Heat wave! Help!

[AZ chickens]

I use a fan during heat waves, all good ideas.

 

[HollowOfWisps]

This can be broken down a little farther to corn products specifically. Don't feed corn in the summer.cirn heats them up due to the work rhe gizzard needs to do to break it down. On the flip side corn is a good warmer in the winter for the same reasons

Digestion in general is a process that creates heat regardless of what they are eating. Yes corn does help increase the internal body temperature because it is a carbohydrate and starch, but the digestion process will still slow when a chicken is overheated regardless if they are eating corn or not. It is the same for any animal including humans when they start to overheat.

 

[bjdewell]

Mine did great in our extended heat wave (lower than normal humidity-30 t0 40%). 100-110 they hung out in shade, fresh water daily, watered run down, hung hose at top of run with gentle spray, I would notice immediate cool down of area, it cooled the air around run also.
Now, 80-mid 90's, high humidity (80 to 95%), they're struggling, panting, wings out.

from august 30th (tomorrow) to September 4th there is suppose to be a huge heat wave where I live. It is suppose to get to 108 degrees (Fahrenheit) which is concerning for my chickens. They have adequate shade but I’m still very concerned. Any recommendations?

I have four Black Australorps who are now 6 months old, and we live in the high desert of NM. We have had a very hot summer, up to 115 one day. We do have low humidity, though. My chickens free range in my backyard so they are loose all day and love to sit on a little paver area outside my screen door. I put a portable swamp cooler next to the screen door pointing out, and the hens love to lay on the pavers in the shade with the cool air blowing toward them. From time to time I would hose down the pavers and the hot rocks that cover a lot of my yard. I have a grapevine area along a fence and they loved laying in the shade under the vines. My house swamp cooler's hose drains down to the dirt under the vines, which makes that area moist, and the hens love that. I put a lot of water for them around the yard and would put ice cubes in from time to time, and offered frozen blueberries and watermelon in the afternoon. I add electrolyte powder for chickens from Tractor Supply to some of their water bowls. I also read about freezing water bottles laying them around their run and putting them in the coop at night to keep the temps down. They got through the summer heat just fine. Thank goodness.

 

[Vicker]

We have extended heat waves in Texas. Shade cloth, ice and wetting down the ground or running a hose on the mist setting gets them through.

 

[N Ginther]

from august 30th (tomorrow) to September 4th there is suppose to be a huge heat wave where I live. It is suppose to get to 108 degrees (Fahrenheit) which is concerning for my chickens. They have adequate shade but I’m still very concerned. Any recommendations?

I have the same problem and I have been spraying their chicken yard to help keep it cool. I also put in several plastic containers with water for them to stand in. Chickens cool through their feet I have been told.
I bought an inexpensive bag of frozen corn as a treat.
So far so good but spraying the area is a big help. I’m trying to find a mister which was perfect last summer.

 

[HeidiChickenMomma]

from august 30th (tomorrow) to September 4th there is suppose to be a huge heat wave where I live. It is suppose to get to 108 degrees (Fahrenheit) which is concerning for my chickens. They have adequate shade but I’m still very concerned. Any recommendations?

Ice baths (shallow bins full of ice), fruit pops, freeze corn and other treats like cut up grapes in ice. This is how we keep ours cool. We also hose down their dirt run to make it cool mud - they love it

 

[saracarver3]

Definitely ice in the water, cold fruit like melon to eat, and a fan plugged in if possible. If any look overheated bring them inside and put them in you bathroom if possible.

 

[Morrigan]

I live in an area that gets (dry) heat waves of over 100 regularly. Because it's a dry heat, I heavily utilize misters and a couple of strategically placed fans. That, and making sure there are areas of deep shade, is pretty much what sees my flock through the hot spells. I did put out a tray of water for wading, but only 2 chickens ever actually wade into it. It's supposed to be over 110 this week, so I will probably drop a brick of ice in the wading pool. Those that don't wade, at least can drink the cool water.

I'm ready for Fall.

 

[BuddingRose66]

from august 30th (tomorrow) to September 4th there is suppose to be a huge heat wave where I live. It is suppose to get to 108 degrees (Fahrenheit) which is concerning for my chickens. They have adequate shade but I’m still very concerned. Any recommendations?

