Chickens and the heat!!

[susieq5353]

Hi everyone!! We are new to having backyard chickens and so far we are loving it. Our
"ladies" are so much fun but right now we are concerned about the heat. Right now its in the 90's with a bit of a breeze. They are eating well and seem to be hitting the water just fine. We just don't know what to look for or what preventive measures we might take. Can anyone help us out? Thanks so much.

Mother of 3; grams of a bunch; 5 dogs; 2 cats and 5 great chickens!!!

 

[ChickiePieGirl]

My chickens hold their wings out from their bodies, and keep their beaks open and seem to be "swallowing air" when they are too hot. I used the mister setting on my hose to cool them down, and make sure their water is fresh and cool for them! They seem to be better almost immediately after getting a cool mist!! They tend to get out of the sun, and drink more when it is hot, but I still do some extra "checking" on especially hot days!

 

[stoutfamily]

It's 115+ here, so I know it can be rough outside. I only have one, and I let her in the house sometimes to cool off. She HATES water and jumped on top of a 6 foot wall last time we tried to mist her. Just make sure they have plenty of shade and lots of water to drink! Some nice cool ground to scratch/dust bathe in can help too.

 

[ChickenLord]

I noticed our flock doesn't like to get we either... We hav 4 Cuckoo Marans (3 hens 1 roo), 3 Barred Rocks (hens), and 3 Black Stars (hens). They have multiple shade areas, but I have to keep them close by as we have a resident Red-Tailed Hawk. They so dislike getting wet that they run away from the water hose as I fill their water each morning and afternoon... Time to buy some chicken nipples I think...

 

[ChickiePieGirl]

Quote:
I guess some chickens love the water, and some hate it!!!

 

[ChickenLord]

Chicken nipples arrived today... man that was fast shipping by BAFX.
Today's task is assembling a chicken nipple watering system for them.


Speaking of the resident Red Tail Hawk (from my post above)... Funny story from this morning.

I was doing my normal routine before work, let the Chickens out to free range for 45 minutes or so, change their water, add food/grit... they usual.
Today, I decided to spread a little scratch grain near the pen as a little treat, since they love the cracked corn and such. I also decided to give them a few meal worms.
No sooner had I started giving them a few of the mealworms, when the resident Hawk came swooping in from next door. He stayed about 10 feet or so inside the woodline and perched on a tree.
The girls and Rudy saw him and went absolutely nuts... they scattered every which way.

I've been training them to be compliant, and return to their pen when told, and today I think it paid off. A scant second after I looked up and saw the Hawk too, I told them "Time to go up!" 5 of the girls and Rudy complied and went into their pen (which has a heavy duty net across the top), 4 others ran for the far tree line. They also immediately responded to "Get out of the Trees!" and returned to their pen. (I don't let them wander around inside the woodline for obvious reasons).

All the chicks were safely home and the Hawk missed out on breakfast.

 

[Erin~TheChickenLover]

Whenever my chickens get hot, I spray there coop down(it's tin) with water and pretty much the whole rest of the pen too. We recently installed a fan as well, but they don't really ever use it and are a bit scared of it too.

I also make sure they don't get to chunky, if you know what I'm saying.

 

[Chicky Monkey]

That is SO cool! What GOOD chickens you have! I live in Kansas, and the heat/humidity here is horrific this summer. Even putting my seven hens in their portable pen under shade trees and putting a shop fan on them finally wasn't enough after awhile. I had to bring them into our basement in a partitioned area. They rebelled at first, creating ruckus after ruckus. Each time I went down to see what was going on, they all stopped and looked at me like they were all innocent. My poor husband has drawn the line at coming home from work and finding them in the living room....although I am investigating chicken diapers....hmmmmmm
Quote:

 

[amberflea]

I just put 2 fans in my coop to keep it cooler when they go in at night to roost. During the day they free range and keep cool in the shade and in my mulch pile... I highly recommend the fans, I have one window fan and one small table fan, the table fan is set lower to blow towards my broody in the nesting box, and the window fan helps the ones roosting... the heat is terrible here this week also, first time I ever had to worry about the heat for more than one day...

 

[kyrose]

got 2 fans blowing 24/7.1 towards the ground and the other towards the roosts.every window that doesnt open has been covered with black garbage bags,frozen water bottles in their drinking water to keep it cold,and frozen treats,like peas and watermelon.i also hose down every shady part of my yard and their run.not much else i can do i guess.to many to bring in the house...