46C/114.8F!! Keeping them cool...

[Matilda Belle]

I'm super jealous of your weather as well (I love the heat!). It's been around 0 degrees F here. Just make sure the chickens have shade and lots of water. I give mine cold watermelon in the summer to help with heat as well (and squirt them with the garden hose occasionally). Misting them is perfect!

 

[Trevorusn]

Shade and fresh water are by far the biggest factors, keep both around and your chooks will be ok. Lol, if you need ice I got plenty to sell!!! Our morning temp today was a balmy and tropical 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Do you have space to set up an awning or tarp??? If you have too little natural shade, try artificial, anything to keep direct sun from hitting them.

 

[NewAussieChook]

Thank you all. We got a cool change overnight, so cooler this week. Still hot but not high 40s C. The girls all survived. I bought a soaker hose today for the next round of heat when it comes. Now we're just dealing with bush fires!

We're fine right now but my heart is so broken for friends.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thank you all. We got a cool change overnight, so cooler this week. Still hot but not high 40s C. The girls all survived. I bought a soaker hose today for the next round of heat when it comes. Now we're just dealing with bush fires!

We're fine right now but my heart is so broken for friends.

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So glad that your chickens survived the heat wave!!! SO sorry to hear that you and your community are dealing with so much! I’ve been reading about the horrific fire season that Australia is having, though it’s less in our news now than it was a few weeks ago. I can’t imagine how traumatized everyone in the fire zone must be. Hang in there!

 

[MokiYoki]

Personally Im working on insulating my coop so I can run an aircon in it on the hottest days. Ive also been thinking to modify a desktop water chiller from officeworks into a chook waterer but we havent got around to it yet.

 

[Ribh]

My friend, @MaryJanet is also in S.A & suffering the same heat problems. She moved her 3 into her bathroom with cool tiles & air con on her worst day. Something to consider perhaps? There are more really hot days coming.

 

[MaryJanet]

The hens didn't like being in the bathroom but at least they were safe. I also put a misting system in the henhouse for those days I can't be home to attend to the chooks. It knocks about 10 degrees off. I think the girls will be ok tomorrow, they can be in the yard all day and will follow the shade. But I'm going to try making tunnel out of hay bales once I've got a few free hours. I'm hoping it will give them some more nice shade to get them through the hot days. I'll put a sprinkler on at one end to keep the air cool. I'm interested to see what they make of it.

 

[Ted_Harrell]

Sounds like you are doing all you can do, how close are you to the wild fires?

 

[MaryJanet]

I'm in the suburbs near the beach, about 30km from the edge of the fires.