Chickens panting, how do I keep them cool??????

[animal nut]

Thank you for all the great tips. I will definately use them all.

 

[big red chicken]

I really appreciate those good ideals. My chickens look sooooooooooo amazing hot here in NC too and I have been adding cubes of ice. (doesn't last long) So I will be tring the milk jug trick. But my ? is what is electrolytes and where do I get it from?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Think of the electrolytes as gatorade for chickens. I get mine at the farmer's co-op. Tractor supply or other poultry supply store should carry them.

 

[mrsgibber]

WildBurroShirts.com :

I had the same problem: it snowed last Wed and then was 81 degrees on Friday...they freaked. It got ok and then snowed two days ago as well.

I put two big box pallets (so a square slat box, with sides) so they get some shade. But what worked best was I got some of that shadecloth from home depot and attached it to half of the sunny side of the run...they congregate there. They also have a Paltruf smoke-colored overhang the length of the coop...but aren't smart enough to hang there as that's not a fave spot for some reason.

They were doing the same thing as yours: running back into the hot coop. I finally got all of the vents cut out and the window hardware cloth on but it's still nicer outside most days...I need to seperate the 25 'lorps and BSL's into their new coop which will have even more shade.

Ya know...as soon as I get it built.

I did the same thing yesterday afternoon...but I had to scrape by with what was on hand...an old plywood door and some burlap to create a shady spot in the run. My daughter tells me they are all under there now as it is 80 degrees this afternoon. Glad I did it!​

 

[cmom]

I don't know how large your waterer is, but I have put a 1/2 gal or gal plastic milk bottle with water in it in my freezer. after it has frozen solid I put it inside their waterer. I don't worry about the cap on the bottle. It keeps the water cool for quite a long time. I work the graveyard shift and sleep during the day. Also my coop is in the shade and has a lot of ventilation.

Also I have a shallow bowl with water in it. They like to get in it.There are pictures of the bowl on my BYC Page.