Air conditioning the coop?

[aart]

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.

Are you monitoring the temp in the coop?
Can you set up a fan to blow cooler air into the coop late in the day to help cool it off?
Have you given them some electrolytes?
Made a big chunk of ice to set into a shallow pan?
These things really help here, especially the EL.
The ice block pan you may have to show them how at first,
but once one of them 'gets it' the rest will follow.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

You can set up an air conditioner in the coop if you want,
most of use can't afford that type of luxury....I don't even have AC in my house.

 

[NanaK]

I would be afraid not to let them get used to the hot weather. They'd be in real trouble is they were used to a/c and you had a power failure or break down. I have a box fan in the coop, just have to make sure to clean it regularly.

 

[Morning_Star]

Your chickens spend all day in the shed?

If so, if I were you I would install AC but only have it on at the danger temperature levels.

I'm actually thinking about installing a dehumidifier and using it for the days my hens come in wet at dusk.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

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.

There's so much behind social media posts we don't see.

• Severe weather can be a tipping point for undetected illness.
• Setups may unknowingly cause stress or not allow for bullied birds to access enough water or shade.
• Issues can be exacerbated by the fact that chickens eat less in heat. If they're bullied or on lower-quality feed to start with, they can end up malnourished and less able to fight health problems.
• For those of us on wells, water quality can go down when the water table shifts with extreme heat. In our area, iron bacteria is a problem. We've had to troubleshoot our filtration system to keep up this summer. Our water-quality guy says it's happening all over the region. Sudden chicken death wouldn't be out of the question with some water issues.
• Different plants might be popping up that are toxic to chickens but still look delicious to them, especially if safe green things aren't available.

So it may not be that posts are exaggerating but that dying chickens were weakened by health issues, social problems not seen by the keeper, or surprise summer toxins.

Chickens in good health and housing really are good at adjusting in harsh weather. That said, we're planning "take the edge off" climate control in our next setup, particularly flat-panel heaters. Over the past couple years, we've seen how weather can stress them and would like to mitigate that.

To @3KillerBs' point, many coops are flammable and rickety, not at all suitable for upfitting with electric. And since chickens can't pick up the cell phone when the power goes out, it's truly critical to design housing as though there's no climate control. Also, be observant and ready to troubleshoot. During bad weather, watch that birds are eating, drinking, pooping, and socializing normally.

Ours take this severe, close, blistering heat in stride, but they have a big, shaded yard and aren't under predator stress, so they can dustbathe and nap as needed. I still take extra measures, like...

• Putting out extra waterers.
• Pouring water on a patch of dirt. This area in their yard would normally be damp, if the heat hadn't burned it dry. The chickens like to start with dry dust baths in full sun, then toddle down to the shaded, damp dirt for cool dirt baths. Chicken spa.
• Setting out shallow pans of water for foot baths. Only a couple birds actually use them, but they're a fun curiosity for others.

Some like to peck at cold fruit, and a few like ice in their waterers, but like you said, a lot of birds aren't into cold stuff. There's a theory that cold food makes metabolism run higher, which ultimately creates more body heat, but I can't cite a reference or back this in any way. Just that if you give cold water, provide room-temperature water, too.

We've had a surprise issue thanks to tree-fall this winter: for the first time, one of the coops is in afternoon sun. It heats up like an oven. I never worried about the coop's color or ventilation before, but now the sun's outpacing it.

I've blocked the sun with a light sheet and charged up camping fans to pull in air during the 2nd half of the day. The fans are quiet and small enough not to stir up dust (which could cause respiratory problems). Doesn't look like much, but my quick, freak-out measures absolutely worked to bring temps down a few degrees, resulting in less stress on the late-afternoon layers who like the nesting boxes in this coop, and on all the birds who choose to roost in here overnight.

Stay cool, and good luck to you and your biddies!

