Cooling chicken coop in HOT weather?

[riftnreef]

I have a converted 8x10 garden shed for my coop, and though it's not as hot here in Ohio, 95+ is common...so my birds were having a rough go of it last month and I had to make some upgrades to the coop. Some colored sheers over the windows to ease the daytime sunshine, vents on the sides of the coop, and lastly a roof vent (easier for me with a shingled roof) and now the coop stays downright cool during the midday sun. The hens come out from time to time during the day, but mostly wait until the shade from the garage comes over the run...that being said, I've only got 7 birds in that size coop, so they don't mind being inside much. HTH

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

This was one of the threads that greatly influenced the design of my extreme heat chicken coop and run. I finally started putting the story and pictures up onto my BYC page. It's not complete, but I'll get to it soon. There were many ideas proposed in this thread that materialized in my coop. Look closely, you may see your suggestion. Thanks to everyone that made suggestions here. Warning: my BYC page is pic heavy. I'll post my own thread shortly, I just wanted to thank those that posted here first.

 

[tcates]

I put a large sweater storage box in the run filled with ice water. The hens ignored it, until I put it in the spot right in front of their feeder, so they had to climb over the water to get to their food. After a couple of times of falling in, now they seem to understand what it is for and will stand in it and splash water on their bodies during the hottest part of the day. Moved their food, and they still go to it for relief. Seems to be helping

 

[AnnainMD]

One suggestion to provide more shade is to grow a pumpkin or squash vine. We have a run that is large and quite shaded throughout the day but one portion which was added later, is essentially full sun and this does NOT work when the heat index is 110. Our pumpkin and squash vines were getting out of control and out of seeming desperation, we trained them onto the run extension, within a week there was shade for the girls because the vine was going crazy and the leaves are very large. Now their entire run is shaded.
I was actually surprised how well it worked and now they use all of the run throughout the day. It really could not have worked out any better.

I'm planting our native Passionflower vine to have shade throughout the entire spring and summer without having to wait for the pumpkin vine.

Good luck.

 

[gratzalk]

I'm new at the chicken game so I was wondering if I put a mister out there to help cool them down, will it get too sloppy/wet for them. Do they care if it's wet. For some reason I thought they didn't care for wet feet.

 

[MaggieRae]

Quote:
I have a mister on mine during the hottest part of the day. It really cools down the run and the ladies seem to like it. After a while, the run does get pretty muddy and icky, but the hens love the cool dirt and it dries up within a few hours.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

Thanks for all the great ideas. My birds and I are in humid, hot Louisiana. I just ordered a solar fan off of Amazon. The one comment was that it works. I also bought a canopy (like the kind used to tail gate at football games) that covers the coop and 1/2 of the run. My girls are in the breeziest part of the yard and are sort of under an oak tree. I am using the frozen bottles in the coop, but they melt pretty fast in our heat. I read a post of a few years ago that sounds good: said you wet a towel in a pan of water and hang the towel so that the end of it sits in the water, then put a fan on the towel, then put the birds behind the towel. I think I can do that with the solar fan and keep my sweethearts cool. My concern was when I go back to school in August, that there wouldn't be anyone willing to change out the frozen bottles, so maybe this will work until I'm home each afternoon. I love BYC. So far, everything I need to know is here. Also, you guys saved the life of my RIR.

 

[JimnBecky1011]

https://www.google.com/search?q=diy...y-air-conditioner-we-give-it-a-try%2F;407;362

 

[JimnBecky1011]

DIY cooler air condition it won't let me post link

 

[Mims]

Thanks for all of the ideas, everyone. It's going to be killer here this year, so I'm looking at all of these ideas. I appreciate everyone adding what works for them.