Air conditioning the coop?

[samanthaoverton]

Hey odd idea..ice bricks..they last so long..put them in the coop maybe. Ive been thinking bout this. I have several. They're plastic and there's water in them and you reuse them..maybe if there was several..and they could be near them..I know..odd.

I lost one of my hens yesterday because it was brutally hot
102 and all of the measures I had used before did not work.
It's going to be 103 today with heat index of 110. The only thing
that really works in this kind of weather are fans and AC. My birds
stay in their covered totally shaded run. I can't AC the run, but
I'll have 3 box fans, centrally located, that will be running ALL day long.Then when they go inside the coop to roost, I'm moving one of the fans inside the coop, even though I have a window on all 4 walls plus eave ventilation. I learned my lesson yesterday.
You can have all of the cold water, watermelon and whatever else, but the ONLY thing that works, when the heat becomes excessive are fans and AC. RIP my little Chloe.

 

[samanthaoverton]

I know the indoor chicken feeling...had them inside as chicks too long. It is not fun. Hubby finally built a big brooder..and I'm getting a bigger coop.

WasThat is not something I would recommend. We had our first chicks inside the house WAY too long (about 10 weeks) due to problems finishing the coop. It is a very good thing we were planning to gut the room and redo it anyway, there was SO much dust everywhere. I can't even imagine how dusty a house would be with adult chickens, not to mention the smell.
In any case, we spend much of the summer with temperatures in the 90s and heat indexes will over 100. 110-115 heat index is normal here. My chickens just spend more time in the deep shade under the back porch and drinking cool water. We also set up large beach umbrellas on the southwest side of the coop to shade it from the sun.
I know I find it easier to just stay outside on hot days if I need to do things outside rather than try to go in and out of the AC all day. I'm sure the chickens would feel the same

 

[SarahLadd]

Acclimation is critical.

For my birds in July 90F is a cool day. But for flocks that aren't used to heat or when it comes on suddenly it's a lot more of a problem.

I understand "acclimation" when you're adjusting temps in the brooder gradually so they are comfortable outside. What exactly can I do to acclimate my chickens to 100+ degrees?

I want my birds comfortable and happy, not just barely surviving on the brink. Toeing the edge of heat stroke is not the song I want to dance to.

It's only been a day and the forecast already looks worse.

 

[3KillerBs]

I understand "acclimation" when you're adjusting temps in the brooder gradually so they are comfortable outside. What exactly can I do to acclimate my chickens to 100+ degrees?

I want my birds comfortable and happy, not just barely surviving on the brink. Toeing the edge of heat stroke is not the song I want to dance to.

It's only been a day and the forecast already looks worse.

As the summer temperatures warm the birds naturally adapt.

Ventilation, hydration, shade, access to the ground where they can dig down to cooler layers, and electrolytes at appropriate intervals are the basics.

I don't do the ice thing because I don't have room in my freezer to sacrifice food storage for the chickens.

I sometimes wet down a portion of the run when it's hot and dry rather than hot and humid.

Chickens have survived in farm conditions for thousands of years.

 

[SarahLadd]

As the summer temperatures warm the birds naturally adapt.

Ventilation, hydration, shade, access to the ground where they can dig down to cooler layers, and electrolytes at appropriate intervals are the basics.

I don't do the ice thing because I don't have room in my freezer to sacrifice food storage for the chickens.

I sometimes wet down a portion of the run when it's hot and dry rather than hot and humid.

Chickens have survived in farm conditions for thousands of years.

This isn't about normal weather

Normal weather is gone and not coming back

This is about preparing for a future that's not the same as the last hundred years

 

[3KillerBs]

This isn't about normal weather

Normal weather is gone and not coming back

This is about preparing for a future that's not the same as the last hundred years

Climate cycles warm and cold.

The 1930s still hold many of the all-time heat records for the US.

Chickens made it through.

 

[aart]

Climate cycles warm and cold.

The 1930s still hold many of the all-time heat records for the US

Ditto Dat.

 

[Krugerrand]

This isn't about normal weather

Normal weather is gone and not coming back

This is about preparing for a future that's not the same as the last hundred years

From a global perspective, using power to air-condition our chickens does not strike me as an ideal solution.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Chickens really can handle more heat than people think IF they have good ventilation, shade and water. This was our heat index yesterday

Our heat index will be over 100 for most of the summer. Since our flock free ranges, they seek out the coolest areas around the house. Usually that is under our back porch. We place bowls of cool water by their favorite spots and offer electrolyte water once a week.

 

[SarahLadd]

Is the most common time of heat stroke death at night when they are inside the coop? My flock free ranges and only goes in the coop to sleep. My coop has 4 windows and lots of eaves ventilation, but from what I've been seeing from my other chicken friends is finding dead birds in broad daylight.

I'm going to hope that you all are right and my birds are going to be okay. I'm going to hope that all these people posting on facebook and other forums finding their birds dying of heat stroke are exaggerating. I'm going to hope that global climate change isn't affecting my area at all and that this is all just normal stuff, in the face of all evidence to the contrary. I'm going to cross my fingers for the next 10 years and hope that I do everything right for them. The more I grow to love them for how wonderful and special they are, the stronger my anxiety over their welfare. I can't seem to stop myself from growing attached.

My birds are picky and I can't get them to eat anything that isn't mealworms, grubs or fried eggs. I tried frozen treats and they won't try them or if they do they violently shake their heads and leave the treats. Frozen peas, watermelon, honeydew, blueberries, I don't think they like the cold in their mouth. My older birds are handling the weather much better than my babies who are too stupid to not stand in the sun. They have a tendency to haunt my back step, because I go out that door; my step is aluminum so I am throwing ice cubes down on it. It seems to be helping them. The ice cools the metal they're standing on and they peck at the cold dripping water. I have four watering stations where they range and one of them is a great big huge open bowl so they can walk into it if they like to and some of them do, I change the big bowl every hour with fresh cold water.