Arizona Heat Issue

[Celeeste]

Hello, I’ve been looking at moving to Arizona after I leave college and I was wanting to start a ranch out there with chickens and ratites. I was wondering, what would be a good way to manage overheating in the desert? I’ve heard dugout and adobe buildings are an option, is this true? I just need some tips, thank you!

It’s more of an issue with chickens than the ostriches/emus since chickens are more prone to overheating, but if there are any people experienced with ratites, I’d take advice on them as well.

Thank you!

 

[3KillerBs]

Hello, I’ve been looking at moving to Arizona after I leave college and I was wanting to start a ranch out there with chickens and ratites. I was wondering, what would be a good way to manage overheating in the desert? I’ve heard dugout and adobe buildings are an option, is this true? I just need some tips, thank you!

It’s more of an issue with chickens than the ostriches/emus since chickens are more prone to overheating, but if there are any people experienced with ratites, I’d take advice on them as well.

Thank you!

You'll probably want to go to the Arizona state thread to get advice from people with direct experience with that climate.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x as depending on what part of AZ makes a climate difference too. Ventilation as must no matter what and predator proof another must.

 

[arizona_chicken_noob]

I don't have any personal experience as I haven't kept birds through a summer yet, but the local feed store that keeps chickens in the back has an open-air coop / 3 sided / cabana style, where it's like a run-in shed with an ample roof for shade.

All the coop designs I have seen are very open, as in the Phoenix area our winters are quite mild (by chicken standards).

 

[ChickNanny13]

Hubby built for me back in 2016 ... I wanted open air, it get hot & humid here, wet & humid winters (shower curtains wrapped around). I know a few that are also using dog kennels for enclosure/coop & adding a run.

 

[springvalley123]

2x as depending on what part of AZ makes a climate difference too. Ventilation as must no matter what and predator proof another must.

As for climate, you basically trade night time temperatures for altitude, so it's a good question as to which parts of the state are best/least stressful for chickens. For example, Prescott is 5200 ft, some parts much higher elevation, but rarely sees or tops (by much) 100 degrees F. That is an elevation that cornish X don't do well in, so I've heard. But if you want sea level, you have Yuma with its 120+ degree high, or 1000 ft elevation for Phoenix and its 120 degree highs, with it generally staying close to 100 during the whole time the birds are on their roosts at night (good luck getting them to roost on ice blocks!)
I'm in the mid point, at 4000 feet. I get 100 degree highs, but the temps drop before sunset (roost time), so if I need a fan, it's only for a few hours during early evenings at the worst.
So since chickens are said to be in "heat stress" as low as 80 degrees F, anywhere in the state (as with a lot of other states) you'll have some trade off between altitude and temperature. I had andalusians for a while, and they never had their wings our or panted below 90 degrees F.
There's a lot to be said for heat-adapted stock--if you can find someone you trust on here, on the Arizona state thread, you can get birds that they've bred. Or even if you go the hatchery route, there's Privetts in Portales NM which is (I think) similar to my climate.

Here's the state thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/arizona-chickens.31227/

 

[Bridget B]

We live in Phoenix, this is our second year with chickens. We lost some the first year to heat at 118 degrees. Even the ice blocks and cold water couldn't overcome the heat stress. We moved them indoors for a while until we had our new coop and run finished. The new run and coop have a sand floor and we have misters that we got at home Depot for next to nothing and it works great! It will cool the run down 20 degrees when it is set up right. A standard box fan supplies all the needed air for the misting. The birds were freaked out first, but calmed right down and learned to move closer to the mister when they needed the cooler temps. We have just started the mister up last week and the birds which are all new this year, are enjoying the set up.

Our coop has one open picture window, without any glass, that has a 90% solar shade over it. The shade can be rolled up or down. It faces North where we seldom get monsoon wind from that direction. When the wind is strong the shade stays down, if it is humid along with the heat, we open it to get a breeze at night. The roof is vented all the way around. All the openings to the coop and run have 1/4 inch hardware cloth for safety sake. We also have the same 90% shade cloth hung loosely on the South side of the coop and run. An afternoon breeze from that S.W. side gives even more air in the hot afternoons. We didn't have enough trees in our yard to provide adequate shade so made do with the shade cloths.

It was fun planning the build. We are still making changes when we see something that needs improvement. Thanks to all of the assistance from BYC , we have been moderately successful with the chicken hobby.

 

[Happy Novogens]

As others have noted, it depends greatly on where in AZ you reside. The hottest areas will obviously have greater challenges. However, for advice and example setups for ostriches, you may want to visit the ostrich farm at Picacho Peak. That's roughly midway between Phoenix and Tucson, so it gets hot! If they have success, then I'm sure you could too!

https://www.roostercogburn.com/

 

[Tdwhite4098]

We also live in Phoenix. We ended up putting misters on a timer goes off every hour for about two minutes. During the hottest part of the summer I had it set for longer periods of time but we also have swamp coolers facing the inside of the coop so they can always go in there to cool off. We have a swamp cooler on our rabbits also. We have a nice shaded garden area that they ended up devouring my entire garden but at least they stayed cool, lol.

 

[AnneHealy]

Hello, I’ve been looking at moving to Arizona after I leave college and I was wanting to start a ranch out there with chickens and ratites. I was wondering, what would be a good way to manage overheating in the desert? I’ve heard dugout and adobe buildings are an option, is this true? I just need some tips, thank you!

It’s more of an issue with chickens than the ostriches/emus since chickens are more prone to overheating, but if there are any people experienced with ratites, I’d take advice on them as well.

Thank you!

We are in Yuma County. We put a swamp cooler in the coop. The chickens love it.