How to keep chickens/coop cool on warm nights?

Agathe

Songster
Jun 1, 2021
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I am in Northern Norway was taken by surprise yesterday by an unusually warm night. Normally the coop is a few degrees warmer than it is outside, which works to our advantage, but last night the chickens struggled. I opened both coop doors (I do have ventilation too) in order to get as much air flow as possible and managed to get the indoor temperature to be the same as the outdoor temperature, but it was still too hot for them to sleep in. I left the doors open all night and I made sure they drank extra water. I was up several times during the night and they all sat with their wings out from their bodies with their beaks open. I'm not sure if they slept at all or if they just nodded off now and then. They all seem okay today and this isn't likely to be a recurring problem where I am, but what can I do for them on unusually warm nights? The only two options I seemed to have other than leaving them there, was to make them sleep in the run which had a nice breeze or put them in the basement where I have nothing set up for them, but I'm not sure they'd settle in either place. They don't struggle in the daytime even when it's warmer. It was 24 C in the coop most of the night, a temperature they normally handle well, it just isn't ever nearly that warm at night.
 
Hm, that's about 80 degrees Fahrenheit? I'm not so sure your chickens would have been okay without what you did. Water, air, checking on them, it sounds like you handled a stressful situation for your birds pretty well ♥️
It takes surprisingly little outside the norm to stress a bird out. Can you blame them though..? Most things eat chicken! Lol
If you'd like to be more prepared, perhaps having some fans on hand..?
Good luck!!
 
24c.PNG
 
Part of the overheating problem is they are not used to it.

They all seem okay today and this isn't likely to be a recurring problem where I am, but what can I do for them on unusually warm nights?
I have this issue for most the summer here.
Even with good ventilation, the coop can take a long time to cool off.
So I added a fan to help bring the coop temps down quicker.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/window-fan-mount.75608/
 

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