heat exposure

[zoruagalaxy]

one of my black australorps has been keeping her beak open whenever she walks around in the sun or for too long, while the other only opens her beak sometimes. it is around the 90's and fairly windy where i am, but they have plenty of shade in their coop and many big trees and places to go under for shade, and i occasionally put ice in their water and make the grass around them cool and give them treats for summer heat. is there anything i can do to make them feel more cool? or is having their beak open normal for hot weather

 

[Eggcessive]

Open beaks, panting, holding their wings away from their bodies is normal during hot weather, to help cool themselves down. Having shade around the coop helps. I put shallow pans half full water in the shade for them to stand in to cool off when they are hot. My coop has 5 windows and an open door, plus I place a fan blowing out the window on the opposite end of the coop to pull fresh air in. If you have any hens who are overweight, they may have a harder time tolerating hot weather.

 

[Saveria]

Even my austrolorp was doing that yesterday in Vermont

The next time you get chickens you can look into one that are originally from hot climates, often white egg layers. They usually have very large combs, and that helps them to release heat from their body. Here is a list of some breeds. I would look into the ones with the biggest combs.

https://farmhouseguide.com/best-chicken-breeds-for-hot-climates/