Good tips that you use to keep chickens cool in the summer when it is 100°

[Sylvester017]

Can you vent your nestboxes so that heat can't build up and it's no hotter inside the nests than anywhere else?

Our nestbox lid is always propped open with a wood block during daylight hours PLUS we change out the solid winter floor tray for a ventilated wire-bottom floor during summer PLUS we special-built a patio roof over the coop for added shade and protection from heavy rains PLUS the girls are free-ranged in the backyard to pick and choose their favorite hangouts. -- shady trees, garden sprinkler, dog houses, canopies, roofed patios, shaded/canopied sand-bath, etc.

We even made make-shift benches for the hens to hide under for shade along the walkway and along the backyard block wall.

 

[Justwingingit92]

I’ve made corn ice cubes using the large cube trays. My girls love pecking at it not only for the corn but the ice chips as well.

 

[luckycluk]

I made ice cubes out of their wet mash. I spray dirt in run so they can dig down to it, mine won't do wading pool but they'll do MUD! I've heard of folks putting frozen water bottles in run for them to lay on.

I freeze 24 oz bottles and put 3in each 5 gal bucket waterer and I throw out a few frozen 2ltr bottles of water and replace them in the mid afternoon, they take turns laying up against them. I wash them off when time to go in the reserved part of deep freeze for them. I give watermelon, cold wet kale.

I made ice cubes out of their wet mash. I spray dirt in run so they can dig down to it, mine won't do wading pool but they'll do MUD! I've heard of folks putting frozen water bottles in run for them to lay on.

 

[Granny23]

View attachment 3145506View attachment 3145507

What is Red Cell??

 

[3KillerBs]

The problem here is probably that your coop has only the most minimal amount of top-level ventilation to allow heat to escape.

If I'm seeing your photos correctly, the coop itself is under a roof and thus can't be rained on. Thus I recommend that you replace those little louvered vents by removing the panel from the entire gable and putting in hardware cloth.

A well-ventilated coop is the same temperature inside as outside.

 

[Shadrach]

The best tip for keeping chickens cool in high temperatures is understanding a few basics about chickens.
Chickens don't have sweat glands. We (humans) can drink cool or hot drinks (most hot countries drink hot drinks rather than cold) and the additions of extra water in out systems allows us to sweat and in sweating heat is removed from our bodies along with the water. It has absolutley nothing to do with the temperature of the water you drink. It just feels nicer.
You can pour water into a chicken all day long and it won't help keep them cool because they don't sweat.
I'm quite sure the chickens appreciate the water melon, maybe even the ice cubes if they help with contact heat transfer (heat will always move to a colder sink) but as an overall strategy for keeping chickens cool it doesn't work very well.
Chickens are essentially jungle creatures. Jungles tend to be hot and humid; an average temperature of 90 F is common with peaks well over 100 F.

The larger the difference between a chickens core temperature and it's surrounding ambient temperature dictates the rate at which a chicken, or any creature or object for that matter transfers heat from itself to the environment. The bigger the temperature difference, the faster the flow of heat from hot to cold.

Keeping cool is about the rate at which one can transfer heat. If for example there is only two degrees difference between the ambient temperature and the hot body trying to keep cool, the hot body still stays hot, just not quite as hot as it was with no heat transfer.
To keep properly cool the heat transfer rate needs to be high and in this case constant.

Misting systems work, not because they use water, but because they lower the ambient temperature.

One of natures ways of lowering the ambient temperature is shade.
This is how to keep chickens cool. Provide high quality shade preferably with good air flow.

 

[TXKukupantsKoop]

Oh well, here goes...
The best tip for keeping chickens cool in high temperatures is understanding a few basics about chickens.
Chickens don't have sweat glands. We (humans) can drink cool or hot drinks (most hot countries drink hot drinks rather than cold) and the additions of extra water in out systems allows us to sweat and in sweating heat is removed from our bodies along with the water. It has absolutley nothing to do with the temperature of the water you drink. It just feels nicer.
You can pour water into a chicken all day long and it won't help keep them cool because they don't sweat.
I'm quite sure the chickens appreciate the water melon, maybe even the ice cubes if they help with contact heat transfer (heat will always move to a colder sink) but as an overall strategy for keeping chickens cool it doesn't work very well.
Chickens are essentially jungle creatures. Jungles tend to be hot and humid; an average temperature of 90 F is common with peaks well over 100 F.

