San Diego County... Very close to Mexico. Most summers are mild 80-90 in the day.... With about a month worth of 100+ days added in there.

I choose only hard feathered chickens they handle the heat better and or breeds that come from hot climates.... I provide shade in the form of tarp covered runs and or places to skitter under when it gets hot for chicky feet. The walls on my coop are chainlink covered with hardwar cloth where chickens might come in contact .... Yep I got raccoons.

I use full tubs of water for each pen.... about four gallons with a stock tank filler to keep em topped off. Deep water stays cooler. Keep that water in the shade.... and they can dip their wattles when they drink to help. Bout the only place you can do heat transfer are the wattles comb and feet...

A wading pool is an excellent idea I fill it with a fewe inches of sand then fill it with water till the sand is moist.... poke a few holes in the bottom so it will dry out. Helps to keep it from getting stinky.

Space Shade Good ventilation choices on where to nap during the day and cool off. I have NO grass or leafy greens in the summer. So I give them a slab of alfalfa to disassemble to pick the leaves out of. Lots of good heat battling electrolytes in there... Gives em something to do too.

During the hottest days they rest up from egg laying but not much. My last flock were wellsummers and they did famously.... Biggest chickens I have ever had.

deb

 

[Stephine]

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

That’s the one I use - couldn’t be without it. I turn it on when we get above 92 here. When we had a really crazy heat spell (116!) last summer I took a large concrete mixing tub (just ahuge rugged plastic pan), put a bunch of large pavers in and dumped bags of ice over the whole thing, so the pacers were surrounded by ice. Then kept the watermelon and big bowls of water with frozen blueberries coming. Everyone survived - but I sure wouldn’t want to have to deal with that kind of heat more often!
I now have a lrge igloo cooler rigged with lubing cups, so I can fill it with water and ice in the morning and it’ll stay cool all day. Best drinker for the hot summer!

 

[HeiHeisMom]

We keep 12 he. Ice packs in the waterers. Plus every night I make some chicken " ice cream"
(Water with yogurt and fruit mixed in and frozen) that they get treated to right after the heat of the day.
We also have fans in our open air coop that we sit 3 literlbottles of frozen water under. Instant AC.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

I'm well up into New England, but we get our hot days too. A portion of my run has a roof, but otherwise there is very little shade from trees. I'm doing my own makeshift mist cooling system this year using various parts off of Amazon. Each mister is the typical low pressure 1/2gal/hr type so we'll see how wet the floor of the run gets. If the mist doesn't evaporate before reaching the ground at least the wet ground will have a nice cooling effect on their feet. Before I would hose the run down on hot afternoons and once I was done all of the birds would be over there laying on the wet bedding and scratching through it. I have bamboo growing in there now so in a year or two I should have plenty of large culms providing ample shade from above and lower leaves for munching at the bottom. Mine go crazy for refrigerated cantaloupe and watermelon too. They're just meh with honeydew.

 

[HazelandPearl]

It's been over 100F with a heat index of 110F in north Florida this week. Lost 1 hen yesterday and 1 today. That leaves me 1 laying hen and 4 - 3 week old chicks. The chicks are still on the back porch where it's constantly in shade and they seem to be doing ok. The hens in the coop are the ones I've lost. I'm devastated that I lost my favorite hen today. Tomorrow I'm going to spray down the coops run and keep it wet until this heat wave passes.

I’m in Jax also! My girls seem so hot also. They have shade but I’ve got to do something extra for them. I’m gonna try wettjng their coop tomorrow. It’s just so miserable!

 

[rehsanipoor]

Our run is large and airy. We have a fan and mister for the very hot days. I still see them panting though and came up with this special treat. We freeze big blocks of ice in plastic tubs (sterlite/rubbermaid). They don't always hang out around it even though I know the air is cooler there. So then I spread some plain yogurt on top of it. They kept cool and loved eating this version of "feathery frozen yogurt"! I've also put wedges of watermelon on top of the ice and it stays cooler longer this way.

 

[Zombieattackready]

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

My funny girl in the sun.