Chicken OVERHEATING?? Pls help!

[Kariib89]

My little hen has been in the house for about six days now, but has been outside for several hours each day. I finished her small, makeshift run yesterday, and placed her in it last night. She took right to the nest box and i shut her in for the night.

I am in Mississippi, and it gets really hot, so i have water in the nest box as well. When i opened it up about 6 AM this morning, she hopped right out and was fine. About two hours later i went back outside and she was on the ground, wings spread out and panting like crazy. I rushed her back inside in front of the AC and gave her MORE water, and after a few minutes she was up again and following me around the house.

Her run and nest box are FULLY shaded, both naturally and artifically. She has a small kiddie pool half full of water, plus two water supplies in her run. I do not understand why she is overheating, and how to prevent. She is young now (11 weeks), but i cannot keep her in my house forever. I love the little hen like crazy, but i do not know what to do or how to prevent this... can anyone help?

 

[Frost Homestead]

Sounds like she just can't handle the heat, some can, some can't. Have you considered getting a mister for her? It can really cool things down when it would otherwise be completely intolerable outside. It's hot here too and I've bee spraying my chicken run down with water. the moist ground helps cool the air. I wish you luck

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

Is she alone? Sounds like she is working you so that she can live in the AC!

 

[leadwolf1]

Maybe she needs time to acclimate since she has been in the AC...maybe a few hours a day and slowly increase the time until she can tolerate the heat better.

 

[azmotogirl]

We have a large fan blowing at one end of our run just to keep the air "moving". We are in Arizona and it is 110 degrees here today and all 5 of our girls are managing to do pretty well. We sometimes add blocks of ice to their little wading pan of water to cool things down a bit more. They like to stand in it to cool down.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Sometimes you need to teach them to get into the water. Pick her up and stick her in the pool, she'll get the idea.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I agree with the ideas that have already been suggested as far as the mister, a fan and ice to cool off the wading pools.

 

[remuda1]

I would agree with the previous poster that she needs to be acclimatized gradually. I would think that she'd be good to go out full time within a week barring any freakishly hot temperature spikes. Good luck with her, lol poor thing probably thought "what did I do to deserve this?"

 

[Kerrie Ann]

I am new at this so I have been asking alot of questions and someone told me that cracked corn helps warm up the chickens it is good for the winter months. I found this interesting.

 

[Kariib89]

Thank you for all of the replies! Yes, she is alone (i became a chicken mom quite suddenly and unexpectedly.)...although i plan to get her some hen friends soon. I was thinking about the mister, and keeping the ground wet. The humidity is already so bad however, i'm not sure if it would help in the long run.

I am going to try acclimating her slowly. Also think she is a bit on the slow side with the wading pool. Gonna try and put her out for a few hours at a time, starting tomorrow. I will be home all day so i can watch her.

And I think the comment about her training me so she can live in the AC was totally correct. XP