Hot hens

[Lovemy chickens]

Hello, it is summer and my hens have a shaded part of there run, we give them watermelon half’s, I was curious if I made oatmeal and froze it in little scoops if they would like that

 

[MissChick@dee]

Give it a try. Might have to introduce it more than once. Any cold they should like I even put dishes in the fridge. I feel for them in this unforgiving heat. I’m a HUGH fan of misters but I only have a few birds and I keep them in the pen during the very hottest hours of the day. Good luck to your peeps.

 

[Trux]

SoCal Inland Valley here, 103 today, so ya I got hot chickens. I have misters to keep them cooled down, and they are under shade most of the day. Around 3 to 4 the sun gets low enough to shine on part of the run but it only lasts about an hour or so and it is behind the building next door. Still I lost one this week when it hit around 110

 

[ronott1]

SoCal Inland Valley here, 103 today, so ya I got hot chickens. I have misters to keep them cooled down, and they are under shade most of the day. Around 3 to 4 the sun gets low enough to shine on part of the run but it only lasts about an hour or so and it is behind the building next door. Still I lost one this week when it hit around 110

Yep! We got close to 110 this week. Luckily my flock made it through this time.

 

[aart]

Hello, it is summer and my hens have a shaded part of there run, we give them watermelon half’s, I was curious if I made oatmeal and froze it in little scoops if they would like that

Welcome to BYC!
Yes, they get hot and pant and hold their wings away from their bodies to shed heat.
they also eat less and drink more water, resulting in loose poops to shed heat.
There are many ways to help them thru this time.
Not sure cold food really helps much, makes us feel better tho.

Deep all day shade is the best, especially with soft soil they can dig down into.
Misters can really help if you're in a dry climate.
Sav-A-Chick electrolytes/vitamins can really help too,
always have fresh plain water available too tho.
I use large(9x14x2) chunks of ice that last all day to cool their feet and cool water to sip.

There's lot of options, check out some of these threads in the link below:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/search/29550516/?q=hot+weather&t=post&o=relevance&c[title_only]=1

Oh, and...
Where in this world are you located?
Climate is almost always a factor.
Please add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, then it's always there!