Keeping our chickens cool???

[Dixiedoodle]

I did not want to Hijack--the thread with the trash-can ac--which is a great idea.

I thought --Since many of us are having record high temps, I thought it would be nice to have everyone post their way/ways/ideas/suggestions for helping to cool off the coop and run.

I am new to chickens and we are just now building.. Our chickens will arrive when it's usually hotter than --you get the idea!

So please share with us....Thank you..

 

[pdsavage]

How did they do it before electricity?

 

[RavenStorm]

Quote:
I think that before electricity they just tried to make sure they had shade and lots of water and didn't think of them like pets. That way they wouldn't get too worked up if they lost a chicken here or there as long as there were more to take it's place to keep the family fed.

 

[ibpboo]

sprinkler nearby or some sort of mister

 

[Cetawin]

frozen 2 litre bottles of water....they love em.

 

[ilovemychickies]

I throw my girls some crushed ice. I also put ice in their waterer. Next time we go by the snowcone stand near our house, I'm going to get a plain snowcone, only ice, and put it in for the girls. I bet they'll like that.

Like others said, just make sure they have nice, cool water and shade.

 

[hensonly]

My "summer coop" is a 3-sided house with a really deep overhang so they can be in the run and still always have shade. They hang out both in the house and in the run - the past few days have been 90 + degrees with high humidity (and we're in upstate NY where it doesn't normally get that hot until August!). The past few nights have been so warm that the girls sleep outside, in one front corner of the run. I came home from work at 11:30 pm (81 degrees!) and went out to be sure they had water...there they were, all settled in the cool dirt, catching whatever breeze might come their way.

We have (or will, soon) a weather tight "winter coop" with a run between both coops, so they can pick their comfort zone year round. Free range is not an option here, we have a busy road at the front and 60 wooded acres full of foxes, raccoons, coyotes, and the occasional stray dog or cat behind us. Not to mention the hawks and owls...

 

[McChix]

Mine love a wet dirt wallow! Just pour water into their regular dust-bathing craters.