i gotta knock a hole in the wall

[bj taylor]

i live in Texas. it's getting hot. when my girls went to bed tonight they were hot & panting. i have two fans on them, but i'm not sure it's going to be enough.
i think i'm going to see if hubby will cut a big hole in the south wall. then i will frame it w/hardware cloth. i think i need more cross ventilation in order for them to survive summer.

 

[theoldchick]

What kind of watering system do you have? I put a 16 oz plastic bottle of frozen water in my large metal water cans to help keep them cool. I also put frozen plastic gallon jugs in the run. During the day as the water melts the chickens eat/play/rub the condensation as if forms on the bottle.

 

[bj taylor]

i think they're ok during the day. the run is very large. it's 90% shade. i run a mister in the afternoons & make sure they have plenty of water. i am going to start freezing water bottles though. they free range in the extra large back yard for a couple of hours in the evening.

the real problem starts when they get in the coop. the coop is built inside a hoop house so it doesn't have direct outside access. the hoop house is open on both ends w/a fan drawing the heat out. the coop has hardware cloth from four feet up to ceiling on two sides. two sides are solid wall. there is also a ceiling fan & two in the coop itself. that's more electricity than i want to expend. but neither do i want dead birds.

i was late getting out there & they had already put themselves to bed. i hadn't turned the fans on yet. they were really panting. it worries me. i turned all the fans on. that's all i can do right now, but i think i have to make some structural changes.

 

[theoldchick]

I leave the fans on all day and night.