Are Hens More Likely To Die From Heat?

[HuskerHens18]

Maybe try a mister system? You don't want it ON the chickens (it will chase them away from the shade actually, unless they are just thrilled with getting rained on!), but nearby -- it will cool the temperature by about 10-15 degrees.

We also spray down the side of the coop and the entrance in the afternoon for my hens that lay in the afternoon.

I think you're doing everything you can. Don't beat yourself up, these last few summers have been the hottest on record, and we're all struggling to keep up.

I've heard of that, I think that may be my next purchase. Otherwise I'm not sure what else I can do! Thank you so much for the info

 

[Killer Tomato]

A stand up mister (that you screw onto your hose) was $15 at Walmart or Homedepot. We got tubing, T's, and sprayer heads for about the same, but it can stretch like 40 feet. You could run that sucker across the outside of your coop wall and part of the run.

We ran it the entire month of July last year, and our water bill was about $30 more (I don't know if that was also because we were watering the garden a lot, and filling the hot tub with cold water for us?).

In a pinch, you can always set up a sprinkler at the edge of their run/coop, and run it on low during the hottest times. Just so long as it doesn't impede their normal access to shade areas, but cools the outskirts, you're golden. A sprinkler is super cheap, too.

 

[HuskerHens18]

A stand up mister (that you screw onto your hose) was $15 at Walmart or Homedepot. We got tubing, T's, and sprayer heads for about the same, but it can stretch like 40 feet. You could run that sucker across the outside of your coop wall and part of the run.

We ran it the entire month of July last year, and our water bill was about $30 more (I don't know if that was also because we were watering the garden a lot, and filling the hot tub with cold water for us?).

In a pinch, you can always set up a sprinkler at the edge of their run/coop, and run it on low during the hottest times. Just so long as it doesn't impede their normal access to shade areas, but cools the outskirts, you're golden. A sprinkler is super cheap, too.

Wow that's so awesome, I'm definitely going to look for one next time I'm in town

 

[MickWithChicks]

Anecdotally, I'd say the heat probably isn't the cause, but maybe exacerbates the symptoms. Summers where I live in Australia are regularly those temperatures for weeks on end with stupidly high humidity. Everyone I know has open air coops which ensures good air supply in the coop and prevents a lot of respiratory and heat issues.

I can't even imagine not having an open air coop in temps like that. I'd be seriously considering making some very large windows to help with ventilation.

Admittedly, my experience with sub-freezing winters is limited, but there's a nice thread here about open air coops where plenty of folk keep chickens in open coops in those temps: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/woods-style-house-in-the-winter.445004/

Edit: I see @JackE is still active at BYC, so maybe he can share some of his experiences with open air coops in sub-freezing winters.