Chickens and heat

[BeccaSmith]

Hi Everyone! I'm curious what temp range can chickens handle. It is about 95 degrees out right now....and even at say 85 the girls are hot and panting. They have access to water in the coop, and the coop provides the most shade for them. We are not really set up for shade yet. In the coop we have a box fan on high that runs all night and they seem fine with it. We have decent ventilation but was wondering if something like shade cloth would help out any or would it be a waste of time. The main part of the coop is west facing so it takes a beating with the sun, but there isn't any light to coming through on that side. We thought of trying to cut more ventilation into the coop, but we also have to be able to keep the coop at a decent temp in the winters, which can get pretty cold here.....like into the teens or single digits so we are pretty hesitant to cut anymore holes into the coop. I feel bad for the poor girls....they are just so hot hot hot! They spend most of their time indoors during the heat of the day and come out just as it is starting to cool down outside which is pretty late at night and then they go back in for the night. So is this heat ok for them?

 

[OkieKristi]

I'm having issues with the heat myself. The high temp here today was 105 degrees. My coop has good ventilation, but it is concrete block construction, and those blocks just seem to hold the heat too much. Mine have shade in part of their run all day, and they tend to hang out in the shade, but are always panting, and I have been getting almost no eggs. I gave them a little kiddie pool last week (although today is the first day I saw anyone in the pool), and I have been spraying down the run with water in the afternoons and trying to mist them with a light spray as well. I saw someone in another post bought a $10 mister, that I may have to try as well. Good luck.

 

[dewey]

Can even a small strong wire run (with shade) be quickly made and attached to the coop so they can escape into the open air? It gets hot here in AZ and we have to have shaded, open air coops/runs or birds will literally fry.

 

[kcfuerst]

My birds are doing great at 105° for the past few days. I've been putting out a huge hunk of ice in a big tray before I leave for work in the mornings. They have two water sources, an exhaust fan in the coop, and a mister system in the run. They are hot, though, and also panting. Hopefully we'll get some cooler weather in the coming days.

 

[BeccaSmith]

A mister would be great in the coop but we have electrical components inside that it would not be good to mix with. Maybe I'll try some shade cloth.

 

[southerndesert]

We keep heat tolerant birds and buy from local AZ breeders or hatch our own to give us an edge when it is 110+ here, which is often this year and we still have lost one of our older RIR sadly. Cold is never an issue here though we do get occasional frost or frozen water bowls. There are birds available out there tolerant to both extremes and all in between and a little research can really help. There is a full section about the different breeds in many places online including this forums main site...

 

[PineLaneFarms]

sorry to hear about ur RIR southerndesert it seems like my RIR gets so much hotter than my other breed of birds do. i just have to keep a extra eye on the flock, i bring the water to them in the shade alot of the time to give them an extra reminder for them to drink. they free range all day so they pretty much find thier own shade and cool spots