It's been hot here, and I mean Chicken-coop-smells-like-rotisserie HOT, and between shade, cool water, and a misting hose on the run, our chickens still weren't keeping cool enough. I mulled it over a bit, and yesterday, built this:
I'm calling it a cooling box--I don't know if there's an official term for it or not, because I came up with it on my own. Basically I built a chamber with cement blocks and used a pallet full of leaves for a roof. Added a little water, and voila! Instant air conditioning. The water soaks into the wood, leaves, and blocks, and as it evaporates, the inside of the chamber cools. As you can see, it's very popular with my hens. I'm working on another in a different part of the run so I'm not soaking the same area ever day--my father pointed out that that can lead to disease, so we don't want that! I made it out of scraps we had lying around the yard, and a little extra chicken wire keeps the chickens from kicking all of the leaves off of the roof. (And believe me, they want to!)
I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this, or if this might be a good option for those struggling to keep their chickens cool enough in the hot weather. Any chicken veterans out there, feel free to lend me your opinions--I'm still rather new to chicken ownership.
I would estimate that it's about 15 to 20 degrees F cooler inside the chamber than out, depending on the breeze and how sunny it is.
The "breezeway" is a popular location for chickens who want to sit near the misting water without actually getting sprayed by the hose directly. In a future design, I plan on adding more breezeway space since there's so much competition for it.
The breezeway has the added bonus of being an additional source of fresh water for the hot chickens. They love sipping the drips coming off of the roof.
Oh, what's this?
Don't mind if I do!
Ahhh, that's better.
I'm calling it a cooling box--I don't know if there's an official term for it or not, because I came up with it on my own. Basically I built a chamber with cement blocks and used a pallet full of leaves for a roof. Added a little water, and voila! Instant air conditioning. The water soaks into the wood, leaves, and blocks, and as it evaporates, the inside of the chamber cools. As you can see, it's very popular with my hens. I'm working on another in a different part of the run so I'm not soaking the same area ever day--my father pointed out that that can lead to disease, so we don't want that! I made it out of scraps we had lying around the yard, and a little extra chicken wire keeps the chickens from kicking all of the leaves off of the roof. (And believe me, they want to!)
I was just wondering if anyone else has tried this, or if this might be a good option for those struggling to keep their chickens cool enough in the hot weather. Any chicken veterans out there, feel free to lend me your opinions--I'm still rather new to chicken ownership.
I would estimate that it's about 15 to 20 degrees F cooler inside the chamber than out, depending on the breeze and how sunny it is.
The "breezeway" is a popular location for chickens who want to sit near the misting water without actually getting sprayed by the hose directly. In a future design, I plan on adding more breezeway space since there's so much competition for it.
The breezeway has the added bonus of being an additional source of fresh water for the hot chickens. They love sipping the drips coming off of the roof.
Oh, what's this?
Don't mind if I do!
Ahhh, that's better.
Last edited:
