Colorado

[kmatt87]

Thinking of building a pergola structure to shade chicks. Has anyone tried this. I have some extra 2 x4s and thought of building one minus the deck.

i haven't done anything like that, but if you run into problems let me know.
hubby is an independent contractor and the majority of his projects are decks and pergolas.

 

[elbertchick]

Ask him if he thinks something like this woud work to keep them cool.since it is mainly for chickens I thought I woul just use screws and a couple corner supports. Not very high about for feet or so by about 6x6.. Thanks for the help. This heat is just sweltering, also thought of cutting down a baby pool.

 

[kmatt87]

Ask him if he thinks something like this woud work to keep them cool.since it is mainly for chickens I thought I woul just use screws and a couple corner supports. Not very high about for feet or so by about 6x6.. Thanks for the help. This heat is just sweltering, also thought of cutting down a baby pool.

i will ask him once he gets home. He spilled water on his cell phone yesterday so i have no way of getting ahold of him till he replaces it.

 

[larca83]

Ask him if he thinks something like this woud work to keep them cool.since it is mainly for chickens I thought I woul just use screws and a couple corner supports. Not very high about for feet or so by about 6x6.. Thanks for the help. This heat is just sweltering, also thought of cutting down a baby pool.

I bet it would help. We just finished building our coop about a week ago and weren't ready to construct a run yet, but with this heat we made a quick "emergency" run for my chicks. We have few trees, so no shade at my house. I put some beach towels over the top of the run to give them some shade, and it made a huge difference. Much less panting going on. So in my case, simple overhead shade like what a pergola would provide cooled them down a lot.

 

[wattsjadajoe]

Yesterday early evening (about 6:00 PM) I went out to the chicken yard and found the temps at our place had dropped to 96*. It felt quite pleasant.... I think I have lost my mind: 96* pleasant? Of course, it was 110* at 1:00 PM.....

We kept a small sprinkler on in the pens yesterday and it gave them cool water and puddles, which they enjoyed. So far so good with the chicks handling the heat. The oldest ones are 8 weeks now.

I installed the galvanized gutter in all the runs and I have the water set on a timer. I let the water trickle for 12 min every 6 hours...this allows the gutters to overflow and make a wet spot where the girls seem to be laying to keep cool. Suppose to set another record today!!! hope not!!

Joe

 

[wsmith]

The orange plastic construction fencing (the kiind that rolls up) has done wonders for the shade in our juvenile pens. Not "great" shade, but not too bad either.

 

[mynamesjenelle]

Yesterday early evening (about 6:00 PM) I went out to the chicken yard and found the temps at our place had dropped to 96*. It felt quite pleasant.... I think I have lost my mind: 96* pleasant? Of course, it was 110* at 1:00 PM.....


We kept a small sprinkler on in the pens yesterday and it gave them cool water and puddles, which they enjoyed. So far so good with the chicks handling the heat. The oldest ones are 8 weeks now.

...

Currently we have 20 Dom pullets, so I will need to get rid of 5.

...

we will need to process or otherwise get rid of 8 EE cockerels and 2 EE pullets

Dang chicken math strikes again! Immediately thinking "hmm, we could probably use one more... and I really like the EE we have so maybe another one..." Oh he would kill me!

I know what you mean about the 'cool' evening yesterday. We've been spraying down the ground under the chicken tractor to keep the girls cool and they love flopping around in the wet mud. It's adorable but not so fun to pick them up when it's time to go back to the coop at night. While we were meeting for coffee my darling man put our big patio umbrella over them as well, but it doesn't hold up to the wind very well during the day. At our house the temps finally dropped to the low 90s because we were shaded by the huge cloud of smoke. What a choce to make too - either open the windows to get some cool air overnight, or keep them closed to keep out the smokey air. Someone once told me this is the nose-pickenest state in the US which is definitely true today. Everyone at work is coughing and sneezing up a storm.

We got all the parts to put together a nipple waterer too, so I'll post those up once I get it finished. It requires a drill press and luckily my boss said I can just use the one we have here!

 

[GonzoChicken]

Hey All,,

I was speaking with my father yesterday. He has owns a feed mill/ hardware store back in rural NY, so we talk feed a lot etc.. Any way I got to talking to him about Fermented feed and whole grain feeds etc... I mentioned my mix of Corn oats, scratch and the rest of my mix and he told me I should take the corn out of the mix for the birds. Why? From his experience with Feeding corn it raises body temp in Chickens and other livestock. So if you can take the corn out of your feeding ration it may keep them a touch cooler. So maybe just use corn in the cooler months. I'm trying this today and I'll let everyone know if I see a difference in their behavior. Dads been making feed since the fifties and my grandfather before that, so it may not be gospel but if it helps it can't hurt right?

 

[wattsjadajoe]

Hey All,,

I was speaking with my father yesterday. He has owns a feed mill/ hardware store back in rural NY, so we talk feed a lot etc.. Any way I got to talking to him about Fermented feed and whole grain feeds etc... I mentioned my mix of Corn oats, scratch and the rest of my mix and he told me I should take the corn out of the mix for the birds. Why? From his experience with Feeding corn it raises body temp in Chickens and other livestock. So if you can take the corn out of your feeding ration it may keep them a touch cooler. So maybe just use corn in the cooler months. I'm trying this today and I'll let everyone know if I see a difference in their behavior. Dads been making feed since the fifties and my grandfather before that, so it may not be gospel but if it helps it can't hurt right?

Wow! Never knew!!
I don't give a lot of scratch..and the crumbles are made the way they are....but I will cut back on the scratch!!

Thanks.

Joe

 

[wsmith]

I just give them enough scratch to keep them busy throughout the day, not really as a substantial feed source.