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

[Gigiintheforest]

Air conditioning ?? wow,,,,,,,I wounder how my grandfathers chickens survived 70,,80,,,years ago,,,,,,or anybodys,,,,he lived In Mo. It gets hot and humid there also,,,,,,,just woundering???????????

Hi Roy! I'm so laughing here because you're right. But they are my babies - LOL! Plus I belong to the generation that totally spoiled their kids (although they seemed to have survived quite well and ended up resilient as heck). What can you say....

 

[Nsampsel]

Hmmmm...chickens with better housing than I have. I don't even have A/C for me & the kids. No way I can afford to give it to the chickens. Mine have trees that shade most of the run thru the day & a sand floor in the run. Shaded sand stays nice & cool & they just stretch out on it & relax. On the other hand, there are also a few areas at any given time that are sun in the run as well & some stretch out on the warm sand to sunbathe. If it gets too hot I can always dampen the sand & they just dig down in to find the cool spots.

 

[OldGuy43]

Last year it got up to a real (none of this heat index pooh for me) 113° around here with very little wind. Almost every day was 100°+. Since their run isn't really super well shaded I did turn on the lawn sprinkler for them. They'd stay under it for about 15 minutes and than get away from it. We didn't lose any and they kept laying. Let them be chickens. Giving them AC will not be doing them any favors if the power goes out.

 

[Nsampsel]

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.

 

[BunnyMomma]

Hi here is my recipe for home made chicken gatorade. My girls love it!

1 regular package of strawberry Kool-aid
1 gallon of water
1/8 teaspoon of table salt
1/3 cup of sugar

Refrigerate it to make it good and cold, and offer them some in a water container a few times each day when it is hot. They also like grape, orange, and cherry.

Be sure to give them cool water in addition to the gatorade.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Hi here is my recipe for home made chicken gatorade. My girls love it!

1 regular package of strawberry Kool-aid
1 gallon of water
1/8 teaspoon of table salt
1/3 cup of sugar

Refrigerate it to make it good and cold, and offer them some in a water container a few times each day when it is hot. They also like grape, orange, and cherry.

Be sure to give them cool water in addition to the gatorade.

Great! Thanks so much - I know my chicks will love it. And just asking about the AC - lots of people around me talking about how many chickens they lost last summer. I'd like to avoid that so thanks for all the info.

 

[PamelaTX]

I was wondering how they are doing too? They holding up ok? Did you install a fan? Let us know how things are working out.

 

[PamelaTX]

I was wondering how they are doing too? They holding up ok? Did you install a fan? Let us know how things are working out.

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

I love your coop, Mama Hen Chris! I'm working on getting mine to look like this (only it is yellow). I do have a ceiling fan I could put in quite easily. Are those the plastic easter eggs that I see in their nests? Wondering if those would work.

Thank you. They are indeed plastic easter eggs. I used them to show the girls where to lay their eggs. I just left them in there. Sometimes, I move a few eggs into one nest box and everyone will lay in that box. I also replaced the shavings with 13 x 13 excelsior nesting pads from eggcartons.com. No more shavings on the floor.

Our coop looks like a shed/playhouse. It was made with the thought if we ever sell the house, it wouldn't look like a chicken coop.



One wall was bare so I decided to liven it up. I really need to finish it up. I started it late last summer.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

Thank you. They are indeed plastic easter eggs. I used them to show the girls where to lay their eggs. I just left them in there. Sometimes, I move a few eggs into one nest box and everyone will lay in that box. I also replaced the shavings with 13 x 13 excelsior nesting pads from eggcartons.com. No more shavings on the floor.

Our coop looks like a shed/playhouse. It was made with the thought if we ever sell the house, it wouldn't look like a chicken coop.



One wall was bare so I decided to liven it up. I really need to finish it up. I started it late last summer.

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.