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

[Gigiintheforest]

Yes, that's right - 111 degree heat index and it's only May. The actual temp will be around 88 but humidity bumps it up tremendously. I'm worried about the girls in their coop at night. We have an old small air conditioner that I could cut a hole in the wall and install. Does anyone use an air conditioner in their coop for extreme heat?

 

[joan1708]

I don't know. If it makes you feel better, go ahead. But I think if your coop is in the shade and it very well ventilated, or you can open it up some, then I think it should be OK.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Coop is in the shade and I'm adding two more large open windows covered with hardware cloth. I'm just uncertain about how of a humidity/heat index they can withstand.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

At most you might put in a small fan, but air conditioning would be unnecessary if your coop is in the shade, has good air flow, and the water is fresh and plentiful. They may not like it, but they'll survive.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Thanks for the reassurance. My coop is in a heavily forested area so the air flow isn't great. I've got two huge windows covered only by hardware cloth on the front and back. It doesn't get a lot of cross ventilation so adding a fan might be the way to go - just to get the humidity moving.
Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Put a blocks of ice in their water dispenser and check the coolness of the water throughout the day. If possible can the birds seek shade under trees instead of out in the run or in a building??

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Will definitely do the ice in the water. Luckily, my run is quite large and includes some major trees so that is good (which was a major challenge stringing aviary netting around to keep out hawks - ha). I'm probably being too concerned but this is my first flock and I do love those birds.

 

[ignatz]

A cheap box fan is usually more than enough to keep the inside of a coop cool enough for the birds so long as there's plenty of ventilation for heat to escape. It gets just as hot and humid here as it does in OK and all I've ever done is use four pieces of electric fence wire that are about 6 inches long each and tie the fan at the corners to the hardware cloth screen on the door to the coop. In the morning, depending on how hot it is already at daybreak, I'll turn the fan on low. Later, around 10AM I'll go out and turn it to high, then in the evening after dark when I collect eggs, I turn it to low again or off if it's going to cool off nice that night.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Thanks for the idea. It will be easy to do that in my coop and does make sense. I'm hoping for a summer that is a bit cooler than last year also.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

So how has it been going? Chicks doing well?