The larger the difference between a chickens core temperature and it's surrounding ambient temperature dictates the rate at which a chicken, or any creature or object for that matter transfers heat from itself to the environment. The bigger the temperature difference, the faster the flow of heat from hot to cold.

Keeping cool is about the rate at which one can transfer heat. If for example there is only two degrees difference between the ambient temperature and the hot body trying to keep cool, the hot body still stays hot, just not quite as hot as it was with no heat transfer.
To keep properly cool the heat transfer rate needs to be high and in this case constant.

Misting systems work, not because they use water, but because they lower the ambient temperature.

One of natures ways of lowering the ambient temperature is shade.
This is how to keep chickens cool. Provide high quality shade preferably with good air flow.

I can appreciate your scientific response. I'm guessing many of us are new to this and only want our flocks to thrive and be comfortable and we don't live in the jungle. I think your intro of "oh well, here goes" was telling us that you're tired of ppl that don't have your knowledge. That being said, when they stand in tubs of water, lay up against jugs of frozen water, that isn't helpful? Mine have almost 100% shade all day.

 

[Shadrach]

I can appreciate your scientific response. I'm guessing many of us are new to this and only want our flocks to thrive and be comfortable and we don't live in the jungle. I think your intro of "oh well, here goes" was telling us that you're tired of ppl that don't have your knowledge. That being said, when they stand in tubs of water, lay up against jugs of frozen water, that isn't helpful? Mine have almost 100% shade all day.

Yup, fair comment. The first bit wasn't necessary. I've removed it.

Yes, direct contact with a cold body works for as long as one can keep that cold body at a temperature below that of the chicken in this case.
The problem in my view is maintaining a cold sink usually requires work/energy to be expended. Ice has to be frozen. That these days is quite expensive given energy costs. Sprinkler systems need electricity usually although there are some gravity fed systems.

My apolgies for the bad intro.

 

[Zuckerbird]

The best tip for keeping chickens cool in high temperatures is understanding a few basics about chickens.
Chickens don't have sweat glands. We (humans) can drink cool or hot drinks (most hot countries drink hot drinks rather than cold) and the additions of extra water in out systems allows us to sweat and in sweating heat is removed from our bodies along with the water. It has absolutley nothing to do with the temperature of the water you drink. It just feels nicer.
You can pour water into a chicken all day long and it won't help keep them cool because they don't sweat.
I'm quite sure the chickens appreciate the water melon, maybe even the ice cubes if they help with contact heat transfer (heat will always move to a colder sink) but as an overall strategy for keeping chickens cool it doesn't work very well.
Chickens are essentially jungle creatures. Jungles tend to be hot and humid; an average temperature of 90 F is common with peaks well over 100 F.

The larger the difference between a chickens core temperature and it's surrounding ambient temperature dictates the rate at which a chicken, or any creature or object for that matter transfers heat from itself to the environment. The bigger the temperature difference, the faster the flow of heat from hot to cold.

Keeping cool is about the rate at which one can transfer heat. If for example there is only two degrees difference between the ambient temperature and the hot body trying to keep cool, the hot body still stays hot, just not quite as hot as it was with no heat transfer.
To keep properly cool the heat transfer rate needs to be high and in this case constant.

Misting systems work, not because they use water, but because they lower the ambient temperature.

One of natures ways of lowering the ambient temperature is shade.
This is how to keep chickens cool. Provide high quality shade preferably with good air flow.

Can a domestic chicken handle the same environment as their ancestors? Could it be like comparing a wolf to a Chihuahua? The breeds I have seem so much better adapted to cold temperatures. I wonder if some of their heat tolerance abilities have been bred out.

Not all though- I see their jungle instincts whenever I watch them slink into the forest. They definitely know where to find the cooler spots.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Yes, some of the breeds have been bred for greater cold tolerance at the expense of heat tolerance. Quite obviously. Others have not, or have to much lesser degree. We humans have spent thousands of years with our thumb on the scale, influencing our livestock's suitability for increasingly extreme climates, and our livestock reflects those choices.

As consequence, we must sometimes take steps to aid in mitigating the effects of the adaptions we have selected in them. Things like the shelters we build for them, the feed we provide them, etc...