How to help keep them cool

[Mamatomany123]

@Mamatomany123
I am in Carlsbad. Ya it’s been HOT for the past several days. And for more days to come. I have A/C in the coop so that helps a little. I also use frozen jugs of water in their favorite shady places as well as frozen treat blocks. Those are mostly ice chunks with fruits and veggies suspended in the ice. And finally large pans of shallow water for them to stand and cool their feet. Some LOVE it and even put their bellies in the water.

It‘s possible that your pullet had underlying issues and the heat was not the total cause. So sorry for your loss!

So my flock is MG positive. These chicks were not ones I purchased but my neighbor threw them in my run without me knowing. She wasn't showing any signs of MG but I do know it could have been a possibility. I'm angry at my neighbor all over again.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Humidity makes the heat harder on the body, both mine and the chickens.

Yeah,it's been brutal the last few days. My husband is setting up our little window ac unit in their coop for now. Next week we go back down to the low 90s. I'm mad at myself. I should have checked on them that evening but got so busy doing the yard and knew I had just given them water, food,ice,and frozen berries. My 2 year old also had to get stitches because she dropped a scooter on her toe and sliced it down to the bone. Ugh,these past few days have been tough.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Here is my reply in another post.

• A/C in coop to keep coop around 80F if possible.
• Large frozen ice blocks with fruit, veg, scratch, all flock pellets. The pellets seem to be the favorite.
• Foot bath pans made of XL pot saucers and food pans for dogs, goats, etc. They LOVE to stand in the water to cool off. Some even squat to put their belly in the water!
• Frozen jugs of water. Place under favorite bush, in foot bath pans, coop floor. Change twice a day.
• Frozen melon rinds in foot baths
• Spray and soak run to try to cool things down. But sometimes this will only make it muggy. And spraying water sometimes causes stress.
• Keep them calm and prevent stress and running.
• If someone seems overly stressed by the heat I have blankets and towels that I wet down before putting in the freezer. I take those to the coop and cover with a towel so they can lay on them. Or I make a lean-to for them to go inside/under for a bit.
• If all else fails they can come inside the house and watch a movie. They prefer Chicken Run, Chicken Little, and Barnyard.

I was about to over them all to our garage. Usually they free range and will go in there through the kitty door because they know there is ac in there. The last couple of days we've been doing work on the fence and yard so I couldn't let them out of the run.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Okay I set a fan up in the coop and made a makeshift ac for them under the coop. I have all of the sides open (covered with HC) and closed those off except for.the front and cut a hole for the side. They are absolutely loving it. I put frozen blocks of ice inside and it's blowing cold air. Not sure how long the ice will last but I have more in the freezer if I need to replace it. We are only at 95right now and I put a thermometer under the coop closest to the air blowing and it read 80 so its definitely doing a great job. They also have ice blocks in a shallow pool to stand in and fresh clean water with ice.

 

[springvalley123]

So my flock is MG positive. These chicks were not ones I purchased but my neighbor threw them in my run without me knowing. She wasn't showing any signs of MG but I do know it could have been a possibility. I'm angry at my neighbor all over again.

so sorry about the neighbor. it makes sense to me that the underlying MG or any respiratory issue would make it harder for the bird to do well in the heat.

 

[springvalley123]

Okay I set a fan up in the coop and made a makeshift ac for them under the coop. I have all of the sides open (covered with HC) and closed those off except for.the front and cut a hole for the side. They are absolutely loving it. I put frozen blocks of ice inside and it's blowing cold air. Not sure how long the ice will last but I have more in the freezer if I need to replace it. We are only at 95right now and I put a thermometer under the coop closest to the air blowing and it read 80 so its definitely doing a great job. They also have ice blocks in a shallow pool to stand in and fresh clean water with ice.

I bet that'll be great for the high humidity!

 

[Mamatomany123]

I bet that'll be great for the high humidity!

All 17 of them are under the house sleeping. They are loving it. Right now I have an ice block and old milk gallon with frozen water in there. I'm hoping since it's a cooler it will keep the ice from melting so quickly. Any openings have been duct taped. I'm sure they are going to love the fan on tonight also. Even though we cool down it still has been in the high 80s at night.

 

[Mamatomany123]

so sorry about the neighbor. it makes sense to me that the underlying MG or any respiratory issue would make it harder for the bird to do well in the heat.

Well these chicks haven't shown any sign of MG but I know that they don't always show symptoms.

 

[springvalley123]

Well these chicks haven't shown any sign of MG but I know that they don't always show symptoms.

fingers crossed for you, hoping that nice looking ice box fan helps keep the stress and heat down!

 

[springvalley123]

All 17 of them are under the house sleeping. They are loving it. Right now I have an ice block and old milk gallon with frozen water in there. I'm hoping since it's a cooler it will keep the ice from melting so quickly. Any openings have been duct taped. I'm sure they are going to love the fan on tonight also. Even though we cool down it still has been in the high 80s at night.

that's huge, a lot of people do so much for during the day but overlook the night, and roost-time is the heat of the day in a lot of hot places, like Phoenix.