Chickens Panting. A lot.

[calebc311]

I have a Buff Orpington and Barred Plymouth Rock I raise in my backyard. They've been relentlessly panting nowadays, and I don't know if it's the heat (hits around 95F at worse) or another problem. The buff orpington also tends to puff up a lot. Any suggestions/advice?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Are your birds exposed to the full effects of the Sun? If they are and you do nothing to correct it, they will all soon be dead. A chicken can withstand a lot of moist or shady damp heat but dry heat is a sure death sentence.

 

[chad-o]

Keep in mind chickens cannot sweat they cool off like your dog does by panting.

 

[calebc311]

They are in the shade with full access to water. But even in the shade it is very dry. Should I move them into my garage?

 

[chad-o]

Chickens are really tough a lot tougher than we give them credit for. I am in FL and at times it is very hot and dry. I think you might be overly concerned. As long as they have access to water I think they will do fine.

 

[aart]

Put out a pan if ice water, show them to stick their feet in it.....dampen the dirt in their shaded run....if you have low humidity, a misting device might help.

It's a tough question, how much panting is too much.......at what point do you intervene?
I don't know the answer as I am relatively new to owning chickens and their panting alarms me too.

 

[Joshua G]

A chicken will pant when it's body temerature is too high, they may also hold their wings away from their body in an effort to cool off.
A chicken's comb and wattles are one way a chicken can keep cool, their blood circulates through them, thus cooling the blood and further cooling it's body.
Chickens can also cool down by having a dust bath.
Just make sure they always have plenty of clean water to drink, even in the winter as chickens can dehydrate in any type of weather.
Hope this helps.

 

[kensor601]

I'm with chad-o on this one, as long as they have a place to get out of the heat of the sun and access to water (make sure its not hot or dirty) they should be fine. You might want to consider putting electrolytes in their water as well since it's so hot where you are, and bound to only get hotter, I am sure.

 

[azygous]

Your heat wave has hopefully broken by now. But in the future when it gets that hot, try spraying down their entire run with water. Water, as it evaporates, creates an air conditioning effect, like a swamp cooler. It can lower the air temperature ten degrees, and more if a breeze is blowing.

I have pretty toasty summers where the temp gets into the 80s and 90s. I have a sand run, and I wet it down twice a day. The chickens love digging themselves into damp holes, and this dissipates the build-up of heat in their bodies by transference. Unless you have sticky clay soil, this shouldn't create a messy, muddy scene.

 

[Chicken Royalty]

You might try putting some lettuce and some other types of treats that your kids like in a old ice tray or something and freezing it , by doing this they will be pecking and getting cool ice while eventually getting their treats ..........