I got 15 eggs today and it was between 95 and 100 today in Texas. I thought they were acclimated. Arent some breeds better for hot weather than others?
hot hot hot! Chickens panting
- Thread starter bendystar
- Start date
I have 3 week old chicks. To help them out, I put cool water in a low tray and put peas in the middle to attract their attention. They walk right through the water to get those peas, and then the chase begins. The water has to be refreshed a few times a day because it heats up and gets full of debris, but it seems to be helpful.
It might seem like a good thing to do to bring your girl(s) into the air conditioning, but you might just be creating a bigger problem by not allowing them to adjust to the heat. Just like people going in and out of air conditioning, they can get a cold. The best thing to do is to allow them to naturally acclimate by providing shade, frozen water bottles (several in a circle that they can lay in under the shade), cold treats, fresh clean water, and maybe a misting fan. But moving them in and out of air conditioning can't be good for them.
Yesterday it was 120 in the shade at 5 p.m. (I kid you not!). I changed frozen bottles 4 times throughout the day. My birds hang out under the coop in their ice fort from 10 in the morning until 7 when it gets down to a brisk 105. They have food and water right next to their fort in the shade of the coop. At around 4, I bring out an ice water tray for them to drink and wade in. Yes, they pant like dogs and it breaks my heart, but the roadrunners, dove, mocking birds and other birds that hang around my house are going through it too. Chickens are much more adaptable than we give them credit for. And if they stop laying; well its the least you can do to allow them to adapt without creating an artificial environment so that they continue to lay.
I don't mean to be harsh, but sometimes we have to trust in the adaptability and instincts mother nature has endowed us with.
Um, colds are caused by viruses, not going in and out of air conditioning. And frozen water bottles don't occur in nature any more than air conditioning does. We both do different things to try to ease our chickens through this heat. I wouldn't dream of criticizing you for the artificial things you choose to do. Please offer me a similar courtesy, ok?
I didn't bring my hen indoors to try to induce her to lay. I watched her for almost an hour searching through multiple laying spots in the yard, rejecting each one because of the heat. She obviously had an egg she needed to lay. And, in fact, when I brought her inside with a nestbox she settled down promptly and within 30 minutes had laid her egg. She looked pretty relieved.
We keep our bantams as pets, not as egg or meat producers. We care for them accordingly.
Yesterday it was 120 in the shade at 5 p.m. (I kid you not!). I changed frozen bottles 4 times throughout the day. My birds hang out under the coop in their ice fort from 10 in the morning until 7 when it gets down to a brisk 105. They have food and water right next to their fort in the shade of the coop. At around 4, I bring out an ice water tray for them to drink and wade in. Yes, they pant like dogs and it breaks my heart, but the roadrunners, dove, mocking birds and other birds that hang around my house are going through it too. Chickens are much more adaptable than we give them credit for. And if they stop laying; well its the least you can do to allow them to adapt without creating an artificial environment so that they continue to lay.
I don't mean to be harsh, but sometimes we have to trust in the adaptability and instincts mother nature has endowed us with.
Um, colds are caused by viruses, not going in and out of air conditioning. And frozen water bottles don't occur in nature any more than air conditioning does. We both do different things to try to ease our chickens through this heat. I wouldn't dream of criticizing you for the artificial things you choose to do. Please offer me a similar courtesy, ok?
I didn't bring my hen indoors to try to induce her to lay. I watched her for almost an hour searching through multiple laying spots in the yard, rejecting each one because of the heat. She obviously had an egg she needed to lay. And, in fact, when I brought her inside with a nestbox she settled down promptly and within 30 minutes had laid her egg. She looked pretty relieved.
We keep our bantams as pets, not as egg or meat producers. We care for them accordingly.
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- #15
Thanks to everyone for all the awesome suggestions- there was a break in the heat here thankfully so now it's in the 90's and I think they are more comfortable. I hosed down a part or the run in the shade and they ran over to the wet sand and started to make little nests or holes in the sand to lay in and seemed much relieved. It's funny the things we do for our chickens!!
We have a couple of places in the yard that we keep huge containers of water for the chickens. We freeze 2 liter bottles of water in the freezer and put them in the containers of water. It seems like the frozen bottles don't melt as quick as just putting ice cubes in there. They are constantly going for the cold water. We have a lot of woods around us and they will go to the edge of the woods and stay in the nice cool shade.
My rabbits and chickens get frozen milk jugs...the rabbits have one or two in their hutch and they snuggle up to them while the chickens have one in a Rubbermaid container turned on its side--often there are 3 or more chickens crowding into the container.
Today I put 2 juice bottles and 2 one-liter bottles in the kitty litter bucket waterer. That creates condensation which drips from the waterer onto the sand...they love to scratch around in that cold, wet sand.
If it is really hot, I will take the hose and wet down the run which is sand.
My chickens were on our enclosed porch from day one. When we got hot I opened the door to the house so the a/c would cool the porch. The first day in the run was hard on the girls; all of them were panting and wings were drooping. Now that they have been outside for a week and a half they are able to cope with the heat better...less panting and drooping wings.
Today I put 2 juice bottles and 2 one-liter bottles in the kitty litter bucket waterer. That creates condensation which drips from the waterer onto the sand...they love to scratch around in that cold, wet sand.
If it is really hot, I will take the hose and wet down the run which is sand.
My chickens were on our enclosed porch from day one. When we got hot I opened the door to the house so the a/c would cool the porch. The first day in the run was hard on the girls; all of them were panting and wings were drooping. Now that they have been outside for a week and a half they are able to cope with the heat better...less panting and drooping wings.
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