Keeping chickens cool in the summer?

[ilovebalkbalks]

I'm not sure chickens can swim, but I would only try it if you're there to supervise. They might end up drowning themselves. And it would be best to do it on a warm day where they will have time to dry off before it gets dark.

 

[Coop de Grass]

Oh my......Ok, so I just clicked on the link and had no problem. Maybe try again? So sorry.

. Just go to youtube and search >>>mulieman1. The title of the video is >>>"117 degrees in Phoenix and my chickens are cool, 2013." If u are unable to find the video, ill be glad to explain to u the basic idea of the set up. So easy but it works!

THanks! I tried the link several times - I think there is an extra character before "youtube.com" I just searched for mulieiman1 and found it! I will try putting bricks in the kiddie pool

 

[cosmopro]

YAY!!! BTW, i ran out of bricks so some big iron ore rocks are on one end. Not a problem. They stand on those too....so long as rocks and bricks arent more than a couple inches apart. Nice to meetcha!

 

[Coop de Grass]

YAY!!!

BTW, i ran out of bricks so some big iron ore rocks are on one end. Not a problem. They stand on those too....so long as rocks and bricks arent more than a couple inches apart. Nice to meetcha!

Nice to meetcha too! Glad to know about combining rocks and bricks.

 

[chickiezar]

 We just build a new screen door for our coop and they always have water but they still  are very hot. I know because they have their wings kind of held away from their bodies and they are breathing heavy with their mouths open. Can chickens swim? Could I put some kind of container out full of water for them to swim in?

Thx.
My babies are hot even in this with a fan it's 119 here. They stay in the dust bath.

I do put ice cubes in there water.
I also put corn on the cob in the freezer.
Microave for a minute for me to cut thru and they love that and cucumbers 2....

 

[NickChillPhoto]

These are some great ideas. I am going to keep the frozen milk jug in the queue, in case it heats up.

So far my new coop appears to stay pretty cool. I put a white steel roof on it and plenty of venting. It's 5' by 4' by 4' tall. The run is mostly shaded by sumac. The coop is even shaded after noon by a poplar tree.

 

[caychris]

Im in the process of building an elevated platform with a shade roof with a hardware cloth floor I can put frozen 2 liters under it. Probably 3 or 4 a cooling station. And thinking of putting holders for frozen water bottles on the roof side and possibly nipple water coke bottles on the sides that I can put frozen bottles in for cool water on really hot days.

 

[Fletch83]

I admit that on very hot days, like today (we have a heat advisory), I get a small bucket of cool water and dunk my hens' legs and bellies in it. They hate it and me, but it does lower their body temperature temporarily and stops them from panting for a little bit. Just make sure the water isn't too cold so it doesn't shock their systems, and don't submerge them too much. I just went out and did this to my four and they are lying down comfortably now, not panting, and the heat index is set to be over 100 today.

 

[Romoshka]

It's 109° today, but once it goes over 90° I turn on a mister system for them. They love it and it helps them a lot. Their run is also covered both by trees and a thin tarp, so they do pretty well.

 

[Romoshka]

I'm looking into a misting system both for chickens and quail. Can you talk a bit about your system? # of misting nipples/area. Frequency of on time and # of times/a you run it.