extreme heat please help!

[tiawieclaw]

I live in washington and it is currently 108 degrees. I have 8 hens 4 are larger than the others and they are all having a hard time. they are panting and lifting their wings. I have tried frozen fruit and corn and there’s small cold water bowls all around their run. I also froze fruit in an ice block and their run is in the shade. At this point i have no idea what else i could do to help they seem very hot does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[my gang eats grass]

It's normal for them to pant and lift their wings, that is how they cool down. Just make sure they have plenty of water and shade and they should be ok.

 

[springvalley123]

well, there's this expert advice:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

here's for my advice from Arizona:
some people hate misters, but if it's truly a "dry heat" they're the lesser of two evils. the Orbitz, $17 portable, 1/4 inch line with 6 nozzles and clips to install is great because the water is higher up (assuming you hang it from the coop/run roof).
Fill some 2-liter soda bottles half full with water and freeze. put them in the run and the birds sit next to them.
Have a hose on a drizzle in the shade to make the shady spot a bit cooler.
Have a fan blowing so they have a breeze (i'm assuming your chinook winds are fairly low right now)
put some trays of ice, or trays of clay bricks filled half way with water.

 

[HennyPenny44]

I can’t even fathom what 108 feels like but I can feel your chickens’ pain. Yesterday, we hit 95 and my Easter Egger was panting like a dog. We’re expecting 98 tomorrow.

I second the bricks in a pan of cool water. Not all chickens will want to stand on them but I made my chickens stand on them yesterday anyway to cool them down. Also I second the fans in the run. They hang out in front of them all day. I place one blowing into the big butterfly bush in their run and they love it there as they bury themselves in the cool earth. I also put tarps and shade cloth over the run to create more deep shade, pour water in the shady area to cool the ground and crank up the fans to high. I move a fan into the coop at night and add frozen water bottles in there. Electrolytes in the water too and then add ice throughout the day. Cold plain yogurt is a favorite of theirs for hot days.

I plan to bathe my Easter Egger today to cool her and to clean her poopy butt. She always suffers more in the heat even compared to my heavy dual purpose birds. Any chicken that seems to be suffering will get the same treatment.