California-Southern

[perchie.girl]

Greetings SoCal from Pine Valley. Ive only had chickens for a year now and I'm just wondering what everyone does for their chickens to beat the heat during heat waves?

I am abut thirty miles east of you... Shade and good clean water because they are going to drink alot of it. One thing you can do is put out low trays filled with water... they will walk through it to cool off.

Panting and holding out their wings is normal... chckens dont sweat. But extreme panting and lethargy you need to get them cooled off somehow...

Its been my practice to hose down the run area and they will use the mud ....

Feeding Watermelon cold or other wise keeps them hydrated and gives them natural electrolytes. Fresh leafy green vegetables are also good for natural electrolytes... Kale is one of the best.

It gets 100 plus at my house since its in the high desert. and I am on the desert side of the Cuyamaca mountan range My birds still foraged but they tended to stay in the shade during the heat of the day....

For What Its worth My coop is made strictly of dog kennel panels with a silver tarp on top. Nothing fancy... but air cicrulation is important in the heat.

deb

 

[Sylvester017]

Greetings SoCal from Pine Valley. Ive only had chickens for a year now and I'm just wondering what everyone does for their chickens to beat the heat during heat waves?

Hi - the heat is pretty bad everywhere! We have both an Orbit Mistand and an Arctic Cool mister (also on a curly pole self-standing unit). Be sure to buy extra packages of misting nozzles to change out when the lime deposits build up on the brass nozzles (the nozzles are tiny little buggers). Our birds will sit directly under the mister stands and wait for the soil to get wet enough to dig a hole to sit in. We positioned the misters under the pop-up canopy for shade. It's pretty much their favorite spot during heatwaves. We also have a couple shelters of plywood sheets propped on cinderblocks for them to sit under.

 

[sol2go]

I am abut thirty miles east of you... Shade and good clean water because they are going to drink alot of it. One thing you can do is put out low trays filled with water... they will walk through it to cool off.

Panting and holding out their wings is normal... chckens dont sweat. But extreme panting and lethargy you need to get them cooled off somehow...

Its been my practice to hose down the run area and they will use the mud ....

Feeding Watermelon cold or other wise keeps them hydrated and gives them natural electrolytes. Fresh leafy green vegetables are also good for natural electrolytes... Kale is one of the best.

It gets 100 plus at my house since its in the high desert. and I am on the desert side of the Cuyamaca mountan range My birds still foraged but they tended to stay in the shade during the heat of the day....

For What Its worth My coop is made strictly of dog kennel panels with a silver tarp on top. Nothing fancy... but air cicrulation is important in the heat.

deb

Ditto to all of this - shade, air circulation and liquids are key. Watermelon makes everyone happy.

Some people use the fine mist evaporators designed for patios.
In general I've found it's important to keep the floor of the run dry because the ammonia will leach out of any debris/poo and it can become a slimy mess.

If you can place a fan in a reasonable location to move air, that's helpful too. While they are small, the solar driven exhaust fans intended for boats are helpful in the coop area.

 

[Katok8607]

Yesterday I hosed down the run twice and freshened up their water twice. Today I bought and installed a mister hose and gave them a half water melon. That must've helped cause 2 in my new flock laid their 1st eggs.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ditto to all of this - shade, air circulation and liquids are key. Watermelon makes everyone happy.

Some people use the fine mist evaporators designed for patios.
In general I've found it's important to keep the floor of the run dry because the ammonia will leach out of any debris/poo and it can become a slimy mess.

If you can place a fan in a reasonable location to move air, that's helpful too. While they are small, the solar driven exhaust fans intended for boats are helpful in the coop area.

Our Orbit Mistand and Aqua Cool stand-alone misters are great but we never considered them anywhere near the coop. Our girls free-range and the misters are set up at the back of the yard under a canopy where it doesn't matter if/how damp the soil becomes. The mister nozzles will get mineral deposit build-up rapidly and it's wise to have a package of extra brass mister nozzles to change out.

 

[mommato5chicks]

I hang frozen corn cobs in the coop they go crazy! Lol can't wait to try watermelon with the girls

 

[sol2go]

I hang frozen corn cobs in the coop they go crazy! Lol can't wait to try watermelon with the girls

Frozen corn cobs are a new treat concept for me =)
How did you end up with frozen ones vs just room temp?

 

[hemet dennis]

Quote:
Put the nozzles in a cup of CLR and it will clean them out.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...AID=120142990000010065&CAGPSPN=pla&kpid=81915

you can find the off brand name stuff for even less.

 

[Sylvester017]

Put the nozzles in a cup of CLR and it will clean them out.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...AID=120142990000010065&CAGPSPN=pla&kpid=81915

you can find the off brand name stuff for even less.

We tried CLR and a couple other brands already on the nozzles - the holes are so tiny and clogged with hard minerals that soaking for days and using needles to try and open the holes doesn't work. Our water district has such harsh chlorinated heavy lime/minerals in the water that CLR doesn't even work even at total strength. We are constantly using Lime-A-Way around sinks and toilet bowls in the house because since the drought the water's been worse than usual the last decade. We can't even have water softeners or tap water purifiers because the filters don't just need replacing but the entire mechanisms need to be tossed because they start leaking they get so corroded. You should hear the water heater's popping sounds after less than a year's installation. It's almost 3 y/o now and sounds like firecrackers going off. I've been here 30 yrs and usually replace water heaters every 10 years but now it's every 4 years or less. We have to use bottled water for drinking and for pets and for cooking otherwise all our pots and pans would be built up with mineral rings. Ugh! We don't drink the tap water and chickens get bottled water in a Rubbermaid 2-gallon jug Brite Tap nipple valve waterer so it stays clean and water is not wasted. Who knows what all the tap water's harsh mineral buildup does to our internal organs or the chickens? Chlorine alone adversely affects egg shell quality for sure.

 

[mommato5chicks]

Frozen corn cobs are a new treat concept for me =)
How did you end up with frozen ones vs just room temp?

I had corn cobs in my freezer from last yrs harvest and thought the girls would love it so I tied it to a string hung it in the coop and they went crazy, they love lettuce and sunflower seeds too I'm going to see how they like pumpkin I have a large amount to be harvested so the excess will be the girls