Keeping Birds Cool !?!?!?

[Sara_Georgia]

I keep my chickens in a walk-in pen, i guess you would call it an open run? As of now they don't have a coop and it will be a little while before they start laying. Their pen is build up against a barn. I have two huge boards leaned against the barn so they can get under it for shade. They stay under the boards during the day and come out in the mornings and afternoons. But they look so hot, they walk around with their mouth open and their wings up. I had my rabbit in their with them but I now have her in a pet taxi inside because of the heat. I was wondering what I could do to help keep them cooler? I was wondering if there was any trees I could plant inside or some kind of ivy/vine I could let grow up the side of the coop that would be safe to them and give them shade? Also, would fans work?
Thanks, Sara

 

[Dilly]

Fans are great to criculate the air. I have also seen people freeze two liter bottles and the hens love to sit on them. Try some sort of shallow cool water so they can stand in it.

Plant some vines to give them more shade. All of the above should really help.

Good Luck

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Yes I have heard several people talk about freezing 2 liter bottles of water and how well that works. That's what I'm doing next summer

 

[Cetawin]

I am putting up a mister that hooks to the water faucet so they get a fine cool mist on the hot days.

Everyone says they will love sratching in the moist dirt for bugs and they are fairly inexpensive.

The girls get frozen 2 litre bottles now and they love them. They are still inside here but we do not have AC.

 

[Dawn419]

I use frozen soda bottles in the runs, here. We've also covered sections of the runs, for additional shade, with tarps.

I'm working on planting green beens and cucumbers up along the south-side of the main run for even more shade.


Dawn

 

[pips&peeps]

A mister works great. You can get the parts at home depot.

 

[SimplyAbundantFarm]

We, too, are in the throes of the heatwave. I have day ranging layers and day ranging broilers and I have been using ice -- but not the soda bottles. Instead, I am putting little shallow pans of ice cubes out in their pen, ice in their waterers to keep it cool for them, and also just spreading straight ice cubes on the ground in the hoophouse to help to cool them off.

They love it...the broilers, especially. Yesterday they were a bit tentative, but today they were fun to watch -- standing with their little feet in the shallow pans to cool off, laying their necks right on the ice cubes on the ground, and -- the funniest part -- they have come to see this as a bit of a shiny treasure trove.

A few of them will pick up small bits of ice in their beaks and take it to a safe place away from the others so that they can enjoy their treasure all by themselves. Of course, by this time and in this heat, the ice is starting to melt and they look all surprised when they cannot find it again.

They are looking a lot less stressed tonight than they were yesterday afternoon, so I'll keep icing them tomorrow, too. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 96 and Tuesday 93, so we'll have at least another few days of this.

 

[bills]

pips&peeps :

A mister works great. You can get the parts at home depot.

Dosen't this turn their run into a mud pit after a few hours??

 

[antiquebuff]

We have a tin roof on our coop and it is really hot so we took a sprinkler that goes from side to side and set it on top of the roof and run it for 15 min at a time. We put it on a timer and it works wonders!

 

[GallowayFarms]

Chickens love shade. What I have done is build little buildings with open sides so the breeze can blow through them and make alot of shade. Also put the water supply in the shade. I use well water which comes out of the hose around 50 to 60 degrees. So if I keep the pans in the shade the water stays cool throughout the day. The chickens love to stand in the pans ( I use 3 gal. rubber feed pans).

If you plant green beans on your fences the chickens will love you bc they will be able to eat them as they grow.

The only thing about having a fan outside would be if a thunder storm comes and it rains on the fan while it is plug in could be bad news.

Good luck with it all. Remember to start with making sure there is lots of shade.

Cheers

Nick