Arizona Chickens

[azurbanclucker]

Fitted my GLW roo with a no crow collar today. Watching him run around like he was on fire trying to figure out how to get it off was amusing.

 

[FeatherPugs]

Well I lost a girl to the heat yesterday. The heat has been brutal here - 109 degrees yesterday. This was one of my older 5 year olds. Very few eggs from her but she was a good lookout hen as I prefer a flock with no roosters. I check on them often in the heat, provide lots of shade, a mud puddle and tubs for standing in but the heat was just too much for this girl. I also noticed my leghorn with her wings up. I've almost never seen this from her so I know its tough on them right now. Up with the misters by the next blast of 100 plus degrees is on my to do list. Stay safe everyone.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Ugh. Sorry you lost one. Definitely going around, I've got a couple friends who lost girls this week with the heat coming on so fast. I lost one the last time we got really hot a couple weeks ago. The cool tubs and misters seem to be helping this time around. I'll have my wife go out about 2PM and shower the trees and bushes they're shading under as well to cool them down a bit more today as well.

 

[AHowes]

What kind of tubs do you use? We installed misters and shade cloth, but I can tell in the heat of the day, they're hot.

 

[azurbanclucker]

What kind of tubs do you use? We installed misters and shade cloth, but I can tell in the heat of the day, they're hot.

We went to Lowes and got some boot trays https://www.lowes.com/pd/Multy-Home-Rectangular-Boot-Tray-Actual-17-in-x-35-in/999930262 and set them out. They're a few inches deep and allow the girls to drink and wade, plus they're the correct height for my Sulcata Tortoises to also use as water troughs.

Worst case scenario, set a hose out with a low drip in a shady spot and let them play in that puddle.

 

[FeatherPugs]

What kind of tubs do you use? We installed misters and shade cloth, but I can tell in the heat of the day, they're hot.

I use the oil tubs from Walmart. They were the right size and the right price. They looked like this, cost $1.98 each when I bought them two years ago. I figured at that price I could buy them every few years and still come out good. They look like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Oil-Drain-Pan-7.5-Quart-Capacity-Black-Round-With-Pour-Spout/51775457 Don't know if they are still available because they have lasted quite a long time. I bought my first ones about 5 years ago. I have 6 now. Hope you find some.

 

[BlueBaby]

Well I lost a girl to the heat yesterday. The heat has been brutal here - 109 degrees yesterday. This was one of my older 5 year olds. Very few eggs from her but she was a good lookout hen as I prefer a flock with no roosters. I check on them often in the heat, provide lots of shade, a mud puddle and tubs for standing in but the heat was just too much for this girl. I also noticed my leghorn with her wings up. I've almost never seen this from her so I know its tough on them right now. Up with the misters by the next blast of 100 plus degrees is on my to do list. Stay safe everyone.

I'm sorry that you lost one. I lost one last year from the heat, so I cleaned out the thingy's the water mists out of and put my misters back up for this time of year. I have mine set up on a timer.

 

[AHowes]

Thanks for the replies! I think the oil tubs are the route we'll take. There's so much loose dirt in our coop area that I worry anything shallower will be quickly filled with chicken scratchings.

 

[BlueBaby]

Thanks for the replies! I think the oil tubs are the route we'll take. There's so much loose dirt in our coop area that I worry anything shallower will be quickly filled with chicken scratchings.

If yours are anything like mine, they will still stand in those with their dirty feet. Apparently it helps them to cool off also.

 

[DesertChic]

Well I lost a girl to the heat yesterday. The heat has been brutal here - 109 degrees yesterday. This was one of my older 5 year olds. Very few eggs from her but she was a good lookout hen as I prefer a flock with no roosters. I check on them often in the heat, provide lots of shade, a mud puddle and tubs for standing in but the heat was just too much for this girl. I also noticed my leghorn with her wings up. I've almost never seen this from her so I know its tough on them right now. Up with the misters by the next blast of 100 plus degrees is on my to do list. Stay safe everyone.

I finally found my way back! I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I've been lucky so far, but it's been a lot of work to keep my birds cool. I haven't hooked up the A/C in the chicken cabin yet, but I suspect that's coming in the near future.

We also planted a couple pomegranate trees last weekend which will hopefully grow well and provide additional shade. Eventually I hope to have created a nice micro-climate around all of my coops to keep everyone happy without having to resort to extraordinary measures.