 

[SourRoses]

Tomorrow the 14th of June, 97 degrees. The end of the week looks very similar. I suspect by late July we're all going to be having problems

We're in Florida where 90's are the norm for much of the year and parts of the summer can reach 100+. They do just fine under trees and in a ventilated coop. They actually show more stress during early Spring when the days get into the upper 80's but the nights are still getting down into the 40's. Sudden swings are hard.
I spend all summer indoors because I'm spoiled. A hundred years ago people survived without AC in hot climates like mine, and worldwide many people still do.
I just thank God I don't have to live in the hot oven that is Arizona. I'd rather be steamed than char broiled.
Planting some fast-growing trees is a sustainable step to take after checking your ventilation. Poinciana is the first one that comes to mind as it takes only 7 years to grow into a proper canopy shade tree. There are many other fast-growing trees to choose from.

 

[3KillerBs]

There's so much behind social media posts we don't see.

Indeed.

And one thing that is, IMO, very likely to be a factor is the abominably bad ventilation in and generally poor design of the average prefab coop.

Put chickens in an airless little box with a miniature run that's standing in the sun in the middle of someone's backyard and they're going to get over-heated.

 

[linguini]

My flock is about 2 years old now, this is their second summer. I've learned that chickens can tolerate cold weather much better than hot weather. Here are some of my tricks:

1. leave the big door open (the door for entrance to cleaning) all the time, and make a make shift screen door with hardware cloth, secure the screen door. So one side of the coop is completely open for ventilation. Lean plywood panels on the outside to keep rain and sun out. The opposite side has a window that's left open. This allows good airflow.

2. Our coop is under a big run covered with birdnet. We put shade cloth on top of the birdnet - keep the sun out, and reduce exposure to wild bird poops for avian flu protection.

3. Use a clip on fan to increase air flow in extreme hot days

4. Freeze containers filled with water and leave inside the coop for extreme hot nights
(when it's 100F inside and outside, the ice blocks in container helps to some degree when they are roosting)

5. Bought a cheap, fake AC (really a humidifier) unit, charged with a long usb cord for instant cooling during the day to cool the nesting boxes for their comfort when laying
(again, when it's high 90's to 100F inside and outside, ventilation is not sufficient, the instance AC units helps to some degree to bring the temperature down. But you can only run this for a few hours till the water runs out in the unit)

6. Hose down the roof of the coops and run with water in hot days

7. Additional waterer with Sav-A-Chick electrolytes - essential

Overall, converting a solid wall to screen in summer time is essential, and we found that the shade cloth over the coop made the biggest difference. It increases the area chickens can hang out as well.

Shade cloth is cheap and easy to hang, and unlike tarp, it won't collect water from rain.

Picture below - not sure if you can see, we have several shade cloths : 1 on the sunny side of the cubical run, one on top of the coop with white roof (there is another coop behind this coop, so the shade cloth covers both coops), and another shade cloth above the additional run area which is completely exposed to the sun most of the day. The shade cloth idea is also to reduce exposure to wild birds.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

No. A well ventilated coop and choosing breeds that work for your climate and they'll do fine. AC in a coop sounds really really gross because the coil will be wet and then covered with dust and feces and it'll stay wet. Not to mention it will not be working very long or well once it's caked in dust. Fire hazard? Eh maybe, but I think it's a bigger biohazard.

 

[3LilChickadees]

Tomorrow the 14th of June, 97 degrees. The end of the week looks very similar. I suspect by late July we're all going to be having problems

It's usually not this brutal in middle TN, but temps in the 90s with dew points in the 60s is typical. We've been having high temps with dew points in the mid 70s - where is feels like you need gills to breathe! Still, the coop is not oppressive to be in. (I won't say comfortable because I'm comparing it to my air conditioned house. ) With adequate coop and run space, ventilation, shade, and water, the hens are doing fine. Their egg production has not decreased, and they are showing no signs of stress. We have barred rocks, black sex links, and a white leghorn.

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

 

[Florida Backyard Chickens]

We live in balmy, hot, humid florida. Our pens are under shade trees. We let them out to find their favorite spots and they do fine. Animals are so adaptable.