How to Keep Chickens Cool in Upcoming Heat Wave?

[manta8ray]

I just installed an A/C unit. Chickens love it. I can control via iPhone app.
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That is a gorgeous coop.

 

[bethnlee]

It’s been crazy hot. I’ve put a $10 mister in their run snd they love that. I’ve also added a small pool…and I’ve put a box fan outside the coop and it blows across that little pool. It’s like a swamp cooler and the lowering of temp in the run is noticeable. Shade is a biggie. I have the sunny side of their run shaded, and a roof over the run as well. I also add frozen water bottles to their water. I would add a fan in their coop if there were room, but I just can’t figure it. I leave the mister running some nights a d figure the coop is cooler because of it as the coop is so well ventilated. I don’t give them any treats in the hot parts of the day as digesting increase metabolism…check out the chicken chicks thinking on that .

 

[countryladyNH]

Was beastly here in NH. We ordered this from Amazon for the coop:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009OWVUJ0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We have shade in the yard and dust bath spots in the shade. Water with ice cubes in it. Favorite treat: We froze slices of watermelon.

 

[3KillerBs]

I just installed an A/C unit. Chickens love it. I can control via iPhone app.
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Is that unit rated for barn use?

Feather dander and the dust from bedding are HIGHLY flammable and will very quickly clog up the filters.

 

[Chicmom009]

Hello fellow chicken friends - I live in Portland and we are expecting a horrible heat wave this weekend. Temps are going to be over 100 for multiple days, which is not typical for this area. I am worried about my chickens who have definitely never experienced that much prolonged heat. They have shade and I will hose down the grass multiple times and refill their water as often as I can throughout the day, but should I do anything else? I don't have a/c in my home, so I can't bring them inside either. Help!

I’ve read that a small kiddie pool is a good cool down space but my chickens didn’t like it. If theyfree range, they like to hide under bushes and dig into the cool soil. We just got over a heat wave and that’s where I found my girls during the heat. As long as they have drinking water ( in a few locations) along with shade, that’s the best you can do.!
Good luck !!

 

[Vicker]

In Texas, we expect excessive heat every summer. But a few summers back, we had a particularly bad wave of temps over 100. My chickens were suffering. They have a very large fenced area to roam and dig. I did all of the things suggested: ice, shade, wet the ground and I prayed, because this went on for days. I left the hose attachment going with a slight mist. They camped around that mist.

 

[3KillerBs]

Just a reminder that what works in Texas, Arizona, southern Carolina, etc. with DRY heat may not work in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and the Deep South with HUMID heat.

I've been part of the crowd at the zoo who carefully avoided walking through the misters on a hot day because adding humidity to humidity only made it worse.

 

[Karen K]

I live in Oregon City. At our house we had a high of 115. We had a misting unit spraying around our chicken coop area which has a carport-like frame and tarp to protect it from the elements (so in the winter it keeps in dry, in the summer it's shady). Our chickens are allowed to free-range our yard, so I put water containers out wherever it was shady that they would escape to. We also put ice in their waterers. I would hose down the soil or sand to cool it off for them to lay in. We also made watermelon slushies to give them, and cold slices of watermelon. Several times a day we would soak them in a water bath. But now I know where the term 'dumb cluck' comes from. They would get there bath and as soon as they'd stop panting we'd turn them loose and they'd go sit in the sun to dry off. We kept herding them back to shady spots. I also added probiotics or nutri-drench to their water during this time.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Just a reminder that what works in Texas, Arizona, southern Carolina, etc. with DRY heat may not work in the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and the Deep South with HUMID heat.

I've been part of the crowd at the zoo who carefully avoided walking through the misters on a hot day because adding humidity to humidity only made it worse.

and TX on the coast (Houston, Corpus, etc), always wet, is different from TX inland (Austin, Dallas, Waco, San Antonio), changing constantly, which is different than TX West (Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso), always dry.

Not sad I left it. But would still rather push the mower around an acre in a dry 110 than a wet 95.

 

[3KillerBs]

But now I know where the term 'dumb cluck' comes from. They would get there bath and as soon as they'd stop panting we'd turn them loose and they'd go sit in the sun to dry off. We kept herding them back to shady spots. I also added probiotics or nutri-drench to their water during this time.

Chickens know how to be chickens better than we know how to be chickens.

If you give them the OPTION to get wet if they want to you can let them decide whether to use it or not.

They need to pant when it's hot -- that's how they cool down. You don't need to force-bathe them unless they show signs of serious distress. Mine always seem to be most comfortable on a hot afternoon when they have dug themselves down into a crater in the shade.