Call me crazy but I added a small evaporative cooler to our chicken run- hens are laying again though

[CassieD]

We grappled with this idea last year because I thought it was a bit crazy, but it has just gotten too hot. We are in SE Texas and last Sunday the “feels like” factoring in humidity temperature was 109 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a smallish wooden fenced in run (10x20) with hawk netting and areas of solar shading over it. The run doesn’t get a dependable breeze that can blow through. There’s a small chicken coop in the run where they sleep at night. I’ve tried regular fans, iced tubs of water in the afternoon, ice in their waterer to cool it down, misters which just made mud which the mosquitos loved, frozen treats, but it’s just too dang hot in the run. 100 + degrees easy and that’s not counting humidity which tends to be thick this time of year into November/December.

I am of course concerned that it’s run off electricity. It is currently sitting on a platform which I will raise further, it’s under a wooden roofed area and I will be building a quasi-cabinet with a top and sides (no front or back) this weekend to further encase it. During storms I will unplug it though. Until we get the hose hooked-up I am filling it with water a couple of times a day. Good thing I’m now working from home.

I have four pullets, only two of which lay. The Barvelders have never ever laid an egg though they sure like to camp out in the nest boxes. One for hours. I’d get some chicks for her to raise if the space wasn’t so small and I could separate them.

The good news is that the girls aren’t panting constantly and they’ve started to lay more. Yeah!!! The cooler also blows air into the nesting boxes somewhat. I was down to 2 to 3 eggs a week. Yesterday and today I had 2 eggs both days!

I know drafts aren’t great for chickens, but they seem to be loving the constant cool air. It blows cool not cold. What am I missing that I might need to mitigate further? I’ve only had chickens for 1.5 years now. Thanks in advance for knowledgeable input.

Sorry I can't figure out how to turn the photo below.

 

[dennisma1]

If it works and they are happy then go for it! I just relocated from FL a week ago to MA for the summer and yeah it just gets too hot for the girls down there, they are def happier. I have had chickens drop dead from the heat in FL.
At the end I was just locking then in their run in the shade ( they usually free range) and running a sprinker over half of it. The cold water. def cut the temp by 10 degrees . I don't have electricity near the run . I would also freeze ice and drop it in their water.

 

[45lk9p459gm-w]

We grappled with this idea last year because I thought it was a bit crazy, but it has just gotten too hot. We are in SE Texas and last Sunday the “feels like” factoring in humidity temperature was 109 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a smallish wooden fenced in run (10x20) with hawk netting and areas of solar shading over it. The run doesn’t get a dependable breeze that can blow through. There’s a small chicken coop in the run where they sleep at night. I’ve tried regular fans, iced tubs of water in the afternoon, ice in their waterer to cool it down, misters which just made mud which the mosquitos loved, frozen treats, but it’s just too dang hot in the run. 100 + degrees easy and that’s not counting humidity which tends to be thick this time of year into November/December.

I am of course concerned that it’s run off electricity. It is currently sitting on a platform which I will raise further, it’s under a wooden roofed area and I will be building a quasi-cabinet with a top and sides (no front or back) this weekend to further encase it. During storms I will unplug it though. Until we get the hose hooked-up I am filling it with water a couple of times a day. Good thing I’m now working from home.

I have four pullets, only two of which lay. The Barvelders have never ever laid an egg though they sure like to camp out in the nest boxes. One for hours. I’d get some chicks for her to raise if the space wasn’t so small and I could separate them.

The good news is that the girls aren’t panting constantly and they’ve started to lay more. Yeah!!! The cooler also blows air into the nesting boxes somewhat. I was down to 2 to 3 eggs a week. Yesterday and today I had 2 eggs both days!

I know drafts aren’t great for chickens, but they seem to be loving the constant cool air. It blows cool not cold. What am I missing that I might need to mitigate further? I’ve only had chickens for 1.5 years now. Thanks in advance for knowledgeable input.

Sorry I can't figure out how to turn the photo below.

With the high humidity I wouldn't think that the swamp cooler is doing much good. They work great in West Texas but not so good over here in East Texas.

I just run a fan in my coop and let the hens decide if they want to get in front of it or not. Some stay in front of it and others avoid it. Our feels like temp the other day was 111 degrees and the coop high temp for the day was 99. So far everyone is doing good in the heat. They are only 7 weeks old so I don't know if the heat is effecting their laying yet.

Might have to put an exhaust fan in the coop to blow the hot air out and bring in the cooler air from outside. Not sure if that will be enough since the outside air it will bring in might be 100+ degrees. What can I say ... Its Texas.

 

[neo71665]

I doubt it's working as well as you think due to the high humidity. I'm in south central Arkansas and they don't work here. When I tried one in my shop all it done was make the humidity higher and we sweated our butts off even more.

 

[CassieD]

Keep in mind that I'm only trying to cool a very small area of about 5x5 of the coop. The air blows directly into the coop and makes even it up the ramp to the roost and nesting boxes. The regular fan that just moved hot air around. This air is blessedly cool, not warm or hot. Noticeably cooler. When it got really hot my two Wyandottes were only giving me 3 eggs a week. A couple of days after I put this cooler into the run they went back up to their standard 10 a week.
I didn't expect a swamp cooler to be great here. In California where I grew up they worked just fine because of the low humidity. Here in Texas (lived here for 36 years now, smartest move EVER) I know air conditioners are completely different.
This one is plugged into a long extension cord because there's no electricity on the side of our garage where the run sits