Heat Warning Today, 99 in the Shade

[Chellester]

I live in the Central Valley in California (northern end) and the temps you're getting are what we will normally see in the summertime.

I keep my chickens cool by spraying down their run and making little mud puddles for them. They will do the dust bath thing that they do in the mud, and it cools them down quite a bit. And of course, keep the cool fresh water coming for them to drink.

 

[6chix]

Its in the 90's here today in Ma. The girls like to drink the overflow from my drilled well. The water comes from 900ft down and reaches the surface at a nice cool 42 degrees. It drips out at around 2gal/min and forms a little stream the girls can lay in. They also are partial to laying under the burning bush in the front yard.

 

[cheapcheap_jeepjeep]

It is hot here 92 but with the heat index it is 104 so I off to give the chickens so watermelon. It has been in the fridge so it is good and cold.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Ooowee! Record-breaking temps here today! 104 degrees (and a heat index of who-knows-what --- off the charts by what it felt/feels like).
Actually, it feels more pleasant than this time yesterday when the temps were a couple of degrees cooler. Yesterday we had a 3:00-ish rain and afterward, the ground was literally steaming. That was still miserable after dark when I was out closing all the houses. Lol, I did have some birds that thought roosting outside was preferable to roosting in the coop (sorry kids, back in the coop --- it's not safe outside at night).
Mostly, the birds here are used to heat and humidity

Lots of fresh water and shady places to hang out, and they are hot, but happy.
It's summertime in the South...

Lisa

 

[DixieByrdRN]

I in West Tennessee where hell is cooler.
Wednesday
Highs around 100. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
Heat index readings as high as 104 to 109 in the afternoon.
Heat index readings as high as 102 to 107 in the evening.

Thursday
Highs around 101. Southwest winds around 5 mph.

Friday through Saturday
Highs around 101.

That being said, my girls are fairing very well. I haven't done anything other than refreshing their water a few extra times during the day. They spend most of there time roosting or digging / laying in the dirt. It seems they do better if I don't do anything.. like they acclimate theirselves to the heat.

 

[jjthink]

When it's this hot (100+ heat indexes) and stuffier yet in the coop, do you think it's okay to point a fan right at the chickens when they go to bed and especially if open mouth breathing? Seems when I aim the fan in another direction to try to create airflow, it accomplishes NOTHING. The air near them does not seem to move at all. The next couple of days promise to be just as grizzly and then a short "break" (high 80's) and then right back at it. I just don't know how those of you south of here manage! My feathered friends are not happy

Hope none of you lose any....

 

[pharr389]

it's about a million degrees here in south georgia too!!

 

[rachel]

Try not to worry too much about your chickens, here in Phoenix, it's been "cool" with highs in the upper 90's/low 100's this week. We regularly get temps above 110 in the shade and the chickens do just fine. I'm sure mine are more adjusted as they don't even start panting until it gets to be close to 100, but still, I think with plenty of water and maybe a couple of frozen water bottles in the coop, yours will be fine.

 

[cheepchicks]

Hot here in Southern Indiana as well. My birds seem ok...Jasmine is the least able to tolerate the heat and so far she has done no more than pant.

Kim

 

[Yonaton]

Here in Huntingdon, it was 103 in the shade at 3PM. Around dinner time I got a packet of the dry electrolytes (has all kinds of vitamins and minerals too!) to mix in their water. By 7PM they were not pooping anywhere near as runny as they were with plain water (my theory being they were so hot and drinking so much water it was just running their food through them too quickly). They were still panting, but not as hard or as heavily as they were yesterday, so at least I'm seeing some good from the stuff.