How best to cool chicks on warm days

[feather13]

Electrolytes in their water might help. It's been really hot here in southern California, too. We make sure our chicks have lots of shade (blankets on their coop) and electrolytes from the hatchery in their water. We monitor them several times a day and try to keep them out of the direct sun.

 

[britinpa]

Electrolytes in their water might help. It's been really hot here in southern California, too. We make sure our chicks have lots of shade (blankets on their coop) and electrolytes from the hatchery in their water. We monitor them several times a day and try to keep them out of the direct sun.

thank you for the tip - I had read about electrolytes, but haven't bought any yet.

 

[britinpa]

Hello! Sometimes it is best to let them do the work for you. Freezing things or putting too much ice in their water can cause some problems as it cools them off but then, 10 minutes later, they’re hot again so they eat something frozen and cool off again. All this cooling off and heating back up puts too much stress on their little systems and can cause a chicken to die. I recommend just filling their water up every day with hose water, then later in the day when it is a bit warmer, put a couple ice cubes in it just to keep it cool. They know how to ruffle their feathers and take dust baths in order to keep cool. If they are still hot I recommend a fan and shade! Good luck!

Thank you. I have had a fan going in there since Saturday. I opened the garage door next to them at around 6 this morning while the air was a little cooler, but have closed it again as the full sun is on that side of house at moment. Will open it again later. I have a water bottle in the freezer at the moment, as someone recommended putting that in there, but not sure whether that is the right thing to do or not.

 

[britinpa]

I had same problem with 112* heat index and had them out in my shop. No heat lamp and just a low watt lamp outside their cage to eat all night. Still too hot! What DID work until I finally decided to move them in my house was freezing gallon bleach bottles with water and setting them on a plate in their brooder. They laid around it to stay cool and ...as a added bonus as the jugs sweat and dropped cool water onto the plate, they had a cool drink! But mine were a lot younger than 6 weeks like yours. At 6 weeks they went into the big coop and run but I still have a fan blowing in the run and in a shaded covered area. My silly birds want to stay in the HOT coop during the day so I had to close the pop door behind them in the morning to keep them out!! Mine ain't too brite!! Hah!

Thank you! I have a water bottle in the freezer at the moment - should be ready by this afternoon, and a fan going by their box. Their run is near completion, so they should hopefully be out there by the weekend. We are putting a roof over part of the run and maybe some shade cloth on one side if needed.

 

[Chickens-are-cool]

Thank you. I have had a fan going in there since Saturday. I opened the garage door next to them at around 6 this morning while the air was a little cooler, but have closed it again as the full sun is on that side of house at moment. Will open it again later. I have a water bottle in the freezer at the moment, as someone recommended putting that in there, but not sure whether that is the right thing to do or not.

Yes, I personally have never had a chick die from freezing things but I only did it a couple times before I read that it can be bad for them and stopped. It said that they know how to cool themselves down as long as they have shade and sometimes it is helpful to put a fan in so I would recommend that.