Do chickens handle high temps well?

[mrstiffanymayer]

I live in a desert climate - dry, sun 260+ days a year and very high temps in the summer (100degF and up - highest I have seen lately is 114 the other day).

Are there any precautions I should take for my chickens? Right now I keep them in the garage during the day with the AC on while I am working on their run and coop.

After reading a few posts, I think I am going to need an open coop. It never snows here and typically never drops below freezing (32degF) in the winter.

 

[popcornpuppy]

What type of chickens do you have? I know that some breeds do better in extreme climates, (heat and cold) such as the heavy breeds; RIR, Plymouth Rocks, etc.
With temps around 114, I can imagine that they like the air conditioning though.
Like any animal, over heating is always a concern. Just make sure they have shade to cool off in and plenty of cool clean water.

 

[needafarm]

I'm new to chickens too. And also live where we don't have to worry about freezing temps, we are lucky if we get a handful of days a year where it actually rains. Today it was supposed to be 111. I'm building my coop an plan on having a good portion of each wall open (with wire) I am also going to have the coop and some of the run in a generally shady area especially during the time of day when its really hot. Lots and Lots of ventilation is what I have read. Hope this helps some.

 

[Judy]

They are actually in danger of death from heat stroke at temps over 100. There have been several reports of this on here. Shade and lots of air movement are necessities. People do all sorts of things to cool them -- shallow wading pools of cool water for them to stand in, frozen milk jugs for them to stand on or near, changing drinking water or putting ice in it so it does not get too hot, misters. In the desert, a swamp cooler is an inexpensive and good way to lower the temp in the coop a bit -- basically, a fan blowing air through a frame filled with a wet material such as straw.

It rarely gets to 100 where I am, and then only for a few hours, but on hot sunny days I hose the coop down, and I have a fan running 24/7 this time of year. I also change drinking water in the heat of the day.

Do a few searches and you will see lots of ideas.

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

There is also a great thread on hot weather chicken coups with some interesting designs. My six heavy black australorps are hanging in there in the 115 phoenix weather. They have shade and free run of the yard. I also have a mister that runs over a burlap covered area for them to have a swamp cooler effect in mid day. (they park there in mid-day too)I read on another site that it takes some time for them to adjust to the hot temps. Mine drop egg production for 2-3 weeks when the temp jumps up. I'd be careful about moving them directly from a/c to dealing the heat. You might want to do a bit of an adjustment time or something. (Just my thoughts, no expertise claimed.)

 

[patandchickens]

What ddawn said. Chickens don't do heat nearly as well as they do cold. Less-feathered and smaller-bodied breeds handle heat better than big and/or fluffy ones, but any of 'em once you get to like 95 F or higher it's a problem. (meaning the temperature *where the chickens are*, not generalized air temperature) And every summer a bunch of BYCers lose some chickens to the heat, although in some cases it's probably chickens who had some other problem as well and the heat just made it 'too much'.

So, yeah, lots of air movement, as big an area of deep shade as you can manage (large areas of shade are much cooler than itty bitty spots of shade), access to cool dirt to burrow down into if your ground is cool below the surface (and if it's not, you can dampen it), fans, swamp cooler in a dry climate, frozen jugs of water.

Definitely acclimatize them gradually if they are used to A/C -- you might want to dial back the machine to get them used to temps in the 80's and up, and then hopefully pick a cool coupla days to move them outdoors.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[undermywings]

All above posts are good ideas. They don't handle over 100 very well. I live in desert too. One affect is egg production. Usually stops in high heat.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i've read that chickens can handle the cold easier than they can the heat. Although it doesn't get too cold here, it does get hot. i'm in the Sacramento Valley in California. All our pens are under the shade of trees. When we hit the high double digits i am running fans, misters, and a portable swamp cooler. At triple digits i will bring inside the ones that really seem to be suffering. i've read many accounts on here of chickens dying of heat stroke.

Good suggestions in this thread - change water frequently, adding ice cubes to keep it cool; put frozen water bottles in the pen for them to snug up to or stand on; hose down the dirt in their pens so they can take a cooling dirt bath; feed watermelon or cold greens. When their beaks hanging open, they're suffering.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. I put ice chunks in their water. I use an under the bed shallow storage box for their wading pool. I wet the ground and sometimes put a sprinkler on. I make sure they have plenty of water and put some vitamins with electrolytes in their water. I figure with the heat it wouldn't hurt. My DH mentioned that they were looking good. A while back their combs ans wattles looked pinkish before I started giving them the vitamins with electrolytes. Now they are back to red.

 

[Judy]

Oops, forgot the link to hot weather coops:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=163417