HOT HOT HOT!!

[kristyw]

I live in sunny Western Australia and today it is 41 degrees celcius. My 3 hens are 10 weeks old. Their coop is in the shade, i have put icecubes in their water, made them a frozen vegetable popsicle and put 2 large frozen plastic water bottles in the run also. They are panting quite a bit....i would love to hear some ideas on how you all keep your chicks cool. I'm stressing out that they might get heat stroke

 

[Flock Master64]

i have a little shaded area full if sand. They love to dust bathe there.

 

[kristyw]

They are digging down in the sand and laying in the holes near the ice bottles and there is a breeze now. Hopefully ut cools down soon!

 

[Leihamarie]

I live in sunny Western Australia and today it is 41 degrees celcius. My 3 hens are 10 weeks old. Their coop is in the shade, i have put icecubes in their water, made them a frozen vegetable popsicle and put 2 large frozen plastic water bottles in the run also. They are panting quite a bit....i would love to hear some ideas on how you all keep your chicks cool. I'm stressing out that they might get heat stroke

Hi there! I live in San Diego and it does get quite hot in the Summer here. During the heatwaves, I keep watermelon on hand at all times... I chop it up in quarters, freeze it and keep them in frozen watermelon all heatwave long. I also keep shallow pans (2" or less) of water with ice cubes (or a frozen water bottle) in that they can stand in to cool themselves off. One other thing I do, especially if I'll be gone for the day is put a frozen water bottle in their drinking water (I have a 2 gallon ceramic crock with chicken nipples in it) to keep their water cool all day. All those things combined with lots of shade should make it quite a bit cooler for them.

 

[kristyw]

...

Hi there! I live in San Diego and it does get quite hot in the Summer here. During the heatwaves, I keep watermelon on hand at all times... I chop it up in quarters, freeze it and keep them in frozen watermelon all heatwave long. I also keep shallow pans (2" or less) of water with ice cubes (or a frozen water bottle) in that they can stand in to cool themselves off. One other thing I do, especially if I'll be gone for the day is put a frozen water bottle in their drinking water (I have a 2 gallon ceramic crock with chicken nipples in it) to keep their water cool all day. All those things combined with lots of shade should make it quite a bit cooler for them.
[/quote thanks for your great advice

i will ensure i always have Watermelon on hand! Summer is only just beginning here so we have lots of hot weather to come. I dont know what i would do without this page! Thanks again!

 

[N F C]

When I lived in Florida, the summers were so long and hot. In addition to the above mentioned things, we used to remove the glass storm windows from the coop and the solid door and replace them with hardware covered window frames and door. Also set up a box fan to keep the air circulating in the coop (not pointed directly on the chickens). And 2-3 times a day I'd use a hose to spray down the dirt in their run so they would have something cooler to walk on.

You might want to chat with other members from Australia to get more ideas...here's where you can find them:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/598568/australia-six-states-and-that-funny-little-island

 

[Pork Pie]

This link may help, although you seem to be doing a good job so far

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/788391/keeping-chickens-cool-in-summer-heat

 

[lazy gardener]

You can also make them some home made electrolyte solution (or gator ade). Super easy to make. The recipe I used has water, salt, baking soda, sugar, and a bit of powdered Jello. You can do a google search to find lots of different recipes. As others have suggested, wetting down some of the sand/soil in their run so they have a damp spot to wallow in will help. Can you safely let them out to free range? If so, they can find nice shady spots under trees and in the grass. It's always much cooler when there's vegetation. Hang a wet sheet in front of a van. The increased evaporation will cool the air. If you have plenty of water available, you can use a water mister. I don't have that option here b/c of poor well supply.

 

[Lynnski]

I live in sunny Western Australia and today it is 41 degrees celcius. My 3 hens are 10 weeks old. Their coop is in the shade, i have put icecubes in their water, made them a frozen vegetable popsicle and put 2 large frozen plastic water bottles in the run also. They are panting quite a bit....i would love to hear some ideas on how you all keep your chicks cool. I'm stressing out that they might get heat stroke

Hi Kristy, My husbands family is from Perth. What a beautiful place! We were there this time of year and know how hot it gets! Here in Boston, we were in the 90's for a stretch last summer and our new chickens struggled, but you are at 105, that is brutal!

What worked for us and our 4 chickens was freezing a pan of water(or two), about 1-2 inches thick and just leaving it out for them to stand in, huddle next to or drink from. We also did the big plastic jugs of frozen water that they could huddle near but they loved the pans of ice! We did hook up a fan for them on a couple oppressive days and they loved the breeze.

They LOVE frozen watermelon rinds!

Good luck, keep us posted and welcome!

 

[Teila]

Howdy neighbour

Besides what you are already doing plus the watermelon and other great suggestions, I have a mister installed on the run, on a timer.

My gals do not do ‘getting in water’ but if I am home and they are free ranging, I hose down the vegetation they like to shelter under which does not only help the vegetation but it keeps them cooler.

Also, I damp down the dirt that they are digging, laying in to help with keeping them cool.

Finally, any paths etc that they are walking on also get dampened or even have puddles created on them which helps keep their little feet cool and hopefully the rest of them.

Good luck, while our temps are not as high as yours, we are feeling it a bit with the increased humidity also.