Wow, Katrina, that was awesome. Thanks. This will be my first summer with chickens so this information will be very useful. I have Australorps so that is good. I usually let mine out to free range about 6pm but you think they'll still be over heated? I also live in a hot part of Texas.I have become quite adept at this problem as Australia suffered serious heat waves here during my very first summer of keeping chickens. (mostly around 30C/90F, but several days got to 44C/112F). It's a relief in many ways we are now cooling into a mild autumn. Here's my top tips:
Shade is really important. If you don't have any tree or natural shade areas, try sails or tarps to keep the sun off them from the hottest direction. It is best to have a gap betwwen the shade and their run/coop, which could hold the heat in otherwise. Some people put short pieces of timber up to prop the shade away from the run. Or try a freestanding shade structure.
Keep their water in the coolest, shadiest part, and have several containers. Freeze large drink bottles of water and lay then in the containers (last a lot longer than ice cubes). Replace with new ones through the hottest part of the day. Replace any water that has got warm - they won't drink it, even if they are dehydrating and close to death, apparently.
Freeze protions of fruit and veg and give them that as a cold treat. I use grated carrot, zucchini, applesauce, watermelon chunks. Give it to them still frozen - they'll be curious and take a little, then eat more as it begins to thaw.
Cut down on corn as you enter late spring - I have heard this several times, as it tends to give them more fat in their body, which is what gives them potentially fatal heat stress.
Hose down their run, coop, surrounding area. Better still, install an overhead mister. I found one 4 metres long, enough for running down the centre of the roof in their run, which cost about $90. (about $94 US dollars). It uses 1 litre of water an hour, which is good, I think. During the heat wave it was on for at least 8 hours. And, yes, once they got used to the slight hissing noise, they deliberately came out and stood under it.
You can hose them, but better to just wet their feet and lower bodies, especially if they are panting heavily and showing signs of stress.
Contain them. I felt sorry for them one day - they hate missing their free-range afternoon - and let them out. They still ran around chasing each other's bugs and quickly began panting heavily. Back into the run for a misting, girls!!!
It sure kept me busy this summer - and I'm lucky I mostly work from home and I also only have four chickens to look after. I am a member of an Aussie facebook chicken group and lots of people had deaths this year from heat stress. So sad
Interestingly, I found the breeds varied as their heat tolerance. The Australorp handled it the best - they are just one tough chook as they are very cold tolerant too. My RIR suffered the worst through the heat and I kept a closer eye on her.
I only did all these things during the very worst heat waves - mostly shade, replacement cold water and keeping an eye on them should suffice. When you start complaining about the heat, I'll be moaning about the cold. Funny old world, huh?!?
All the best
Katrina
