Do chickens handle high temps well?

[Eggie and Me]

Our temps have been unusually high and we've noticed that our flock of 7 is showing signs of heat. Walking around w/their mouths open. We started putting those plastic inserts you can freeze for drinks into their water. We also give them plenty of fresh veggies and fruits, especially watermelon right from the refrigerator. We also have added large nursery cloth coverings to their yard. I see lots of ads for dog walkers, why no chicken sitters for these hot months???

 

[monicaei1]

New to chickens, but I think the breed has alot to do with it. I live in south Louisiana so we have pretty intense summers. Not an arid desert climate, but still QUITE hot and extremely humid. So when I chose which breed to start with I picked Egyptian Fayoumis. They are known to be extremely heat tolerant (i imagine egypt is pretty warm) they seem to be handling the heat and humidity very well. Anyway, just my opinion, but I would select a breed that can handle a desert climate

 

[mrstiffanymayer]

Here is my outdoor coop. This will be for night time and while my husband is away at work. When he gets home and I get home, we let them out and they free range in the back yard.

The coop is in the shade of the garage and a fig tree. During the time when direct sun hits the coop, I have a bamboo/ratan shade that rolls down for extra shade. I will also be using frozen milk jugs, watermelon treats, and an industrial fan when it gets above 110.

 

[dapperp]

Texas is on fire! My poor chickens are really struggling in the yard. I have tried cold watermelon, iced water dispenser, frozen water bottles at night in the coop and even an occasional cold hand under their wings to cool them down. My Easter egger is having a much harder time than my Andalusian. Praying for more tepid weather.

 

[Jerseycoop]

Home depot sells a mistand which hooks up to your garden hose. It sprays a very fine mist my girls sit on their roost in the run in front of it misting themselves. (they were afraid of it at first, but quickly loved it) It also cools the ground. Best $10.00 I ever spent! My fan runs in the coop and I put a frozen one gallon water jug in the coop at night as well.

 

[leadwolf1]

I have been freezing a lot of different fruits and giving them throughout the day on very hot days. They love it and it seems to instantly cool them down...they just love to drink the ice cold juices that thaw out of the fruit

I've also made frozen yogurt pops out of plain yogurt and fruit. I pop them out of the cups and the chickens love them!!!

 

[sharol]

I've been worrying about the heat for 3 weeks here in Kansas. We have had the hottest temps in 30 years -- today it was 109 near the house. My indoor/outdoor sending unit was in a tree and said 106 at 11 a.m., but when I moved it to the window of the coop, it dropped 10 degrees, so my mister and shade cloth "swamp cooler" was working at that time.

My little girls (13 weeks) are in that coop and doing ok. They are panting, but I'm giving them lots of wading water in the grass (don't ask about the water bill) and they can go out in the yard whenever they want to.

My big girls (1 year) are suffering more. The Delawares are still laying, but today I thought I might lose one of them when she went into the 106 degree coop to lay her daily egg. I took her water in a plastic cup, but she wasn't interested. The Campine and EE are doing better than the others -- they are lighter feathered. The Welsumer is molting and taking it really hard. If it doesn't break pretty soon, she may be in trouble. The GLW is sort of molting, too, and she is just keeping her belly in the water. They have access to the yard, too, and an area with a mister. This is causing all the chickens to bond pretty well, so if they all survive, they will get along ok.

The big girls' coop was 96 degrees at 9 p.m. They have a window fan and other windows, but it is still HOT in there.

I gave them some ice cubes again today and they were all sitting on them like they were trying to hatch them. I'll do that again tomorrow.

I HATE THIS HEAT.

Yes, I'm worried for my girls. I don't leave after noon so that I can keep them in ice water and sprinklers. I'm hoping this will break a little. Tomorrow is supposed to be 10 degrees cooler, but they have promised us lower temps before.

 

[dewey]

Quote:
Yes, those little misters are cheap and work great. I use several of that type sprinkled (no pun, lol) around various areas for the animals.

The coop looks really nice. My concern during the summer would be that without 100% shade it might collect too much heat on the wall during the day (even from reflective sun off the ground there) and radiate it at night like a heater (which would be great during winter). Mine have a similar set up by a wall (mine is taller) and the pen is kept totally shaded and does ok in our 110+ temps.