Coop finally ready, but too high of temperatures?

[ldirk7]

Hi all! First time chicken owner. My coop is FINALLY going to be ready for my chicks to move in on Monday. My chicks will be 6-7 weeks old (I think different ages), and are currently housed in a wire dog crate brooder in our garage. I removed the heat plate, and they have been roosting on the bars I have provided and seem plenty comfortable. Garage has been hovering around 70ish, give or take 5 degrees depending on the day. Next week, the day I planned to put them in the coop, the high temperatures will hit 93, 97 the following day, and then drop to 88 deg f. Is this too drastic of an adjustment for them? Should I wait until the temps drop a little, or do you think they will be ok? Coop has a ton of ventilation, and a covered run with plenty of shade. I could also do the frozen milk jugs thing to help them, but I am just worried they will not really understand that and stay huddled in the coop since its a new thing for them. I just worry about such a drastic change in temp for young-ish chicks. Thanks in advance!

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I would put a thermometer in the and see how warm it actually is in the coop. But it sounds like you have a good set up! You can try keeping them cool by freezing their feed in a block and putting ice in their waterers. That said I would probably wait until it drops back to 88F to put them out. Especially if you can’t check on them constantly. My adult chickens start showing signs of a stress at around 90F

 

[ldirk7]

I would put a thermometer in the and see how warm it actually is in the coop. But it sounds like you have a good set up! You can try keeping them cool by freezing their feed in a block and putting ice in their waterers. That said I would probably wait until it drops back to 88F to put them out. Especially if you can’t check on them constantly. My adult chickens start showing signs of a stress at around 90F

Thank you for you response, waiting until the really hot streak passes is also my instinct so I think I will do that. I just ordered a wifi thermometer/hygrometer, so I'll get that in the coop to better know what temp it is morning/night. Thanks!

 

[K0k0shka]

What do you mean by "plenty of ventilation"? Lots of folks think they have plenty, when in reality they've drilled a couple of holes and called it a day. With temperatures in the 90s, you need large areas open - like large windows and large vents, and ideally a screen door instead of a solid door for the human access door. And fans.

Have the chicks been out of the garage yet for any reason? Field trips outside? Hanging out in the chicken run? I would suggest easing them in to their new home gradually, instead of a sudden and total change. This will help them get acclimated to the temperature, and also to the space, so it's not too new and too sudden. Start by leaving them in the run for a few hours in the morning (with food and cold water), and then putting them back in the garage when it starts getting really hot outside. Increase the amount of time they spend in the run every day, until they spend the whole day in the run. Keep the pop door of the coop open so they can go in and out and explore. Encourage them to go in and spend time inside, so they can get to know the space - like if you spend time in the coop with them and feed them treats, etc. Keep bringing them into the garage at night for a while (even well ventilated coops get hotter than the outside temperature and retain heat into the night, cooling slower than the outside air, so the chicks will be more comfortable in the garage at night until they adjust). When they're comfortable spending all day in the run and are familiar with the coop as well, start putting them in the coop at bedtime. You'll need to put them in yourself for a few days until they learn to do it themselves. Do it before it gets too dark so they can see once they're inside and not freak out. And close the pop door until morning, so they don't wander out. Eventually, they'll figure it out.

And enjoy this unique moment of transitioning chicks into an empty coop that's all theirs! I'm doing this process right now, too, except I already have a flock in the coop, so everything is more complicated

 

[sewingkitty1170]

I agree with K0k0shka. Slowly easing them outside is probably the best thing to do.
I have five fully feathered young pullets that have had a few field trips outside, and they need to be outside full-time too. But I'm facing a similar situation with the temperature rising into the 80-90s next week!

I have a 6 month old RSL that has been having a hard time adjusting to the rising temps when it gets in the mid-80! She's been watching what my 10 year old RSL has been doing so she's learning which bushes are best to hide under during the heat of the day. I

've been giving them water with poultry specific electrolytes every other day, and increasing frozen veggies in with their feed to twice a day. When I mix the frozen veggies in with their pellets, I make sure to discard any leftovers so nothing gets moldy.

I save watermelon slices for when it gets into the 90-100s! My 10 year old LOVES watermelon! I give them just enough watermelon that they can consume in a couple of minutes. If I give too much, I just end up with a lot of ants. Once the slices get covered with ants, my older hen ignores the watermelon and I don't want her to teach my young hen to do the same thing!

When a chicken gets really overheated, I dunk them in a bucket of water as a last resort!

You might try offering them a shallow pan with just enough water to stand in so they can cool off their feet. You may have to put them into the pan so they have an idea what it's for. I saw one person give their flock a small plastic kiddie pool with shallow water, but then they added paver stones so the chickens could either step into the water, or just stand on the pavers. The chickens were in the pool and on the pavers!

 

[ldirk7]

What do you mean by "plenty of ventilation"? Lots of folks think they have plenty, when in reality they've drilled a couple of holes and called it a day. With temperatures in the 90s, you need large areas open - like large windows and large vents, and ideally a screen door instead of a solid door for the human access door. And fans.

