cooling off your chickens

[christina owens]

I think my chicks are still too young to appreciate real food. they do not touch anything I try to offer them. They don't have a clue what to do with it all. I mean what chicken doesn't like lettuce, peas, berries, corn?

My young ones never like real food either. They do when they get older!

 

[City Farmer Jim]

I'm going to build my own. I will use 20 feet of 1/2" schedule 40 PVC with nozzles 18" apart on the east(shadiest side) side of the coop. I purchased the drill and tap plus 32 nozzles for an AC project but there are plenty left to do the "chicken misters" ...REALLY wish I had thought of that...its an awesome idea and the reason I love this site SO MUCH.

 

[cjsl]

Mine are all about treats, so not sure if this will help yours until they decide they want to try them. I give them bags of the frozen cut up veges (any mix really, like peas carrots corn etc...)and if we have any fresh fruits/veges past their prime - i refrigerate or freeze to give them. They love grapes/berries and cucumbers... I have eight, 8-mo olds. During their free range time, they also love to dust bath along a fenced area under grape vines after they were recently watered. I’m in SE NC and it’s hot but think they enjoy the cooler recently wet sandy dirt over their sand-wood ash-peat moss created dust path container...

 

[WGHowell]

I live in middle Georgia and the heat is brutal. Then when you add in the humidity it's almost unbearable . I just make sure that my chickens have plenty of water and I leave their coops open so that anytime the want to get out of the heat they have the shelter of the coops. I noticed that when it was over 100 in the direct heat that inside the coops it was only in the 80's so it makes a big difference. if you have older chickens the younger ones will learn from them what to do in different situations. It's like follow the leader.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

We are in Corpus Christi so hello NEIGHBORS. The lengths of PVC are less than $4, the 32 nozzles were $12 I think and the drill bit and tap were like 12-14 dollars I think. The glue and cleaner will be the most expensive. The fittings are all usually less than a dollar each. I'm a diehard DIYer so lol

 

[thepick4uchicks]

I haven't tried watermelon yet. But I have corn, and they look at it like it's monster. I also heard corn is not good when it's hot, that it increases their temp? Not sure, just saying what I read somewhere.

Well I have had my chicks respond to new things this way. They are afraid of new treats or foods if I just take them in their pen and plop them down or hang them up. They won’t touch them. I have to hand feed the item to them all first. Then after they have all tried it from my hand first then they will eat it elsewhere. They are so funny. I am really their Mom in real. My daughter and husband have all fed them and watered them when I have asked them too and my daughter has been almost as much involved in their daily routine as much as I have but I always tuck them in at night so to speak and get up with them first and check on them during the night and always take care of issues and do all of the big chores as far as bedding changes, main daily feeds, introducing new foods, give them stuff from the garden such as cucumbers on a stick or string- that is better to them than an apple on a stick. They love carrot greens and prefer the greens to the actual carrots. They get the tops now and my dogs or us get the bottoms. Go figure. A bunch of those will keep them busy for a while. However, I just never anticipated how attached they really would become to me and a person. Don’t under estimate them. They are superior to your furry pets in many ways and they do bond with you. I don’t care what other people might think. There can be a group of folks in the room with my birds which I don’t allow very often and they don’t mind it too much but I can walk in the room and they immediately know my voice and become calmer and more relaxed. We had such a major change in our weather after I put them outside. Mississippi is of course hot in June but it really changed from one day to the next and didn’t quit and they weren’t adjusted well enough so I put them in our basement to be cooler but not back in the air conditioning. I didn’t want them to lose what they had gained after putting them outside for a week and a half. So....they can’t really tell if it’s day or night down there and I don’t like it for them for long but it’s so much colder. It’s like 75 to 80 instead of 95-100 during the day temp wise and 105-110 real feel. They miss having the human contact and the interaction with activities and the outside of course activity where they should be. If you raise them from babies and handle them enough I think they do think Of you as more than the treat bag if you treat them right. I guess it depends on what you want to get out of them. Not everyone wants the same things from their hens. Everyone usually wants eggs sure. Most people need the eggs or they wouldn’t get the chickens for laying them unless they are raising broilers. If so then they usually don’t talk too much about them. I am not able to work anymore. If I was I wouldn’t be able to have chickens. I can’t chase them but if they are in a proper enclosure I can take the proper care of them well enough. I can put a stool or chair in their run and visit all I want and I intend to do a great deal of that when it’s completed next week. I can’t wait. Can y’all tell? I am laying on my bed now with my spinal cord stimulator on 50% - almost wide open sending my legs up in the air under their own power not mine- and I am just having a good ole time thinking of things to put in our coop’s first aid kit, and trying to make a mental list of everything else I need to have in the coop and run before I turn them loose for the first time. They have not even seen grass yet and that is because we have hawks, owls, dogs all around-not ours, coons,foxes,snakes,possums,skunk, the neighbor has free ranging chickens with a rooster and we don’t want chicks. And oh yes we cannot forget all of the stray and claimed when convenient and unclaimed with collars on - neighborhood cats-, and the abundance of coyotes. I have a chain link fence all around my back yard and six food wood fence where it is not chain link. They came directly to the gate and tried to get in by knocking it open. I never have dog food outside so there was no attractant there and luckily that night they didn’t jump my fence because they could have and my little dogs were out. Mine was sitting on my lap up on our screened in porch up above them real high thank goodness and I was looking down on them. So predators out the ting yang and way more than we can manage without a safe place to manage them either during the day or night safely so we just had to wait on the construction on the coop to be finito. Well I have rambled on for days and nights too. Y’all I wish you all good luck with your gals and guys too if that happens to you too!!
Take care,
Pam

 

[Karalyn]

Ahh, neighbors, almost! I just bought the lil mist'er's on Ebay but don't have the tubing and accessories. Think I'll run to Boerne today and check those kits out. Thanks for the info!

