keeping chickens cool in hot weather

[chickbird]

how do most of you in the south with the 90-100 summers keep your flock cool particularly in the coops or brooders...i'm not worried about the ones that can free range .

 

[Country Heart]

I'm in California and am thinking of adding a tinted raised roof the the secure wire roof currently above thier pen. I'm also looking at adding a mist system to the pen. Last summer I would hose down the pen area in the morning and it would help keep the area cool until later in the day.

 

[elmo]

Shade, shade and more shade. Replacing water frequently so it stays somewhat cool; some people even put ice in their waterer. Freeze jugs of water to put in the run so the chickens can stand next to them and cool off. Pans of water that the chickens can stand in. Misters. Spray a corner of the run with water so the dirt is cooler there.

I put reflective foil insulation on the top of my white polycarb roofed coop in the morning, then pull it off in the evening. This helps stop the coop from heating up like an oven under the sun.

Fortunately I also have heat tolerant breeds of chickens. I wish I could say the same for myself! This is already shaping up to be a miserably hot and humid summer in North Texas. Whew.

 

[ranchhand]

All that and I run a box fan when it's really bad. The chickens will stand in front of it, holding their wings out, to cool off.

Probably going to need it today, 96F, humid and a heat index of 105F.

 

[organicchef]

I've put some plastic bottles in the freezer filled with water. I'll put them out in the brooder around noon.....the fan is on and they're on a screened in porch.

 

[dparadise]

Definitely a fan, to move the air a bit and I pretty much started letting them decide for themselves where it's cooler. I let them out in the morning so they can free range and they mostly stay in the coop where the fan is! I bought a tarp for a temp rain cover on the run and put the silver side on the top so that it reflects some of the sun. It seems to help. It's been in the 90's here for over a month already and no break in sight until at least October.

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
what breeds do you have????

 

[chickbird]

Quote:
i have 3 20" fans and change water 3-4 times a day, i have reflective metal roofing and i've insulated with foam 4x8 sheets underneath, and i have a misting system but if left on it does wet the ground and i'm afraid that can increase diseases, haven[t tried the frozen bottles but will try that. my younger chickens want to stay in the coop although they could free range in many shady areas. thanks for all the ideas,

 

[noodleroo]

Mine like the frozen water in soda bottles. They like to sip the cold drops of condensation and some of them sit on the bottles.

 

[mamichi]

I just found this website today: http://www.countrychickens.com/country_chickens_4_007.htm

Unfortunately we lost a chicken today due to the hot weather

I feel like such a bad mommy, but we just weren't prepared for the extreme heat. We ended up putting a fan in the coop and wet down the run. That seemed to help a lot. We also put a large tray of water for them to get into but I don't think they ever got in.