chicks panting in heat

[zenstarling]

hot day here in Connecticut, about 90 and humid — but not nearly as extreme as what you guys in the south deal with for months at a time!

my 9 week old chicks are out in deep shade, on grass, busy foraging and catching flies but also spending time resting. when they’re laying around I’m noticing them panting. they have cool fresh water, and I have refrigerated vegetable and fruit scraps for them. is there anything else I need to do? I know panting is part of their regulating body temp in high heat and is normal, but I also understand heat can be tough on them. I have barred rocks, buff orpingtons, easter eggers and a black australorp. thanks!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

High from sunny humid FL. Sounds like you have it covered. Some people float ice blocks in the water, or provide additional electrolytes - @aart has a great post on heat management for birds, but you've hit the highlights.

 

[Lilumazuria]

Mine are a bit older than yours and also in the NE. I made a lot more shade for them, and I put a cheap box fan from Home Depot outside the run facing in and they flocked right to it and even open their wings a bit to let the air blow under. I installed a 16" wall-hang fan inside the coop, as well. I thought that would be too strong for them so I made it so it just blows on one side of the roost, and they can go to the other side to get away from the breeze. Since putting the fans in, I have not seen them pant once.

I've also randomly put in a shallow wading pool made of a large disposable aluminum chafing dish that they like to stand in. It gets messy so I don't do it often. The fan, so far, seems like the best for keeping them cool.

 

[My Bagurks]

If they are in deep shade and have cool water, I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m in Alabama and they pant a lot. But they have plenty of shade and when I fox the head on my weed whacked, they will be able to get to the creek again. Some people will give them misters or engineer some kind of extra cool place for them. But panting is normal as long as they do get a chance to cool off.

Like the above post, wading in water cools chickens off tremendously.

 

[aart]

@aart has a great post on heat management for birds,

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

THAT'S IT!
(apologies for the tag, I couldn't quickly find it, or I'd have linked and credited source).

 

[zenstarling]

wow you guys are quick!!! thanks a lot! stay cool today everyone!

we are losing the foraging shade now into the afternoon, so they’re back in the run… hopefully encouraged to stay cool under the coop while tearing into that watermelon.

my stone mason husband just set up the old turtle pool as a splash area for them (is that a status upgrade to “chicken daddy”??) which explains all the rocks. not sure what they think of it, but they each had a chance to get their feet wet and see what it was. guess we’ll find out if they use it!

great article by @aart with the sled setup! thanks @U_Stormcrow for linking to it. I’ve been to FL once in July and it was just brutal…. (in December though, awesome!)

 

[Gingersnap722]

Another Floridian here! On top of shade and frozen treats, I'll sometimes run a hose in the yard so they can walk through the puddles and get their feet wet.