HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR CHICKENS COOL!!!!!!!!!

[ecopepper]

A swimming pool place or Walmart have misters!! That seems to help mine!! And cold fruits or water!! I love to hear others ideas too because it is hot here in Florida right now the rains have died down and we have entered the sweltering times!! Got my electric bill this month and it is up 150.00 but we have a pool... I just started to hang clothes out to be sustainable and cut cost...we will see!! Good Luck to all!!

 

[bayouchica]

I use soaker hoses, under shady spots they like to hang out at.
Change their water 3 times a day & add ice. Cold watermelon

I made them a shallow wading pool & they really enjoy getting their feet wet.

 

[sunket77]

I am having the same problem here in texas it's already in the 100's and the poor dears are panting all the time, I have to refill their water at least 2 to 3 times every day. I think I am going to get an automatic waterer to ensure they don't ever run out! I am also going to try freezing 2 liters that sound like a good idea!

 

[wilmothfarms]

My coop gets so hot, like everyone elses I'm sure, since thats where the nesting boxes are, it HAS to get cooled down! I've got lots of ventilation with 3 house windows and a home- steel door, but in this heat wave, there is nothing but hot air IF the air is blowing! Mine have been in the barn, but they arent laying eggs in there, so I elevate the sprinkler and aim it on the roof of the chicken coop, it cools it down to at least 10 - 15 degrees cooler than outside, AND gives them plenty of fresh cold water to drink, and walk in. They are often standing in the spray now rather than sitting in the barn. Not to mention my ducks havent left the sprinkler. They know what it looks like, so do the chickens! Frozen veggies are the BOMB! LOL

 

[dbounds10]

My coop is in the shade under some trees, but I also have shade cloth over it. I keep fans running 24x7 and have frozen milk jugs of water in front of the fans. We got a mister system from Lowes and installed that. They like to lay under it on the cool sand. I also give frozen fruit and veg every day which cools them some. I have noticed less panting since the misters were put in and they dont drop their wings at all anymore. Here is what my set up looks like:

 

[Pele]

I second the icecubes in the water idea. It really works well. I put a bowl out filled with ice and a little water, and they scramble for it! Sometimes I wonder how they avoid sloshing around like little chicken waterbaloons afterwards, but it seems to work for them..

 

[SillyCityGirl]

It gets very hot where I live in the Mohave desert and my ice cubes usually start melting while in the freezer during the afternoons.

I have 80% shade cloth put up in several areas over the pen. I'm working on growing some more trees. Water is always in the shaded areas and I use plastic waterers. I soak the ground in the pen daily. Before I got chickens here I talked with some people in the area that have them and they told me they had problems with thier coops overheating and causing fatalities. So during coop construction I made sure that I had plenty of cross breeze ventilation and I do not close it up in the summer time. So far I haven't lost any due to heat. I check on them throughout the day and they are hot but managing to keep cool and will venture out from underneath the shade cloth periodically. Giving them plenty of time to acclimate is a big plus here and I won't get new chicks after Easter.

 

[Honeysucklefeathers]

I have shade cloth over the run and have been freezing gallon jugs of water and putting them in the coop. Have a new Cochin roo and hen and a roo sizzle and 3 hens separated from BR's and in smaller coops so I've put fans in them along with the frozen jugs. They all gather around the jugs and seem to like it. Misting fans wouldn't work here, humidity too high and I don't want to deal with the problems the wetness causes. Hoping and praying it cools down soon. I have a freezer full of replacements! No room for anything else

 

[RedfogsFlock]

I put just ice in their water bowl along with a frozen bottle of water. I usually use small fruit juice bottles, or soda bottles. We also use a mister about 18 inches off the ground. We put a fan in two opposite corners of the coop facing down and towards each other. We give them no hay or anything in their bedding either in the summer. Lately we've also used a small baby pool and fill it about half full. Our girls will get in it and stand there.

 

[KatieandRon]

I've been freezing a large fruit juice bottle and placing it in the coop before work. I wrap it in a towel to collect the condensation, or else the pine shavings will get wet.

If I get home for lunch I check on them and usually find them huddled around the bottle.

we also give them grapes and on really hot days, sometimes we cut them up and freeze them..the grapes are devoured before they thaw!