How can I cool my chickens down

[claireree]

I live in Spain where at the moment it is roasting hot, today it has been 38C and my poor chickens are so hot. I make sure they have fresh water all day but they are walking round with the wings out trying to cool off, does anyone have any ideas how to help them in the heat. I have been giving them watermelon as i know they like that and is also very watery.

 

[5parrots&zoo]

Maybe you could add some ice to their water? I freeze water in plastic soft drink bottles, and put one in my chicken's gallon waterer. Part of their yard is in shade, under a big tree, so I wet down some of the area in the shade, and they love to take their dust? bath in the damp soil. Oh, and keep the watermelon coming for them!

 

[Rhode Island momma]

I have been freezing water bottles and putting then in my waterer. I have 6 bottles of water that I freeze, I rotate them, 3 in the waterer, and 3 in the freezer. You can also freeze jugs of water, milk cartons work great, and put them in the coop or run with the chickens, if you have a fan in the coop you can blow it across the frozen jugs and it will cool the air. Misters work if your chickens don't mind getting wet.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

I go out there with the hose and spray them all down. They run away like they hate it but afterwards I can tell they feel better. Then I hose down under the deck an under their favorite tree. This way once they're dry they can roll around in the cool mud

 

[bloom_ss]

I have been putting frozen milk jugs in their run...they like to crowd around them and take dust baths. I also have been hosing down half of the run so they have some damp cool dirt to dig around in. I also feed them watermelon...I heard they like that frozen also, but I haven't been freezing it. I heard some people say they put misters in the run so the chickens get a bit of a cooling mist.

 

[iFairyx]

I was going to suggest frozen water bottles but then someone beat me to it

Is having a paddling pool an option, just something shallow that they could stand in (and splash if the want),
I saw someones photo of their roo standing in water to cool itself down - might be an idea?

Good'luck

 

[greenSearcher]

Moving air and the wading pool works the best for me. We have been 40C+ since June 1st, it is a horrible summer. I have large, shallow plastic containers w/ a brick or 2 in it and keep the water at about 6 inches deep. We are normally at least breezy in Texas, so I haven't needed a fan. Like the others, I ice the drinking water during the hottest time of the day and wet the ground. One thing I do is open up the coops and nest boxes so that the coops don't become an oven. Even if there is dark shade in the coop, it still gets way too hot if it is w/out a good air flow. Oh, I also feed them fruit and raw veges, since I have no green grass left, it is dried out and crunchy. I have stopped giving them scratch also, as it is heavy to digest - the very reason I feed it to them in the winter so they stay warm. OH! be sure to keep the oyster shell available. When they pant they exhale calcium in their breath, and I know that mine eat more oyster shell in the summer than the spring, even when the number of eggs are down.

 

[opalwednesday]

my chickens have three inch deep water pans to drink out of. they have a float in them to keep the water full all the time. every day I scrub out the funk and toss the water into the bedding, this gives the girls a nice cool place to dig around it (it's SO dry here that mold is not ever a concern. also, they have a dirt floor, I don't think my method would work without that. the three inch pans are great because the chickens just walk right in when they need to chill out.

good luck with summer!

 

[daver]

An inexpensive box fan is our best weapon in beating the heat.

Our birds love it and will stay in front of it for most of the day and snooze.

Chilled melon is their favorite hot weather treat.

And lots of shade.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

what sort of floor do you have? If it's a matter of survival and you can't provide a/c or shade, you can maybe dig a hole into the dirt, it will be cooler down deep,you can dampen that or cover with damp cloth. My chickens are under the house during the day, and come out when it's not so hot, no, I didn't want them there but I can feel a huge temp difference too, and they aren't stressed, so, there they are. But then I am in the mountains and its hot but not that hot.