It's HOT - Keep your birds feeling their best!

[Chicks Galore3]

the heat broke...for awhile....now its going back up.

But i didn't lose any birds!!!!!!

 

[Mrspris2u2]

I have a large tub and I freeze gallons of water and it keeps the water cold I also wet down the area they are in several times a day. They seem to like the coolness on there feet but differently not to be misted.

 

[Moriah]

I bought a small child's wading pool for my 4 year old birds. The will play in it to keep their feet cooler. The temps here get over 100 in the summer and I always make sure they have plenty of water and shade. I will also give them fruits/veggies with high water content

 

[Marty1876]

I like use the hose to get a corner of pens and cages wet (depending upon variety of bird, I have chickens, ducks, geese, turkey, and quail), but on chickens and quail especially, I put old blankets and rugs over their cages, and damp-in heavily to keep it cooler underneath without necessarily soaking birds. The geese and ducks enjoy am early afternoon heavy misting and spraying from the hose, while I talk to them. OK, facts is facts, both enjoy that one.

 

[jillscoop]

I have several kiddie pools around under shade trees primarily for the water fowl but in the afternoon the chickens will gather in them and perch on the sides to talk to one another... It's a chicken pool party. I also chill watermelons from the garden and break them open in the afternoon for them. My chickens don't like being misted.. but they love it when I mist the grass, they run over to it and fluff in the wet grass. Now the ducks geese and llamas love the misting and come running every time I turn on a hose.

 

[phoenix912]

Sorry if this has already been posted. I didn't read all the way through. Frozen water bottles. They will lay on or against them. I also put a dish pan out with water and a frozen bottle in it. The small coke bottles fit into the plastic water fountains.

 

[EpicBlueAcres]

I read on here some people are using tarps to make shade. We also have rescue dogs here at the farm so I followed suit with their kennel runs . I used a 10x10 dog kennel sunshade on my chickens outdoors coop area. It let's rain through (when we actually get some) and it doesn't flap around much in the wind. It lowered the temp under it a t least 10degrees. The chickens came back outside as soon as I finished putting it up. Also have a fan in the coop(hung it on the mesh wall that separates the chickens area from my storage area in the coop,this way they can't get to it and it helps air flow. Also the frozen water bottles in the water help a lot. Still having trouble getting them to eat fruit (they are just 4 months old now). They hate when I mist them with the spray bottle Tried a little water pool , my barred rock was also the only one to get in. It worked well till they flipped it, will have to get something heavyer and try again. Thanks for all the great tips

 

[lizablair]

I found 9 ft umbrellas without frames for $2-5 at a liquidation store...I stretch them out with fencepost for legs...some I stretch across the runs...I also found some camo netting and stretched that out over the run...it does give a little shade...in this heat any is a help. I put a sprinkler on top of the coop and run it with a landscape water timer...just for the heat of the afternoon.

 

[Gigiintheforest]

My chickens are STRANGE! They love being misted. I have one of those twist style misters on one hose and a horse stall line mister strung through the trees about 5 feet up in one corner of their run. I also have a box fan going that blows the mist around. They all (11) stand in the mist and fluff and shake. I also use ice in the water and freeze watermelons and have two fans going in the coop at night. The coop has large windows on each end so there is lots of ventilation. They are doing great, still laying and healthy. It's been over 100 degrees for the last two weeks and 110-113 for the last three days here in Oklahoma.

 

[EpicBlueAcres]

That horse stall mister is a great idea, I will have to see if they sell them around here. It was over 100 heat index today so I decided to get one of the huge ceramic dog water dishes and filled it with cold water. Every hour (i would change the water) I went to the coop and took turns physically putting each birds feet in for a few minutes(til they stopped panting). By the third time they stopped trying to run away and my polish baby (just 8 wks) actually stayed in on her own after I put her in. Hope to continue the streak tomorrow.