Georgia heat - worried

[Eggofarms]

On top of that, we have one bird who may be egg bound we are dealing with since Thursday. We may be one less bird here soon. She laid a soft egg with a membrane sac Thursday. We helped get it all the way out but she still isn't herself. We soaked her in a warm sink bath for 20 minutes and used some lubricant to her vent to go get things moving. We don't feel anything stuck but we are also not experts at this. We had this happen to another bird and she recovered after a few days.

 

[3KillerBs]

Yeah it's back in our wooded area of the backyard. It's gets morning sun but not so much the rest of the day. We put it there with more shade in mind.

Excellent.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

My coop windows allow for those cheap window fans to fit perfectly snug without the side flaps attached. Then I close the top pane on top of it to hold them in place. We don’t get a lot of heat up here, but the forced air helps on those muggy nights. The front of my coop slopes to 8ft high and all of the soffits are open on both sides too, but when the airmasses are muggy and stale it’s tough to get air movement through the coop without the fans. The girls love sitting in front of them too.

 

[springvalley123]

I've used a cheap window fan before, and used bungees to attach an HVAC filter to the intake (back) of it. That captured a lot of dust quickly! Now, I have a Ryobi bucket top misting fan that runs on a battery pack and a plug in misting fan (obviously meant to run outdoors). Either have a setting for fan only or fan plus mist. Mist would be the last thing you'd want in your climate, so hopefully you have some options if you go that route.

I second the idea of opening up the coop into the run. I had a setup once where it was a secure run and I put roosts in it. I did have to put shade cloth surrounding the roosts for the birds to feel secure roosting, but with all your trees you might not. Just check out what types of predators you have in the area and watch for digging/chewing attempts often.

Sorry to hear about your egg bound hen, I hope she recovers!

 

[Eggofarms]

Thank you everyone. I just ordered a wireless thermometer that should do the trick.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0872ZPQS...abc_S5XQ7RASP1KYRXAKF1CA?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Thankfully it's going to be cool this week so there shouldn't be to much of an issue like yesterday.

Not even sure if hen is egg bound as it's been a couple days already. I know it's a serious issue and can be deadly within 24-48 hours which I we may have passed already. She's alert and drinking but not moving much. Could be heat related as well. She is relaxing with the others in the shady bushes.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

They’ll be fine. Big layers have been kept in the deep South for as long as the breeds have been around and there’s been settlers here to keep them.

My coop in Florida has much less ventilation than yours and is even insulated (it’s a converted migrant worker bunk shed). My fat layers handle the nighttime heat fine.

Traditional Florida coops usually only have three walls and face south so that the back blocks the north wind and the open south face catches the summer breeze. The bottoms are also left open so the breeze can flow underneath and dry out the droppings that fall off the roost.

 

[Eggofarms]

They’ll be fine. Big layers have been kept in the deep South for as long as the breeds have been around and there’s been settlers here to keep them.

My coop in Florida has much less ventilation than yours and is even insulated (it’s a converted migrant worker bunk shed). My fat layers handle the nighttime heat fine.

Traditional Florida coops usually only have three walls and face south so that the back blocks the north wind and the open south face catches the summer breeze. The bottoms are also left open so the breeze can flow underneath and dry out the droppings that fall off the roost.

That makes me feel better. I'm sure you are aware just how hot and humid it gets down here. Luckily we don't have to worry about feathers as humans!

A quote I love about the weather in the deep south is by Eugene Walter: “Summer in the deep South is not only a season, a climate, it's a dimension. Floating in it, one must be either proud or submerged.”

I guess these chickens will have to learn to be proud!

 

[aart]

Attached is a picture. I'm just worried and I know heat is a lot worse than cold for chickens.

It would help to see the whole coop, in the daylight.

Good that it's in the deep shade most the day, that will help a lot.

It can get pretty hot and humid here, I've found ice blocks and EL to really help.

aart's Extreme Weather spiel

Hot Weather.... My birds are confined with no great deep shade for last half of the day so I have to be vigilant during heat waves. I do have shade cloths up on run, which helps, but still not deep shade. To help cool down the coop I have a box fan in the east window of coop, where it's shady...

• aart
• Jul 21, 2020
• 4.89 star(s) 9 ratings
• Comments: 18
• Reviews: 7
• Category: Member Pages

 

[Alaskan]

Ridge venting is good!

If the coop persistently stays warmer than the outside air you could take the siding off the inner wall completely to turn it into an Open Air coop setup -- making sure that the run is predator-hardened for safety.

Does the coop have shade during the hottest parts of the day?

If not, can you add shade? I actually have my Little Monitor Coop under a cheap picnic fly due to the lack of shade in it's current location.

X2

 

[Mamatomany123]

Our summers are brutal. We get to 120+ most days. I make sure they have deep shade,cool water throughout the day, I freeze a shallow bucket every night and put it in the run. Theyll stand on it or sip from it. Occasionally I'll throw some frozen blueberries out for them. Any girls who look like they're having an especially hard time will get some cool water under the wings. That usually foes the trick. Our garage has ac and heat for our cats and the chickens have figured this out. If I let them free range I'll eventually find them all in the garage enjoying the ac. They figured out the cat door real quick once they realized what was on the other side