Hot weather! Idea I had....

[akmcgrory]

So the weather has been incredibly hot! I brought my two large chickens into the house and put them in an old dog crate. They stopped panting almost immediately, however they became very messy quickly. Pine shavings were everywhere! Like up to 10 feet away from the crate.....They had to go. I put them back outside in the evening, but the next day continued to be hot. I froze some water bottles and laid them on the coop floor, the chickens avoided them like the plague....SO I had to figure out a better way! The next day I was filling the waterer and had, a great idea. I put one of the frozen bottles in the waterer! It kept the water cool for hours! And since I hang my waterer, the chickens are able to lay under it and near it when it is hot, so they are slightly cooler. The water appeared to stay cleaner longer as well. Not sure if that was because I put the frozen bottle in there or not. Hope you try it! If anyone else has any other great ideas....like how to get the chickens to use the roosting poles and go in the little house up top or the coop in a RAINSTORM, it would be appreciated!

 

[BrokenRoadFarm]

I put ice cubes in their waterer. We have also frozen water in a big juice container - then we put it in the coop at night if it is going to be more than 72F overnight. Our coop is insulated so it really does help to bring the inside temp down a few degrees. Our chickens seem to be handling the heat pretty well. I am surprised as we just made the foray into chicken ownership this spring. During the day, they just lay around in their dirt holes under the coop in the shade. As the sun moves and hits the tarp over the run, they venture further out as the shade deepens. I also give them nice cold yogurt or cottage cheese, or frozen cantaloupe rinds. I guess whatever we can do to keep them comfortable is appreciated by them!

 

[little bit of everything]

We've had record heat here and it's been hell-ish! I froze water in 2 liter bottles. Then I took a kiddie wading pool, turned it upside down and cut a hole in the side for a door. I put 1 or 2 of the frozen bottles under the pool, and my hens hung out inside where the ice bottles kept the air cooler. There was enough room so that the hens didn't have to touch the wet bottles, but the pool kept the surrounding air cooler. Worked like a charm and no extra expense! I also put a bottle in my duck house and froze gallon bags of water and floated the resulting "ice burgs" in my duck pond.