Help! Heat index next week predicted to be 111! Should I install an air conditioner?

[Gigiintheforest]

We can get pretty hot in the summer here too....plus the humidity is killer. It's not uncommon to have days over 100F & nights still in the high 80's to low 90's. What makes it hard to breath & move around is the humidity that makes the air so thick. Shade & cool water are the best thing for this. Plus, don't expect them to be up & running all over the place. They are going to be hot & lazy just like we are.

You are exactly right about the humidity. We can handle the heat but the humidity just sucks the energy out of you. We live near a lake so it's a perfect storm (ha) situation when the heat gets in the high 90's and up into the 100's. Lots of shade though so that helps. I'm already clearing room in the freezer for cartons of ice to put in their waterers.

 

[Oakieridge]

Last summer we didn't loose any birds and we are in central OK. I didn't do anything fancy for them either. We just made sure they had shade and lots of water avail. Our coop at the time was partially shaded during the day but we didn't do any fans or whatnot. This year I will add some small box fans for the runs so they have some air moving out there but it won't be anything fancy.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Last summer we didn't loose any birds and we are in central OK. I didn't do anything fancy for them either. We just made sure they had shade and lots of water avail. Our coop at the time was partially shaded during the day but we didn't do any fans or whatnot. This year I will add some small box fans for the runs so they have some air moving out there but it won't be anything fancy.

I'm glad to hear that. My neighbors were going on about losing chickens but their runs are in full sun and the coops aren't ventilated well.

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Oh my goodness - I love this. I've got the entire summer off (one of the joys of being a teacher) so guess I'm going to get busy - LOL! Mama Hen Chris, your coop is just beautiful!

Chicks are doing great but we haven't been over 90 yet. I'm surprised as last year this time we were already very hot. It's only a matter of time in Oklahoma. Today I'm adding two more windows covered with hardware cloth and installing a fan to suck air out. They are going to hate all the noise with the sawsall - ha.

Thank you very much. My daughter in law just graduated from Arizona State University with a teaching degree. She also landed a job a week prior to graduation. She will be teaching kindergarten.

Your coop sounds great. You will have to post updated photos of your improvements.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Thank you very much. My daughter in law just graduated from Arizona State University with a teaching degree. She also landed a job a week prior to graduation. She will be teaching kindergarten.

Your coop sounds great. You will have to post updated photos of your improvements.

Good for her! Teaching is a great career - it doesn't pay great but had lots of other benefits. I actually teach in a masters program at the University of Central Oklahoma so I teach adults. But all my daughters in law (3) are elementary teachers. They love everything, especially their kids. The only thing difficult is regulation and funding - both which make teaching difficult when the focus turns away from the kids. Anyway, you got me started...

LOL!

I will post pictures of my coop soon. I'm adding pine shingles to the outside and painting trim so when it's done will take pics. Thanks so much for your coop inspiration!!!

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Thank you very much. My daughter in law just graduated from Arizona State University with a teaching degree. She also landed a job a week prior to graduation. She will be teaching kindergarten.

Your coop sounds great. You will have to post updated photos of your improvements.

OOOps, forgot to tell you that Arizona State is a very good school!

 

[ignatz]

when putting a fan in, do i need to direct the air flow so that it will not hit the birds directly when they're roosting, or is a direct air flow better for when it's hot?

Put it at the bottom of the door and blowing *IN* to the coop. My birds eventually come back inside th coop during the hottest part of the day in summer and all lay in front of the fan just eating up that nice cool breeze blowing on them. Sometimes they pile on each other trying to get the best spot right in front of it, heh. They eventually all get it worked out and I can go there around 1300 and see them all inside the coop right in front of the fan. I have never wasted my time with ice in the water...it lasts no more than a few minutes and so long as there's more than *enough* water (that's the operative word, not 'cool' or 'cold') they're just fine and will be just fine.

 

[SSTupperware]

Many of us have lived in Fla before A/C was invented... what next an I phone so they can check their stock portfolio?

 

[BunnyMomma]

I also wanted to add, that I placed a small air conditioner in one of my sheds where I keep my pregnant and kindling rabbits. The Jersey Woolies, have a lot of wool and my barn is cool enough for them most of the summer. When it is really bad, or if I notice any of them having a hard time, I put them in the shed and turn on the air in the afternoon. I don't make it too cool, but even 8 or 10 degrees cooler makes a difference for them. I think it is a good idea, if you are able to make them more comfortable. A lot of animals across the country, die from heat exhaustion in the summer. It is an individuals choice of how to make their pets safe from the summer heat. It is important to ignore remarks from crabby members too!
They are on every thread it seems.

 

[ignatz]

Quote: A lot of animals across the country, die from heat exhaustion in the summer.

And that's mainly because the humans that own them have no clue what they're doing and shouldn't be allowed to own a pet rock, much less anything that lives and breathes. All it takes is a little common sense, no more, no less.

Quote: It is an individuals choice of how to make their pets safe from the summer heat.

Not "choice", common sense.

Quote: It is important to ignore remarks from crabby members too!

Unless of course that member is *right* or has the answer one is looking for or has far more *experience*. That particular 'remark' of yours was particularly a bad one, and just as "crabby" as you accused others of being.