Do my chickens needs a small "dipping" pool during these HOT summer months??

[ChelseysChicken]

Just wondering.

Its awfully hot here in Texas

 

[aldarita]

Hi there! I am also in Texas and yeah it is awfully hot

I bought some hard plastic containers at the tractor supply store that are used to feed animals and I put water on them and place them in different locations along the run (three of them), I have 9 hens that are panting with this heat but they go into these containers hop in and cool their feet. Also I discovered yesterday when I changed the water in their bigger waterer when I spilled some and they started laying on the wet sand so today I poured some water on the sand for them to cool off.
Good luck with your chickens, this is always a worry for me, hopefully we will go thru summer and everything will be all right. I read in BYC that the trick is shade and ventilation.

 

[Kasey]

I'm in Texas as well and have a little kiddie pool in the coop with a little (like a half and inch) of water in it and I don't think they use it yet. I have found that if I spray down the coop a couple times a day they really like it. I also spray the grass they walk through a lot. Despite the heat and panting they still chase grass hoppers like crazy!

Another thing I've done it but a box fan out in the coop and put out some frozen water bottles. They love the fan and like to peck the frost off the bottles but they haven't really figured those out yet either.