hot hot and more hot

[cgmccary]

Hot, hot, hot & HUMID here as well. really, this heat & humidty is very oppressive. High 90s & because of humidity then heat index 105 F

First, I leave my birds alone during the hottest part of the day. I feed them & change waterers very early morning when it is only in the upper 70s & heat index is only lower 80s.

FANS: I run three fans on high across my run and on the nest boxes. I run a fan (on a stand) aimed at the roost at night. The nights have been atrocious with it still 80 F at midnight with an even higher heat index.

ICE IN WATERERS: I freeze water in plastic soda bottles, gatorade bottles, etc. and put these in their waterers.

WATER STREAM: my run is at a slight incline on part so I run the water hose at a trickle creating a small stream of water. The chickens, I notice, stand in the water during the hottest part of the day.

SHADE: I have plenty of permanent shade in the run.

Gosh, this is only June but feels like August already.

 

[PeepsNLadybugs]

I live in Tallahassee and it's 102 today. My chickens are in the shade but it's still TOO hot!!! I use a water mister and a fan. They love the mist and they just lay around by the fan. The water cools down the dirt which they also love.

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

Quote:
It hasn't been "unbearable" here in NE yet, but I still thought my chickens looked hot and they were panting so I tried misting them with a fine mist from the hose nozzle and they freaked. Do they eventually get use to water?? They are 7 weeks and 18 weeks and they hadn't been misted before. So, it is new.

 

[Rivka]

I only have two ( after a racoon killed my other 2) and I have moved them in. I have one in a giant bucket with pine shavings/ the other a barred rock month old in a dog kennel. I let the mature one out to free range and do the dirt bath thing while I am out tending to garden and she has special spot she lays her egg outside!It's only been a week but I think she is getting house trained! When i get home from work she waits on edge of bucket till I open the door for the dog and they go out together!
I know this is not ideal, but I just can't bear for them to be in this heat and the flys they draw outside were nuts!

 

[KnitswithChickens]

I re-use the cold packs my eye drops get shipped in. These stay cold for a good 18 - 24 hours. I put them in the corners of the coop in a ziplock bag. Seems to help a little. I also provide plenty of shade with shade cloth.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

We just installed a screen door on one of our coops. My son built it and used chicken wire on it. It has a kick plate on the bottom. The coop also has a full sized door leading into the run so with the screen door it has a beautiful breeze coming in with cross ventilation. I have been trying to find small solar roof fans but so far no luck. Anybody got any ideas where you can get them without paying hundreds of dollars for them. I need several and 300-400.00 a piece is too much for the budget.

 

[horsefeathers09]

Offer them shade and they'll be fine. I have a stand mister that attaches to my hose. It's portable and I got it from Home Depot for about 10 bucks. They hate it, but it does cool the general area, I don't even use it unless temps exceed 110 though. Sun screening works nicely attached to a fence, I use spring clips and it took about 20 minutes to do a 20 ft chain link fence. Frozen water bottles don't do a thing in my opinion, when you live in extreme temps they are thawed in about 20 minutes!

 

[PeepsNLadybugs]

To littlemammabigpapa

My chickens are around 14 weeks old. I use the same thing you do, the mist setting on the water hose nozzle, but I attatch it to the fence on the pen with wire and let it blow into the pen. It seems to cool the air some and the water falls into an open water pan. When it starts to making a puddle in the pen my chickens love to come over and drink from the puddle and walk around in the pan. They are funny to watch when they get the fine mist on their feathers and then shake it off. But I have been doing this for a few weeks now and so my chickens are used to it. It might take yours a little while but believe me mine love it. And I also have a big upright fan in the pen and that blows the mist around. The ones that want to play in the water do and the ones who don't usually lay in the sand in front of the fan taking dust baths. I know it's probably not the only thing one could do to keep their flock cooler in this weather but anything you can do will make you feel better, to at least know we tried. I would put air conditioning in my pen if hubby would let me!!!!

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

I also put dishpans in their run full of water. They like to stand in them and cool off. I have always put the dishpans in the runs just in case their waterer goes empty during the daytime they still have access to water. Even my turkey likes to stand in the cool water.

 

[cherrychicken]

Here's what I do:
1. Have many dishes of cool water out.
2. Refill the water often.
3. Freeze berries then thaw them a very slight little bit, so they aren't frozen solid. The chooks love these as treats
4. Run the hose in the coop so they can stand in the water.