Heeeeelp!!!!!!!!!!! Chickens too hot!

[HappyClucker7]

Hi! I've had my chickens for about 18 weeks. They are happy and healthy and seemed to be doing fine until the weather started getting really hot. They are holding their wings out to the side and are panting a lot. All they do all day is lay in ghe shade. The only time they are really active is either at night when it gets cool or when I bring treats. I feel really sorry for them and I want to do something. I've tried freezing some water in a plastic bottle and putting it in the coop, but they didn't go near it. I put it in several times so that they could get used to it, but they stayed away fram it. I also read that you can hose them down, but my chickens are afraid of water. Any other ideas I could try?

Thanks!

 

[Ravynscroft]

Electrolytes in their water will help immensely as well... I knkw Tractor Supply has a good one for decent price called Rooster Booster-Vitamins & Electrolytes with lacto bacillus...

 

[pfields]

My husband ran cables across the yard and then we put the netting over the cables and attached to the fence with pull ties.
You can see the fan in the coop. During the day I tilt the fan down so that it blows toward the floor. I don't have a power outlet
in the coop itself so we bought a commercial grade extension cord that we run from our garage to inside the coop. Attached to that I have
a power bar with a timer set up for the light. The light ( a cheap shop light with a cord) comes on early in the morning and then goes off and doesn't come back on
again until right before dark and stays on long enough for them to get settled in for the night.

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

Thank you so much! I think I might Haft to make my own but a mini version lol.

 

[HappyClucker7]

The first chicks I got in March 2014 are a mixture, some GSL, BA, EE and few unknown.  I lost one of them to pasty butt and 2 turned out to be roosters.  I sold one rooster and we killed the other rooster after he spurred both of my legs, very painful.  In Feb. of 2015 I bought 24 RIR and 1 BO rooster from Ideal and in March of this year I bought 24 GSL from Ideal.  I've also hatched about 30+ chicks in my incubator.  I sold all but two of those chicks.  The 2 I kept were EE/BO pullets.  They were so pretty I just didn't want to part with them.  Oh, I gave away all the roosters that came as peanuts in my orders to the lady that bought my hatched chicks.

This summer I lost 2 hens, found one dead on the poop board one morning and the next week I found one dead in the backyard.  Both didn't have any wounds or injuries that would help us know what happen to them.  I also sold 1 BA hen due to her constantly going broody.  Tried and failed to break her.  I've got three right now that are broody but I can't put them in the old coop because I have a momma hen with 1 chick in there.  I have several eggs customers that are always wanting to buy my hens to eat.

One word, WOW!


(Sorry about your hens though, and hope your legs were allright.)

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

This is normal for chickens and most all animals. Panting and holding there wings out cools them down SOME, But not much. Its been a really hot summer up here in Ohio where I live. I have been freezing containers full of water and putting it in their water in the morning, at lunch and towards the evening. Also they love frozen mixed fruit and veggies! You could put some in a container with some water or just by themselves. They love em!

 

[pfields]

I put a mister in the backyard under the tree for my chickens. It uses very little water and keeps the chickens cool. I turn on the water in the morning and then turn it off around 7pm. Also, I just read how to make an electrolyte water for my chickens on the Chicken Chick site. It's 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt and 1 tablespoon sugar into 1 gallon of water.

I save all my fruit juice plastic containers and milk cartons to fill with water and freeze. I'll wait till around 10 to noon and put one in each of their waterers. Each night I get them out and refreeze for tomorrow. I also have a fan in their coop that runs day and night.

 

[jpalmatier83]

I wouldn't expect them to be too active regardless of what you do. Do what you can to keep them as comfortable as possible, but I wouldn't expect anything you do to have them running around in the middle of the afternoon.

 

[HappyClucker7]

I am definatly going to check out the Chicken Chick. I can't let them free range because we have a lot of hawks in our area so they can't just go under a tree. Any ideas for something I could put in the coop? Also, can I just put icecubes in their water, and if I do, would that help anything?

Thanks!

 

[pfields]

Ice cubes in the water would be great. Can't think of anything to put in the coop beside a fan or very large windows. We also put ridge vents in the roof of our coop so the hot air could escape. They are really a cheap fix, the labor is the hardest but we both knocked it out in one morning.

We have lots of hawks here on the TX coast. Before we put netting over our backyard we had 3 hens attacked by hawks. All 3 survived with lots of TLC. Is it possible to put netting over your run/backyard?