Hot Hot Hot

[suburban]

I live in Perth Western Australia. It is just the start of summer and we are having a bit of a heat wave. today the temp is 40C (is that 110F?)

The chooks have a little shade and I have made a temporary kind of lean to for them to shade under but they wont go in there and they don't go in the coop. I have had extra water in there and was leaving a sprinkler on near them but they hide from that.

ANy one got any ideas oh how to keep them cool?

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

Ok, first off, I am jealous.. I hate winter and I am right in the middle of it.. Ughh... But for your chickens... Maybe a fan of some sort.. Assuming you have some electricity to your coop.. I have a fan for mine in their coop.. It moves air in one side and out the other.. It makes a big difference in the inside temps. And my chickens seem to enjoy it.

 

[hencrazy]

I wish I had that problem - it's 26 below here!

 

[mulewagon]

I put ice in the drinking water in summer. Also make sure they have a place they can dig holes in the dirt. They like to lie there where it's cooler.

If the coop is enclosed, it may be hotter inside. You could put some ice water outside, in the shade.

Are they acting distressed - panting, holding their wings out, sitting around?

 

[darkmatter]

long term solution is shade trees.

 

[justbugged]

If you have fruit or vegies that you are going to give the birds, you can freeze it first. They love getting an ice cold treat.

 

[suburban]

Quote:
Yes, all this. I let them hide under the tomatoe plants all day today. They trashed the veggie garden but they were happier.

Should be cooler tomorrow. I think we need to rethink their location as they get all the afternoon sun.

 

[jjthink]

Ice in water changed as frequently as possible, fans, lots of shade, cold and icy fruits like watermelon, electrolytes (something like Pedialyte will do in a pinch) spritzed in fruits like watermelon if you've got a lot of panting going on, frozen bottles of water in areas they hang out as they will cool the area a bit, shady spot with water cooled soil in case they want to stand in it (mine hate sprinklers too so this is an alternative)....
JJ

 

[jjthink]

woops - double post for some reason....

 

[Mahonri]

LOTS of Ice and cold water. Multiple shade layers over the coop... ie... tarps on poles over the coop(there has to be air flow between them) I finally had to put an AC Unit into my 8X10 coop. The girls love me now as it gets up to 118 here in the summer.