How well can chickens handle heat?

[Blue Raptor]

If they seem to be getting too hot (panting hard, drooped wings, sitting around) you can dip their feet in a bucket of cool water for about 5 minutes. It helps.

and the frozen fruit mix from Walmart. I put the frozen fruit in a big bowl of water and freeze it overnight, then put the big frozen mass with them in the daytime. A nice, cool treat.

I also do this, except I use scraps from smoothies I make for myself! Just put it in a cup and freeze it in water! They don't eat the ice, but the fruit is nice and cold!

 

[Farmgirl1878]

Panting is the first sign, holding wings away from body is the next.
Lethargy is what I look for, toss a few treats and the birds that don't go for them deem watching. Almost lost a bird from heat stroke, she was staggering and lost sight in one eye, saved her with Electrolytes. Now I give them regularly.

aart's Extreme Weather spiel

Hot Weather.... My birds are confined with no great deep shade for last half of the day so I have to be vigilant during heat waves. I do have shade cloths up on run, which helps, but still not deep shade. To help cool down the coop I have a box fan in the east window of coop, where it's shady...

• aart
• Jul 21, 2020
• 5.00 star(s) 6 ratings
• Comments: 18
• Reviews: 4
• Category: Member Pages

I do too @aart, I also add some electrolyte water to their chicken chow. On really hot days, I freeze the wet chow in a silicone cake pan and let them eat from that. They think it’s a special treat!

Having sand in the run really helps too. My run is covered, so the sand stays cool. If it’s really hot, I wet the sand and they dig in like they’re kids at the beach!

 

[PeckingAround]

We're in west Texas and summers are easily 95+ all summer. We have a self watering system as well as a live stock water/feeder that is about 6 inches tall. We give fresh water daily in the water bucket and during summer will refresh it a couple times a day and add ice blocks in it. They love to stand in it to cool off. We also have an old tire (in the coop in the shade) with sand for dust baths, we'll wet the sand down and even add ice blocks to it. The wet sand will stay cool a long time and they will lay out in it. We let them free range about 80% of the time. But if temps get above 100-105 we generally keep them in the coop, which is fully open all around and under trees. Having them roam around in the heat without water close by can add more stress, and they just go wherever they want when out. We have plenty of shady areas for them, but the issue is them having easy access to water here. One reason we keep them up if it's too hot. We've only lost two to possible heat issues, at different times.

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

X2 if you have a kitty pool i like to fill it up with ice water and mine like to sit it in it and you can make them frozen treats too like freeze some fruits

Newby here...but isn't the ice gonna melt n make more water than chickens need causing potential drowning? Sorry...Newby like I said lol?

 

[mommiesrcool]

Newby here...but isn't the ice gonna melt n make more water than chickens need causing potential drowning? Sorry...Newby like I said lol?

It’s okay dw like the kitty pool I’m talking about ISNT like the deep ones so you can fill it all the way up and the water will be up to the top of their legs but this only applies to full grown chickens if you mean younger chickens then yes they could drown

 

[Gammas Bearded Babies]

It’s okay dw like the kitty pool I’m talking about ISNT like the deep ones so you can fill it all the way up and the water will be up to the top of their legs but this only applies to full grown chickens if you mean younger chickens then yes they could drown

Ok...yeah mine r bout 4 wks...we hit 100 today so trying to get on top of this before they r outside full-time.

 

[Lemon-Drop]

Newby here...but isn't the ice gonna melt n make more water than chickens need causing potential drowning? Sorry...Newby like I said lol?

The water will stay mostly frozen for a good while, then it will act as very nice ice-cold water once it melts. You can then always replenish the ice to make more cold. A kiddie pool isnt that deep... only about 8 inches deep. So I would not worry about drowning.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Newby here...but isn't the ice gonna melt n make more water than chickens need causing potential drowning? Sorry...Newby like I said lol?

Best thing to do for safety is to add something like bricks or pavers inside the pool, in case young birds panic or struggle for some reason to get out. Also provides better footing in case some birds don't like the slippery plastic, and a wet brick/stone can provide some heat relief if they simply stand on it (for birds that don't like the water).

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@Random Fluffy Chicken I'm in North FL Panhandle. Don't get the thermometer readings of our friends in AZ or west TX, but I do have high humidity - 95% humid, 90-some degrees isn't uncommon, and we are already at 90+ degrees daily. Offering this experience in case its closer to your own climate in Southern CA.

First, its absolutely true that chickens do much better in the cold than the heat. Lots of shade, tons of ventilation, multiple waterers, and places your chickens can dustbathe in the shade (even an inch down, the ground is much cooler than the surrounding air - all that ground contact makes for a massive heat sink to help your birds cool off). You can also select birds better suited to the climate - look for prominent combs, clean legs, moderate feather densities (my Dark Brahma were a very poor choice for me, nut with care, they tolerate it. So does my remaining CornishX, a breed not famed for its health. All are over a year old now and doing fine).

If you go the fan route, you might also consider a small solar cell connected to a series of sealed or sleeve bearing CPU case fans - they are moderately inexpensive, move a ton of air, there is no fire hazard, and no need to run power to your coop. Avoiding the electrician, the permit requirements, and the tax man. They are also designed for dusty environments (but should still be located under an eave or other sheltered location, blowing air in).

The biggest problem with case cans is that they move too much air, in too small a space, which creates drafts - so be sure to keep them aimed above your chickens or otherwise disperse the airflow. A single 200mm case fan rated at 70+cfm can turn all the air in an 8x8 coop, 8' tall 8 times an hour at top speeds.

Solar powered roof exhaust fans are also a possibility - though ugly, expensive, difficult to repair, and designed for much greater air volumes than all but the largest of coops.

 

[3KillerBs]

my Dark Brahma were a very poor choice for me, nut with care, they tolerate it.

It's funny how well Brahmas do in heat.

I suspect that those same thick feathers that insulate them from the cold also protect them from the heat -- up to a point.