NEED TO COOL DOWN MY CHICKENS ASAP!

[solidsnake]

For maintenance purposes the city is turning off the power in my neighborhood for an entire day. It will be 103F on that day, and I'm afraid my chicks will be miserable or unable to stand the heat. They are about 4-6 weeks old, how can I keep them cool with no fans and ice melting in the heat?

 

[Kathy Golla]

Is your city offering “cooling centers?”
If my city turned off the power during that hot of a day they would have to provide a place for people and animals to go.
If so, I would show up with my chickens in crates.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Where is your location? How many are you talking about?
I'm sure you're going to have a day or two to prepare ... Freeze up some water bottles, plastic jugs with water & freeze, premake ice cubes or purchase. Keep them in the shade where there's a breeze with cool water, watermelon would be nice.
If you don't have many, put them in a carrier & spend the day at the Mall or do as Kathy recommends.

 

[Kathy Golla]

Or I would arrange to visit someone for the day who does have power and keep the birds in crates inside their bathroom.
FYI in case you might think about visiting someone who has power and keeping the birds outside in crates with fans on them, caged birds are very hard to keep cool outside.
Another thought is a pet boarding facility with power would probably be willing to house your chicks for a day.

 

[micstrachan]

Shade will be critical. +1 to freezing gallons of water. Battery operated fans can help, as well as hose misters. You can also get the ground good and wet so they can dig and cool themselves off on the cool dirt. Shallow dishes of water for them to stand in, too.
Home Depot was selling these mister fans last year, and I use them all the time. Batteries only last a couple hours, though.

 

[New2Chicks97]

You could always try a cheap mister attachment for your hose and run it in their run. I bought a $10 plastic mister on a stand when it was really hot and ran it for our girls. It kept the ground moist which they all enjoyed scratching around in and some even stood directly in the mist.

 

[2 many chickens]

What kind of a city cuts power off for a whole day during the dead of summer?

 

[solidsnake]

What kind of a city cuts power off for a whole day during the dead of summer?

This is actual the second time, first it was from 7am to 2pm now it's 8am to 5pm... don't know what they're doing...