First night in coop

[Lovelythymes]

Ventilation looks good. Where are you? How hot do your summers get? 78 is not that bad.

In WI. Been In the low 90s during day and 70s roughly at night. Very humid! Unfortunately

 

[K0k0shka]

In WI. Been In the low 90s during day and 70s roughly at night. Very humid! Unfortunately

We’ve had similar stretches and I wish I’d left even more ventilation space. The coop gets unbearably hot during the day, hotter than the outside temperature, and retains the heat at night, taking longer to cool down than the outside. What’s been helping in my case is that for the last hour or so before the chickens go to bed, when it has started to cool down outside but it's still hot in the coop, I lock the chickens out of it (in the run) and open the human door all the way. It sits like that for an hour and it really makes a difference to cool it down. By the time I let them back in, it’s the same as the outside temperature, and then continues cooling down throughout the night. In your case, you can try opening the access door, and also the nest box lid, anything that can open, to get some breeze going through in case it's retaining heat. If it's the same temperature as outside, though, I don't know what else you can do...

But 78 is not bad at all. Even if they're panting, if it's really just 78 then they'll be fine. Might be because they don't have enough roost space and sleep packed too close, keeping each other warm. Or maybe it's an individual thing. Are they all panting, or only some of them? Mine have two main roosts, one lower than the other, and they technically have enough room if they spread out, but they all insist on sleeping on the top roost, even if it means cramming close together and staying hot (this is a temporary situation until I cull, then they'll have enough room on top). They'd rather be hot and pant, than endure the humiliation of the bottom roost And then there's individual variance. I have this one chicken that always pants no matter what. He pants when it's 72 degrees in there. He's big, fat and fluffy though, so probably overheats more than the rest, even from the same breed. Used to stress me out, but now I just ignore him if he's eating and drinking and otherwise acting normal. We even gave him a name that's a derivative of "open mouth"

 

[Lovelythymes]

We’ve had similar stretches and I wish I’d left even more ventilation space. The coop gets unbearably hot during the day, hotter than the outside temperature, and retains the heat at night, taking longer to cool down than the outside. What’s been helping in my case is that for the last hour or so before the chickens go to bed, when it has started to cool down outside but it's still hot in the coop, I lock the chickens out of it (in the run) and open the human door all the way. It sits like that for an hour and it really makes a difference to cool it down. By the time I let them back in, it’s the same as the outside temperature, and then continues cooling down throughout the night. In your case, you can try opening the access door, and also the nest box lid, anything that can open, to get some breeze going through in case it's retaining heat. If it's the same temperature as outside, though, I don't know what else you can do...

But 78 is not bad at all. Even if they're panting, if it's really just 78 then they'll be fine. Might be because they don't have enough roost space and sleep packed too close, keeping each other warm. Or maybe it's an individual thing. Are they all panting, or only some of them? Mine have two main roosts, one lower than the other, and they technically have enough room if they spread out, but they all insist on sleeping on the top roost, even if it means cramming close together and staying hot (this is a temporary situation until I cull, then they'll have enough room on top). They'd rather be hot and pant, than endure the humiliation of the bottom roost And then there's individual variance. I have this one chicken that always pants no matter what. He pants when it's 72 degrees in there. He's big, fat and fluffy though, so probably overheats more than the rest, even from the same breed. Used to stress me out, but now I just ignore him if he's eating and drinking and otherwise acting normal. We even gave him a name that's a derivative of "open mouth"

The roost is 6 feet long. They have plenty of room. However, just like yours, all 3 huddle together on one end of the roost.

I've added a shallow pan with water for them to wade in. They dont really. But I've seen them walk through it and drink from it which I hope helps. I have some sliced watermelon in the freezer for them too. They get nervous whenever I put something new in the coop so we will see if they touch the watermelon before it melts?!

The heat here looks like it's going to stick around for awhile. We are having a hard time staying cool ourselves. No ac in this old farmhouse.

 

[K0k0shka]

The roost is 6 feet long. They have plenty of room. However, just like yours, all 3 huddle together on one end of the roost.

I've added a shallow pan with water for them to wade in. They dont really. But I've seen them walk through it and drink from it which I hope helps. I have some sliced watermelon in the freezer for them too. They get nervous whenever I put something new in the coop so we will see if they touch the watermelon before it melts?!

The heat here looks like it's going to stick around for awhile. We are having a hard time staying cool ourselves. No ac in this old farmhouse.

You can train them to try new things by using the same container. Start by giving them their favorite treats in it, and other foods they like, until they come to expect tasty stuff in there. Then every once in a while give them something new in it. They may still decide they don’t want it, but at least you’ve primed them to try, and increased the chances that they’ll eat it. I have a small metal bucket like that, for treats and kitchen scraps. The chickens come flying as soon as they see it, stuff their necks in there and start gobbling before they even see what’s in it I swear they’ll eat poop as long as it’s in that bucket If it’s a new thing they don’t particularly like, they’ll pause after the first mouthful with a look of WTF on their faces, and mild betrayal, spit it out, then dive right back in, just in case the next bite is different Eventually they realize the new food is not that bad and eat it anyway.

 

[K0k0shka]

P. S. My one panting chicken was panting again last night, at the end of the roost so body heat only on one side from the neighboring chicken. It was 65 degrees in the coop at the time. I give up.