Air conditioning the coop?

[ChicksnMore]

I'm in Arizona and chickens really do handle the heat fine. With lots of shade and water bowls to jump in and out of...they manage to stay cool enough to show they're healthy by acting happy, laying eggs etc. I have stumps to sit on in my runs and I'll sometimes pop in with them to just cool off for a moment while I'm working because they have deeper shade then a lot of my yard.
When I meet people new to Arizona and miserable from the heat, I always give the same advice...get outside as much as possible and away from the fans and ac so you can adjust faster. You'll be happier in the long run and your wallet will be fatter. I think that's even more true for chickens...well, except for the wallet part . They can't live a full life indoors and better to have the outdoor area they need for happiness set up so its a good space even if you leave on vacation for a few days.
I'm with you on climate change worries...but I strongly agree with others here that your concern, energy and dollars would be better spent making a coop and run that naturally meets what they need instead of ac. It's better for the environment and your chickens and will help you leave less of a carbon footprint. Fans etc are more of a temporary measure to reduce heat while you work to create a lasting solution like better shade, ventilation etc.

 

[Clucktown]

Okay that's valid. A lot of my friends are bringing their chickens inside. It's only June, it's still technically spring, this is going to be a long summer and every summer after the next is going to be worse. Is bringing them inside the house the only thing we can do? Last year I tried keeping the grass wet where they like to walk, but I can't force them to do things that I think will help them cool off. I can't make them drink, I can't make them dip their feet in the pool. They lay in the dirt and heave with suffering.

We have a window unit in the garage, and I bring mine there in during extreme heat. They seem to really enjoy it! My husband made custom roosts that fit in a XL dog crate so they are contained. The kids help bring them in and love visiting with them. I also put fans in the coop and by the run to help move air. We live in SC and are still preheating for summer, but temps have been in the 90's.

 

[aart]

Remember, people used to survive in this weather without A/C, too!

Some of us still do

 

[TXchickmum]

We live in Texas, and the temps are above 90 for five months of the year. From June - September, it stays in the upper 90s to low 100s. The run is in full shade, and there is a mister. There are fans that circulate the air and blow the mist. We freeze water bottles or milk jugs, and place them in the waterer each morning. This keeps the water cool. The coop, here, is designed for maximum ventilation - one side completely open (secured with hardware cloth), and hardware cloth vent windows across the top, with a vent system on the roof. The chickens do fine. I think it would be challenging to have very cold winters, coupled with periods of very warm summer days. (Our chickens are acclimated to our climate. We have to worry if the winter temps dip below 20 degrees.) I would worry about air conditioning in a coop, personally.

 

[Chicken mob]

Better to modify your coop to provide excellent passive ventilation.

Any electrical machinery in a chicken coop that is not specifically designed for and rated for barn use presents a significant fire hazard due to the dust from the bedding and the feather dander.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

I'm with you, improve ventilation. I do have a small fan in my coop. I watch it closely and clean it regularly.

 

[Vicker]

I keep chickens in Texas without A/C. I make sure the breeds I get are more heat tolerant than cold hardy. I made the mistake of getting a large Brahma that was more stressed by the heat than my other birds. Summers often have long stretches of days well over 100 degrees. I use an open moveable coop and place it in the shade. On those really unbearable days, I turn the hose on to a gentle mist and place it near where they rest. I offer them cold fruit and veg and lay off giving any fatty scraps or treats.

 

[Silexian]

I agree with 3KillerBs. I also notice that my chickens dust bathe in the shade of a large bush in hot weather more than in cooler weather. So I assume it has so sort of cooling effect. I also have either fully or partially covered runs, with outdoor roost. Which is where the majority of chickens sleep, even during the winter months.

 

[Rachel TW]

Okay, so I live in Minnesota so the weather here is still delightful and pleasurable to be in the sunshine. However, the last five years have been pretty brutal, temperature wise. Cold, and hot. My chicken fancier friends in southern states have chickens that are just straight up dying of heart stroke. I want to be prepared for this changing climate. My coop is a shed with windows. What's to stop me from outfitting it with an in window air conditioning unit? Folks make climate controlled dog kennels, why can't I have a climate controlled coop?

Has anyone done this? Is there any reason I shouldn't try this?

SarahLadd,

I used an AC unit in my chicken coop my first year with chickens. We have no shade here whatsoever and my chicken coop gets blasted by the sun all day long and it's sooo hot!
I bought the cheapest AC unit we could find at the time off Amazon. We were new to chickens and we made the mistake of installing the AC too high in the coop - it cooled the air above their heads and exited through the highly-ventilated upper part of the walls.

Had we installed the AC lower (roosting height or lower), it would have worked a lot better.

The only major problem with the AC is that the unit gets covered with dust (it coats everything!) so I personally didn't feel comfortable using it more than a year or 2. If you're up for paying the cost of replacing it every couple years, it's not a bad way to go.

I've noticed a lot of comments on here advising you not to use an AC because then your chickens won't adapt to the heat. That's just not true. Your coop will still need to be well-ventilated, which means it will never feel cold from the AC. The air in front of the AC will be cold and will help your chickens cool down when needed, but the whole coop won't be so cold they can't adapt to the heat. My chickens were actually more active outside in the heat when they were able to come into the coop and cool down periodically. It's when they get sooo hot from never being able to cool down that they become lethargic and inactive.

I don't use the AC unit anymore because we found the combination of misters in the run and outdoor-rated fans in the coop do the trick for us.

I'm with you though, SarahLadd. I don't care if some chickens in the 1930s survived horrendous heat (and lots of them don't - people aren't exaggerating). Regardless of if they survive the summer, it's obvious my chickens are miserable in the heat, and I'm not a livestock farmer, I'm a backyard chicken keeper (they're pets for me more than anything else). Just because some chickens CAN survive hot temperatures, I feel it's my duty to give them the best quality of life I can. Sounds like you're the same.

 

[gtaus]

@SarahLadd, I live about 5 hours north of you here in Minnesota. Today, we are in the middle of heat advisory from yesterday, today, and tomorrow, with temps reaching the mid 90's! Of course, it's not just the heat, it's also the humidity which makes it miserable for us. I have lived in southern states and tropical islands with higher temps, but it's always the humidity here that gets to me.

You have already received so many great responses, but I have a few thoughts I'll add.

why can't I have a climate controlled coop?

Has anyone done this? Is there any reason I shouldn't try this?

You certainly can have a climate controlled coop. I know a local Minnesota breeder that has his birds in a year round climate control setting. In the winter, when our temps hit that -40F, his birds are happy at 70F. In the summer, when our temps reach up into the 90'sF, his birds are happy in the 70F climate controlled coop. So, I know that it can be done. However, he will also be the first to tell you that it costs a lot of money to maintain a climate controlled environment for his birds. Since he makes money breeding rare birds, it is worth it to him.

VENTILATION is #1.

After that hydration.

And shade.

Yeah, that's what I can afford. I built a coop with a tall gambrel roof, and it is actually cooler in the coop than outside, despite the coop being out in direct sunlight all day. I have decent cross ventilation about roosting bar height and vents at the peak of the roof to let hot air vent naturally. In the chicken run, I built an open front pallet bin enclosure with a top to provide shade, extended my run into a place that has natural shade from trees, and I also let some small scrub trees grow in one part of the run and the chickens will lay under them in the shade.

My girls are fine in 90s. Are you sure it's not because your used to the cool climate? Not trying to be rude.

Again, I have lived in southern states with temps over 100F, but the heat was dry, and I was able to tolerate it much better than a Minnesota 85F with 90% humidity.

I have air conditioning in my coop. It's awesome.

There you go. If you really want to explore using AC in your coop, I would be looking into a ducting system to keep the AC unit as far away from the chicken dander as possible. Also, investing in a barn fan(s) to circulate the air might help. Lots of days would be tolerable with simple air flow.

Yes!! This is what I wanted to do. I have heaters in my coop that I turn on when it gets to -15 or lower. If temps come back up over -15 I turn them off. I wanted to apply the same system to the air conditioning. Do they know it's on and seek refuge near it?

My chickens live in my coop for the snow months (about 6 months out of the year). My coop has about 8 square feet per bird. They can do just fine all winter in the coop, so I imagine that if you had a climate controlled coop, you would want to lock up the birds inside the coop if you want to use the AC. I mean, you don't want to run the AC and have a big door open for the chickens to run inside and out all day long, do you?

I promise you I couldn’t take the 90-95 with the humidity you guys have.

Yes, it's the humidity with the heat that gets to me here in Minnesota.

You can set up an air conditioner in the coop if you want,
most of use can't afford that type of luxury....

Yes, and yes. Even if I had the money to use AC for my chickens, I still don't think that would be my personal preference. But if you really want to try AC for your chickens, then that is your choice.

I have a box fan in the coop, just have to make sure to clean it regularly.

Regular household box fans are not made to stand up to all the chicken dander that will clog their motors. If you get a fan, just buy a barn fan with a sealed motor for your safety. It's worth the extra money. If you use a household fan occasionally, then yes, make sure you clean it regularly.

Planting some fast-growing trees is a sustainable step

I let some scrub trees grow up in one part of my chicken run. They are only 3-4 feet tall right now, but they still provide lots of shade.

Shade cloth is cheap and easy to hang

I have seen a number of people use shade cloth over both their run, and also their coop to keep the sun from beating down of the roof of the coop.

Our pens are under shade trees. We let them out to find their favorite spots and they do fine. Animals are so adaptable.

I spent a number of days watching the shade throughout the daytime to understand where I wanted to put my coop, and my run. I finally found a location where my coop and run are able to have both sun and shade all day long. My chickens are free to sun themselves on a cool day, and also to duck under the cover of shade on those hot days. They are adaptable and will self regulate if given the ability to seek sun or shade as needed.

Great discussions on this thread. Lots of considered comments. Please update us on your decision and/or plan for your coop.

 

[lilofthestars]

Okay that's valid. A lot of my friends are bringing their chickens inside. It's only June, it's still technically spring, this is going to be a long summer and every summer after the next is going to be worse. Is bringing them inside the house the only thing we can do? Last year I tried keeping the grass wet where they like to walk, but I can't force them to do things that I think will help them cool off. I can't make them drink, I can't make them dip their feet in the pool. They lay in the dirt and heave with suffering.

We live in Florida And what we’ve done is by little sprayers and we put it around the coop in the middle of the day I’ll turn it on. And it actually brings the temperature down about 15 to 20 Degrees sometimes it’s a little difficult to get them in there though you always have one that doesn’t wanna go. You usually can get something like that in tractor supply or a farm store just ask them about it.