How to keep chickens cool in the summer please help!!

[Chicken Egg 17]

Hello these past few days it has been warming up after being down in the teens some nights and today was like 70 degrees out and they were really panting so I was wondering how can I keep them cool so they don't have a heat stroke or something they had there wings spread completely out walking around and laying down in the stones next to the garage in the shade so I gave them so nice cold water with about a whole tray of ice in there water bowl and hey we're still panting when I went to check on them and it's probably about 50 degrees out now but I even opened one of there Windows for them so they weren't so hot but they still are panting and there wings spread out. There coop has sand on the floor so they always have a dry place to dust bathe in to keep cool

 

[GodofPecking]

it is not so much about the bathing when it is hot it is about laying around on cool ground. Otherwise it's like a swimming pool full of hot water in the sun(burn).

(1) Lots of shade. this is the primary necessity, trees do it the best but you can do it artificially read next bit.

(2) Passive cooling. If there is a coop with a regular roof it can become a furnace, so keep the radiation and heat away from the inside by ADDING an extra roof about 20cm (a foot) away from the old roof. It doesn't need to be waterproof or new, just needs to be shade. I use old roofing iron, really old, with holes galore in it. Radiation turns into hot air that shimmers up into the sky from the outside layer of tin. The layer is in no way continuous at all, air gaps are important so that the hot air escapes. The inside roof of the coop stays noticeably cooler, a LOT cooler. You can add an extra extra roof, but I find one is enough, and the same treatment for the sides that the sun hammers in the morning and afternoon. My chooks give the coop their seal of approval by preferring it as much as any other cold spot in the yard (they just find and hang out in the coolest areas naturally to escape the heat)

(3) If all else is going to fail, build them a bunker, dig a long hole, put whatever you can find to make a strong tunnel or cavity, then put the dirt on top. When it is a foot or more thick, they can escape the heat and cool down nicely. Similar to lightning ridge or coober pedy.

(4) Fast fix. put pallets on the roof of a flat coop. wooden pallets have shade, the parts that are most in the sun will turn the radiation into heated air and are spaced out from the roof by just the right amount to let air circulate. They won't last forever because they are wood, but they will do the job and it will work and lower the temperature by a great deal.

(5) These things all apply to houses and humans too.

 

[GodofPecking]

Oh, and you can turn the hose on to their favorite dust bath holes and spots which will sink in and cool the soil and they'll enjoy their dust baths a whole lot more, because it is cooler, which is the point of bathing in the heat.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

I keep a box fan on mine during the summer, they all just sit right in front of it all summer instead of foraging around

.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

I might put a cheap window Dan in the window from the dollar general to keep a breeze going in there house and how does anyone else provide shade as there run is right in the sun

 

[GodofPecking]

good for shade are
pumpkins
cucumbers
grapes !
peas
beans
choko !
passionfruit
a wanted ad for old roofing iron <---- this WORKS like you wouldn't believe !!

 

[Braxton Brigade]

My run is shaded because it has galvanized roofing tin on top, I found a local "hook up" for only $1 per linear foot!
I figured a photo might help you with ideas. We get triple digit heat in the summer so we chose to completely roof the enclosed portion of our run, it has also prevented many predator attacks.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

How do u hold the tin down because we get some pretty strong winds sometimes and how do u hold it up because we get over a foot of snow sometimes

 

[Braxton Brigade]

How do u hold the tin down because we get some pretty strong winds sometimes and how do u hold it up because we get over a foot of snow sometimes

We screwed them into the pipes of the chain link with roofing screws. We also have a couple landscaping timbers on top just in case, we had 60 mph winds yesterday and everything was great.

 

[Chicken Egg 17]

Yes we had some strong winds like that about a week ago and had rocks and stuff on the tin because we weren't expecting that strong of winds and I was in the coop and all of a sudden the wind really picked up and blew all the tin up in the woods bent two pieces so I just don't know how to hold it up without it bending and sagging