Hot chickens!

[tjmings]

My poor girls are already struggling with our Florida heat and we have barely just begun! I have a 12x10 run that I have been doing DLM. Worked great but I'm thinking it is now too hot for them. They keep trying to dig down to the dirt. So, I'm thinking I'm going to have to start the laborious task of cleaning out my run. Question is, what is best to put in the run during the summer? Thought about just keeping it dirt but I'm sure that would get messy very quickly! I know a lot of people like sand but not sure how the maintenance would be on such a large run. I do not want to be sifting poop every day!

Also, any recommendations on other ways to cool them down? I hate seeing them walking around and panting. I know they are miserable!

Thanks!!

 

[beetandsteet]

Totally feel your pain. My chickens pant from March to November here in SE Texas.
Dirt is super important for your chickens. I leaned some boards up against my old coop, such that the dirt underneath was always shaded. There was a marked difference in temperature under there. Wetting the dirt slightly would also help keep it cool. The hens would go in there and it's quite a bit cooler. You don't necessarily need to do the whole run dirt, but do have a good shaded area that is dirt. I would think that composting DLM would give off quite a bit of heat. I've never used this method so I'm not sure.

 

[tjmings]

Thanks @beetandsteet ! Definitely need to clean out the run this weekend and see if I can cool it down!

 

[RonP]

If your deep litter is hot, simply cool it down.

Add a lot more carbon rich material, like wood chips.

Cold compost is what you want to achieve.

 

[tjmings]

If your deep litter is hot, simply cool it down.

Add a lot more carbon rich material, like wood chips.

Cold compost is what you want to achieve.

I ended up cleaning out the whole run yesterday and now it is just dirt, well, more like mud because it has been raining. Ugh! Trying to figure out what I should put down now. Was leaning towards trying sand but now I'm not sure if I should just throw in some wood chips??