Heat Advisory

[Jared Vera]

I am in a heat advisory and I leave my flock outside and every time I go and check them they are excessively panting and I don’t know how should help them other than giving them water and wetting their area with a hose. Anything I should also do?

 

[FeatherLace]

I am in a heat advisory and I leave my flock outside and every time I go and check them they are excessively panting and I don’t know how should help them other than giving them water and wetting their area with a hose. Anything I should also do?

Provide lots of shade for them and possibly add a fan. Something I like to do is take some pots or zip lock bags to fill with ice then put them in there for the chickens to lay on.
Another thing I've found that helps is I take plain yogurt, place it in ice trays, stuff some mealworms in there and freeze it. They start pecking at the mealworms they see inside and figure out the yogurt is cold and yummy. This cools them down and provides a treat!

 

[aart]

To help cool down the coop I have a box fan in the east window of coop, where it's shady most the day, and turn it on late afternoon...blows cooler air into coop and pushes hot air out.

To determine heat stress levels I go by activity level, if panting and wing holding seems extreme, I throw out a few treats to see if everyone is moving well.

Deep all day shade is best but....I don't have much of that.
This has worked very well to keep heat stress/stroke at bay:
I give a dose of Sav-a-Chick electrolytes/vitamins about once a week during heat waves.
It really seems to help....started this after they saved a heat stroked hen once.
Can mix up a smaller amount, just wrap the packet tight and store in a dry cool place.
Always have plain water available too.

BIG(9x14x2") chunks of ice last all day for wading, sitting, and sipping.
Much more useful to the chickens than frozen foods and treats.

Make space in your freezer!

 

[bradymars]

Feed soaked oats it will give added moisture but I agree plenty of shade and wet pens down and spray them down several times a day. I live in the desert and what I do is feed a lot of soaked fermented whole oats it makes them lean with little fat and they take the heat better