Heat related - kiddie pool question

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Fill up clean empty milk jugs and freeze them for ice. Put the ice in pans of water for them to drink. Freeze watermelon chunks and other fruits for them to eat. Make sure they have plenty of dust bathing opportunities and maybe find some wood ash for them.
Mine hang out in their dustbath spots in the shade behind big trees when it gets too hot and humid here.

 

[Ridgerunner]

As long as you dump it out daily you should not have a disease problem. The life cycle of the Cocci bug requires a couple of days to mature to where it can be a problem. Mosquito larva take longer. They will poop in it and drink it, but just clean it out daily and you should not have a problem.

The Cocci bug grows in manure in wet ground. Damp isn't too bad but wet can be. How wet will the ground be where you are dumping it? That's really my only concern. Giving them water to stand in in the shade is good in really hot weather. I pour a few buckets of water on the dirt on the run floor top get it damp so it will be cooler. They like to lay there in the shade.

 

[6of6chicks]

Deleted 7/24/2014.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think getting that sand damp is a great idea.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Right now, I just feed them lightly with all the heat. Fresh veggies and fruit....watermelon and the rinds, any cheap in season fruit ...chilled or frozen....for them to peck at. I feed mine in the early morning their crumbles......let them stay cool and give them cool fresh treats during the heat of the day. Then I feed them their fermented feed about 530 pm, when it is cooling off. They devour it right away, and then scratch and peck till they put themselves to roost at 8pm. In the 3 years I have had chickens, I haven't lost any yet to heat related issues. I don't worry about egg production when it is too hot either. They pick it back up when it cools off a little...like the cooler cloudy or rainy days.

Good luck!!

 

[sbhkma]

I like to give mine some mash with chilled aloe vera juice mixed in it for their afternoon snack. They go nuts for it and it cools them off plus giving them nutrients and fluids.