My chickens live outside, and are & weeks old, and it is around 90 degrees outside, and my chickens are just laying around, not doing much, and when they do play they are panting like crazy, and they have food and water! PLESE tell me what to do or what is wrong! thank you so much if you help!
They are just hot. When it is hot out, my chickens just lay around in holes that they've dug in the soil. They pant and hold their wings away from their bodies. Just make sure that they have water and shade, and they should be fine.
They're probably just reacting to the heat. Hot chickens hold their wings away from their bodies, pant a lot, and spend much of their time in the shade. They may also dig pits in the cool soil, and then lay there. As long as they have plenty of water, as well as shade, your birds should be fine. If you are really worried about them being cool enough, there are a number of things you can do. Some people fill water bottles with water, freeze them, and then put them outside with their chickens. The birds lay next to the frozen water bottles to cool off. Other ideas include misting the area with a hose to make the dirt moist and cool off the air, or putting ice cubes in the bird's waterers.
When it's hot I spray the ground not the chickens with water, put ice cubes in their water, I also make freezer pops for them (water and fruits and veggies frozen) they love that!!! If they are panting I sometimes dip their feet (just their feet) in cool water.