I'm so worried about this heat. We've had 3 days now of 104 heat here in NC. My husband thinks we should install a ceiling fan in the coop for them. We change their water every couple of hrs and they have plenty of shade, plus giving them watermellon and snacks that are cooling, but how hot is to hot? We have 10= 4 week old babies and 5 hens. Any suggestions?
A lot depends on the hardiness of the bird. We've had the extreme temps here in mid-south TN too. I've got three fans going in the coop, of course the water thing and hose the building down several times during the worst of the heat. I also put in a couple of large Rubbermaid lids and filled them with water. It took a day but now its not unusual to find several standing in it before the hottest part of the day. When the peak heat in the afternoon hits I find my birds all hunkered down in front of the fans. The birds aren't so dumb, they know where to go to cool off. I have misters coming that attach to the front of the fans. They're calling for more 100 plus days again next week. I hope these help some.
Raleigh here. 104 yesterday, supposed to be 103 today. 103 the day before, and 10?, the day before that. Here's what I'm doing: Iced Water Gatorade in water Sliced cold grapes Plain yogurt Spraying down their run each afternoon around 5, at the hottest part of the day. They seem to be fine. You can tell they're hot because they do pant, but they still run around and jump up on roosts in the run and eat and drink, so they're handling it pretty well I'd say.