I am using a converted 5 gallon igloo cooler with self-filling lubing cups from dine-a-chook in the summer. I freeze water in a large square stainless steel food container and pop that giant ice cube into the water. Having the self-filling cups is great for when the chickens are panting because they have a hard time working the nipple drinkers in that state.
Instead of spritzing the chickens I set up a very inexpensive misting system (thin tube with 7(?) mist emitters that conects to a garden hose bought for $12 on Amazon. I draped those over the top of the run so the fine mist sprays down into it but mostly evaporates before it touches the chickens or the ground. This helps a lot. On days that won’t be quite as hot I just soak the run the night before with a hose - by morning the bedding will be mostly dry but the earth underneath nice and damp and cool. I also spray water all around the coop and run in areas under the trees and under the coop etc. that stay shady through the day - this cools of the area a little bit as well. When it’s really awful (100+) I put frozen water bottles in the nest boxes and fill buckets, or lately large terracotta pots, with icecubes and place them in a shadey spot in the run where they can sit closeby and cool off a little bit.
I have reflective shadecloth draped over the top of the run and down the south side to cover all but the bottom 12 inches to give them better shade in their smallish run. The one time we had 116F I just emptied large bags of ice cubes in a large plastic pan and put some pavers in there for the chickens to stand on (my flick does not stand in the water ever) then tossed more ice on the ground. They all survived, thank God!
Instead of spritzing the chickens I set up a very inexpensive misting system (thin tube with 7(?) mist emitters that conects to a garden hose bought for $12 on Amazon. I draped those over the top of the run so the fine mist sprays down into it but mostly evaporates before it touches the chickens or the ground. This helps a lot. On days that won’t be quite as hot I just soak the run the night before with a hose - by morning the bedding will be mostly dry but the earth underneath nice and damp and cool. I also spray water all around the coop and run in areas under the trees and under the coop etc. that stay shady through the day - this cools of the area a little bit as well. When it’s really awful (100+) I put frozen water bottles in the nest boxes and fill buckets, or lately large terracotta pots, with icecubes and place them in a shadey spot in the run where they can sit closeby and cool off a little bit.
I have reflective shadecloth draped over the top of the run and down the south side to cover all but the bottom 12 inches to give them better shade in their smallish run. The one time we had 116F I just emptied large bags of ice cubes in a large plastic pan and put some pavers in there for the chickens to stand on (my flick does not stand in the water ever) then tossed more ice on the ground. They all survived, thank God!