Sounds like you're my neighbor! I'm in Southern California and we're looking at Temps up to 110 in the Inland Empire this holiday weekend :-(
I've got my girls in my tiled dining room for the week. (First time in the house) I taped plastic to the floor then covered that with news paper. Hung more drop cloths in the openings and some plastic from the ceiling to create a sort of "boy in the plastic bubble" type of environment.
This morning was to be their third day in the house... and they came around to the sliding glass door while I was laying the fresh newspaper down. When their room was ready I just opened the slider and they saved me the hassle of carrying each one in! (guess they're liking the cooler house during daylight hours)

 

[Lil TexHens]

I’m in Austin,Texas and have been dealing with high humidity and temps in the high 90’s to low 100’s since the beginning of May through most of August. This summer’s heat wave has been just relentless because of the high humidity. It has caused the “Real Feel” to be as high as a 113 degrees some days but mostly around 104 degrees. The evenings were brutal as well because the temps were in the low 90’s and would stay in the 80’s overnight. Because of this, some of my girls couldn’t cool down, for hours, after the sun went down. This was despite having and open-air coop, having two fans, and two exhaust fans in their coop as well. I’ve always used fans in my coop, and yard, because of the heat and humidity; however, this summer I added an evaporative cooler. It has been an ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER!! In fact, the evaporative cooler reduced the temp by 9-10 degrees which a allowed my chickens to stop panting at nighttime.

I’ve included some screenshots taken from video to show my flock sitting in front of the evap. cooler in the daytime and some taken from a video of nighttime roosting.
For the nighttime video, I wanted show that there was a significant temperature difference on the side of the roost area with the evap. cooler (right side). I have a permanent digital thermometer that also controls the exhaust fans, and I placed digital thermometers on the roosts show the temp difference. I also left the time stamp in the screenshots so that you could see that the temperature difference between the left and right sides isn’t at a later time. Notice the side without the evap. cooler (left side), the hens are standing up to cool themselves with just the regular fans. The side with the evap. cooler, the hens are sitting down. I moved ALL of them to the right side after the video.
*Excessive panting can lead to acidosis and alkalosis in chickens. They are both dangerous and can even be fatal.
**An evap. cooler would not be good in an enclosed coop because the moisture needs to escape. It works great in an open-air coop as three sides are welded wire walls.

You will get numerous opinions on BYC, but at least you know that I’ve experienced similar temps, and humidity, as you. This is, IMHO, what works:

***If you have a chicken that is suffering from heatstroke, put them in COOL (NOT cold) water to their neck.

-avoid feeding any corn or scratch in the summer as chickens naturally eat less when it is hot. Eating corn and scratch would dilute their nutritional balance… and because corn and scratch are harder to digest, it increases their body heat. Because of their reduced intake, I do NOT give my chickens anything but their feed… NO frozen fruits, NO frozen veggies, and NO treats either! This helps avoid vitamin deficiencies.

-create ventilation at the top and bottom of the coop. Homemade vent covers can be used to keep the rain out. Low vents bring in cooler air while high vents allow heat and moisture to escape. Use a digital thermometer to check the temp inside the coop. It should never be hotter than the outside temp. If it is, you need more ventilation.
**Cover all vents securely with hardware cloth.

-use fans inside the coop and run/yard area. Fans will move air between the feathers and across the skin to aid in cooling.

** Because chickens create so much dust, fans with an enclosed motor are much safer than a regular box fan.

-evaporative cooling fans work amazingly well to cool. Even in extreme heat, and humidity, it can bring the temperature down by 10 degrees. You can purchase or make your own DIY evaporative cooler. You will need to clean the evap. cooler often because of the dust that chickens make. The pump can be come clogged if it isn’t maintained.
**You must have lots of ventilation for an evap. cooler to be used in your coop or it will make it feel damp. Never use it in a coop with drywall or insulation.


-hose down an area so that they can dig down into the cool dirt. Rotate areas so that the ground isn’t always wet in the same place, avoid making mud.

-fill shallow plant saucers, a baby pool, or other containers just enough for them to stand in to cool their feet. Besides panting, they can cool themselves with wet combs, wet wattles, and wet feet.

*Clean out often since they will poop in it. I use several plant saucers to rotate through.

-use misters intermittently. A finer mist works best. However, in high humidity a mister can cause it to feel hotter. Using a fan with the mister can help tremendously.

-freeze water in containers then add to their drinking water. Put frozen water containers (2 liter or 16 oz plastic bottles) in shallow pans or on the ground. Have a fan blow on the frozen water container to cool the area.

-hang shade cloths in the run/yard area. Shade cloths will still allow airflow. Tarps usually trap heat underneath and won’t allow any air to pass through… unless the tarp is placed high above.

-use electrolyte water.

Electrolytes are great for 4-6 hours only. After that, make sure they have just plain water. *Only give electrolytes 1-2 times a week at most.

-lower the roosts to allow for more headroom as heat and moisture will rise to the top of the coop. Just make sure that the roosts are higher than the nesting boxes.

Hope this helps!!

Maralee