Do chickens pant?

[Mommysongbird]

Just now finding this thread

We just finished our coop the other day and our babies have spent 2 nights in there, but I noticed yesterday when we put them in the coop a little early (we were going to the drive-in and knew we wouldn't be back until probably around midnight) that their coop was on the warm side. I am wondering if as the summer progresses, is the coop going to be too warm??? We don't have electric in there so I can't put a fan or anything in. What else can we do to cool the coop down? There are no trees around it, just large bushes, but they don't cover it.

 

[crossgirl]

Solar fan!

 

[LizD360]

I recently added reed fencing ($16 at Lowes) to the West side othe run and it has made a big difference. All you need are zip ties and it's up in 15 minutes!

 

[earnhardtlvr]

We do have electric in our coop and were thinking about putting a ceiling fan in there. We saw one at walmart for like $15. Would that b ok to help circulate the air in the coop? There r 3 windows mfor cross draft and a screen in the outside door also. Plus there r 2 low vents and 1-2 upper vents. But the temps r in the high 80's and low 90's with high humidity.

 

[Chickeninthemeadow]

I'd go with a box fan over an open cieling fan. I'd be afraid a blade would hit the birds. I plan to put one of these around our coop if our local TSC carries them.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/lawn-g...n-breaze-evaporative-mist-cooling-kit-3191973

 

[kburen]

We noticed it today with out chickens....It's in the high 90s. We've been able to put a piece of plywood up to make them a shady hidey-hole area in the run, but they still prefer to go back in the coop where it's SUPER hot. We've left the pop door open and opened up the top of the nestbox to let a little more air in, but nothing seems to be circulating...My husband picked up a cheap bathroom vent/fan thing today at home depot....but the problem is we can't figure out a way to install it so that they will benefit from it. Will freeze some water bottles tonight and put them in the coop in the morning before I head out to work...See if that helps any. Will also pick up some fruit on my way home from work and see if they like it or not.

 

[Wildflower_VA]

Quote:
My chickens won't go near the frozen water bottles. They avoid them like the plague. I left them out and all the water had melted.

If you put them around perimeters or in strategic locations inside the coop, they will still serve to lower the surrounding temperature a little even if the chickens don't use them directly. We often put ice packs on top of our rabbit cages so cold air falls into the cage to cool rabbits that won't lean against the bottles, for example. You can hang cool water bottles in strategic locations to cool the air under them. If you use a slip knot around the neck of the bottle, you can simply loosen the slip and trade the bottle out with a frozen one after it thaws.

Keep in mind that thawing water bottles will drip as they condensate, so you might not want to hang these in sleeping areas.

Also, if you use a one gallon or larger hanging waterer, you can put an entire frozen water bottle inside the tank to keep the water cool for a long period of time. We keep lots of water bottles frozen in our freezer and rotate them once or twice a day depending on the temps.

Excellent ideas. I bought a new 3-gallon waterer yesterday, but by noon today the water was hot sitting in the shade. Off to freeze some water bottles.

 

[lowry075]

What about a mister? Home Depot sells the ones like look like cobras and you hook your hose up to them and they provide a gentle mist. I haven't used one myself but have considered buying one.

 

[earnhardtlvr]

Quote:
I saw those this weekend and was thinking about getting one for myself! I'd b interested to know the answer to that. We could definately put one of those out for the chickies if that would b ok and not make them sick????

 

[Dunkopf]

We just shave our chickens when it gets hot. They seem a little embarrassed and the turkeys laugh at them, but I think they are more comfortable. You do have to put sun screen on them to prevent sun burn.