Have the chicks been out of the garage yet for any reason? Field trips outside? Hanging out in the chicken run? I would suggest easing them in to their new home gradually, instead of a sudden and total change. This will help them get acclimated to the temperature, and also to the space, so it's not too new and too sudden. Start by leaving them in the run for a few hours in the morning (with food and cold water), and then putting them back in the garage when it starts getting really hot outside. Increase the amount of time they spend in the run every day, until they spend the whole day in the run. Keep the pop door of the coop open so they can go in and out and explore. Encourage them to go in and spend time inside, so they can get to know the space - like if you spend time in the coop with them and feed them treats, etc. Keep bringing them into the garage at night for a while (even well ventilated coops get hotter than the outside temperature and retain heat into the night, cooling slower than the outside air, so the chicks will be more comfortable in the garage at night until they adjust). When they're comfortable spending all day in the run and are familiar with the coop as well, start putting them in the coop at bedtime. You'll need to put them in yourself for a few days until they learn to do it themselves. Do it before it gets too dark so they can see once they're inside and not freak out. And close the pop door until morning, so they don't wander out. Eventually, they'll figure it out.

And enjoy this unique moment of transitioning chicks into an empty coop that's all theirs! I'm doing this process right now, too, except I already have a flock in the coop, so everything is more complicated

Thank you for such an informative response!

We have done many field trips, including some where we hung out in the under construction run, but none of them have been for a substantial amount of time (usually 20-30 min). They seem to love it so much! Makes the coop work worth it. Our run door will be attached this weekend, along with the ramp into the coop, so I will plan on using next week- 2 weeks to introduce them. Once the run door is installed and secure, I will feel better about leaving them there while I am away from the home. I work 6-2 and am away from the home during the nice cool hours and come home during the hottest part of the day. I would be able to stop home to bring them inside after a couple of hours of being out there in the morning. So, I will plan on spending next week or two slowly acclimating them, thank you!

One thing to note about my climate- is despite usually 1-2 weeks total each summer with high temps of 90+ (we usually never see that this early in the summer), we still cool down to 40s-50s in the night, sometimes into the 30s. In fact, we have a low forecasted of 36 coming up tomorrow night. Most people here do not have air conditionings at their home for this reason, so I would feel confident with my window and ventilation setup that the coop would cool down- I mean its what we do for our entire house and its a much larger space. Either way, I'm putting a thermometer/hygrometer in there tomorrow to see how the temps fluctuate! I can plan on investing in fans here if I see that it is far too hot.

I'll be curious for opinions on my ventilation situation. These are in progress photos, so please excuse that it is not complete. We are open to adding more ventilation by drilling holes and covering with hardware cloth as needed.

Door to the coop has an open air vent at the top, then the rectangle on the door will be a window that can be open or closed as needed.

The one at the top is an open air vent, the one midway down is a window that can be opened/closed as needed. Bottom hole is the hen door which will be attached this weekend.

Back of coop- this one is currently planned to be another window since it will be below the roosting bars, and we get bitchin cold during the winter.

Nesting box side, this one is intended to be a window. This is our prevailing wind so no open air vents planned on this side at this time, we have cold winters and I would think the prevailing wind draft might be rough on them.

Overall in progress coop:

 

[ldirk7]

I agree with K0k0shka. Slowly easing them outside is probably the best thing to do.
I have five fully feathered young pullets that have had a few field trips outside, and they need to be outside full-time too. But I'm facing a similar situation with the temperature rising into the 80-90s next week!

I have a 6 month old RSL that has been having a hard time adjusting to the rising temps when it gets in the mid-80! She's been watching what my 10 year old RSL has been doing so she's learning which bushes are best to hide under during the heat of the day. I

've been giving them water with poultry specific electrolytes every other day, and increasing frozen veggies in with their feed to twice a day. When I mix the frozen veggies in with their pellets, I make sure to discard any leftovers so nothing gets moldy.

I save watermelon slices for when it gets into the 90-100s! My 10 year old LOVES watermelon! I give them just enough watermelon that they can consume in a couple of minutes. If I give too much, I just end up with a lot of ants. Once the slices get covered with ants, my older hen ignores the watermelon and I don't want her to teach my young hen to do the same thing!

When a chicken gets really overheated, I dunk them in a bucket of water as a last resort!

You might try offering them a shallow pan with just enough water to stand in so they can cool off their feet. You may have to put them into the pan so they have an idea what it's for. I saw one person give their flock a small plastic kiddie pool with shallow water, but then they added paver stones so the chickens could either step into the water, or just stand on the pavers. The chickens were in the pool and on the pavers!

Thank you for the tip with the frozen veg and watermelon, I will try that out when they get hot! I still have them on electrolytes/probiotics in their water from when they were itty bitty... perhaps I was supposed to phase that out...

 

[sewingkitty1170]

Thank you for the tip with the frozen veg and watermelon, I will try that out when they get hot! I still have them on electrolytes/probiotics in their water from when they were itty bitty... perhaps I was supposed to phase that out...

If it works, maybe you could keep using it!