Of course. I love the Hill Country. Especially

 

[jspeese]

We are near Augusta GA and we certainly have hot summers. Fortunately we have trees around where I have my coop and run for shade in the summer and when they shed their leaves in the fall, they let some sunlight in. I think you're doing the right thing by providing them with plenty of fresh drinking water and using a tarp to create shade. Leghorns sound like a good choice for our area because they are Mediterranean and heat-tolerate. But I have New Hampshire Reds and Delawares because my wife prefers brown-shelled eggs LOL!

 

[sayccrn]

Here in TX it gets quite hot. I have an 8’x8’ area of the run that is covered and allows for shade, there is also a mesquite tree and an old coop that they huddle under for shade inside their run (a 40’x40’ fenced in area). But the coolest addition is the pvc misting system my husband installed. It’s mounted about 7’ up, around the shaded area and is on a timer so everyday it turns on and gives them 4 hours of cooling mist during the hottest hours of the day. The chickens love it.

Oh wow! I know I can't do that here. I just wish my baby trees would hurry up and grow up for shade for them! lol

 

[sayccrn]

Well I have had my chicks respond to new things this way. They are afraid of new treats or foods if I just take them in their pen and plop them down or hang them up. They won’t touch them. I have to hand feed the item to them all first. Then after they have all tried it from my hand first then they will eat it elsewhere. They are so funny. I am really their Mom in real. My daughter and husband have all fed them and watered them when I have asked them too and my daughter has been almost as much involved in their daily routine as much as I have but I always tuck them in at night so to speak and get up with them first and check on them during the night and always take care of issues and do all of the big chores as far as bedding changes, main daily feeds, introducing new foods, give them stuff from the garden such as cucumbers on a stick or string- that is better to them than an apple on a stick. They love carrot greens and prefer the greens to the actual carrots. They get the tops now and my dogs or us get the bottoms. Go figure. A bunch of those will keep them busy for a while. However, I just never anticipated how attached they really would become to me and a person. Don’t under estimate them. They are superior to your furry pets in many ways and they do bond with you. I don’t care what other people might think. There can be a group of folks in the room with my birds which I don’t allow very often and they don’t mind it too much but I can walk in the room and they immediately know my voice and become calmer and more relaxed. We had such a major change in our weather after I put them outside. Mississippi is of course hot in June but it really changed from one day to the next and didn’t quit and they weren’t adjusted well enough so I put them in our basement to be cooler but not back in the air conditioning. I didn’t want them to lose what they had gained after putting them outside for a week and a half. So....they can’t really tell if it’s day or night down there and I don’t like it for them for long but it’s so much colder. It’s like 75 to 80 instead of 95-100 during the day temp wise and 105-110 real feel. They miss having the human contact and the interaction with activities and the outside of course activity where they should be. If you raise them from babies and handle them enough I think they do think Of you as more than the treat bag if you treat them right. I guess it depends on what you want to get out of them. Not everyone wants the same things from their hens. Everyone usually wants eggs sure. Most people need the eggs or they wouldn’t get the chickens for laying them unless they are raising broilers. If so then they usually don’t talk too much about them. I am not able to work anymore. If I was I wouldn’t be able to have chickens. I can’t chase them but if they are in a proper enclosure I can take the proper care of them well enough. I can put a stool or chair in their run and visit all I want and I intend to do a great deal of that when it’s completed next week. I can’t wait. Can y’all tell? I am laying on my bed now with my spinal cord stimulator on 50% - almost wide open sending my legs up in the air under their own power not mine- and I am just having a good ole time thinking of things to put in our coop’s first aid kit, and trying to make a mental list of everything else I need to have in the coop and run before I turn them loose for the first time. They have not even seen grass yet and that is because we have hawks, owls, dogs all around-not ours, coons,foxes,snakes,possums,skunk, the neighbor has free ranging chickens with a rooster and we don’t want chicks. And oh yes we cannot forget all of the stray and claimed when convenient and unclaimed with collars on - neighborhood cats-, and the abundance of coyotes. I have a chain link fence all around my back yard and six food wood fence where it is not chain link. They came directly to the gate and tried to get in by knocking it open. I never have dog food outside so there was no attractant there and luckily that night they didn’t jump my fence because they could have and my little dogs were out. Mine was sitting on my lap up on our screened in porch up above them real high thank goodness and I was looking down on them. So predators out the ting yang and way more than we can manage without a safe place to manage them either during the day or night safely so we just had to wait on the construction on the coop to be finito. Well I have rambled on for days and nights too. Y’all I wish you all good luck with your gals and guys too if that happens to you too!!
Take care,
Pam

Thank you so much. I understand. It will take getting used to I am sure. But I think they are adapting well. they do come to me when they hear my voice and I know it's not for the food, as they don't like people food yet. But they have stopped taking from my hand, and would rather wait til i drop it til they come over and see if it's ok to eat. lol