keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[beccaWA]

Greetings from Eastern Washington.

Glad you revived this thread as it's getting hot out!

I like the trough idea. I have large blue spruces with boughs that go to the ground. This is where my birds hang out. I threaded mister hoses through the branches and it's amazing how much cooler it is under there. About 20 degrees cooler than my yard. They love it. I also wet the ground down under there, too. Not muddy, just cool.

If you take a 2 liter pop bottle (the kind that's straight, not hour-glass) and fill 3/4 with water & freeze, the giant ice cube can be put in a chicken waterer. I also keep buckets of water around the yard and dump ice in those, too. (I have an acre free range).

Unfortunately my coop gets VERY hot, as it's not insulated and doesn't have too much shade. I did buy those cheap bamboo curtains and put those over the windows. I'm going to try to make one of those styrofoam ice chest "air conditioners" with an ice block and a fan. Those look like they would work great.

Again thanks for the great tips and reviving the summer heat thread.

 

[MissStardust]

Not sure if anyone posted this yet sense it's a long thread, but I use muffin tins and bread pans to make frozen treats in. Add whatever snacks your birds like to some water or vegetable juice and freeze. My girls love it, plus it encourages them to ingest more water and it keeps them busy/ entertained. I also freeze treats by them self, grapes, berries, peas, corn, Apple slices, greens.

 

[Agarshak]

I also live in Phoenix az. I use a mist system and I freeze watermelon, corn. I also freeze water bottle to lay in their run..

 

[squirtsmomma]

This was at 10 this morning on our way to another day in the 90's. Just helping the young ones beat the heat with a block of ice with cooked rice and corn frozen in it.

 

[Betsy57]

Should fans be directed so air pulls into the coops or sucks the air out?

 

[twinsmom6]

It is going to but 117 degrees here in southwest Arizona this weekend. (yeah 117 F) We have a mister set up in the coop and they huddle around it.. a fan helps keep the cooling process going..
I am going to set out some frozen jugs of water in the coop too. Our coop has full shade via a roof over the run and the coop.. Circulation maintained by lots of windows placed in the coop- used mesh aquarium covers to make widows to keep air coming in - lots of roosting bars set up near the mister/fan. I used pie tins glass (metal gets hot) and filled with fresh water for wading and splashing around by them. Many of my chicken owner friends have lost some girls in the heat.

Hopefully this weather will get better soon. Any other suggestions helpful thank you in advance!

 

[mclanea]

I found this thread since our area is experiencing some unseasonably hot weather. It's 91 before 10 AM... that's very rare here... less than 10 days per year are like it.

We designed the coop so that they'd get morning sun and their run/coop would be shaded from about 11 on. In reality, most days we get a coastal fog that doesn't burn off until that time so they're pretty much in the shade all day.

Anyway, this morning I grabbed some material we use to cover veggies when it gets real hot and it seems to have helped create a bit more shade. I'm going to make one of those big frozen chicken popsicles here in the thread, too.

Hope they stay cool!

 

[twinsmom6]

it supposed to get to 119 F today...
so chicken cooler AC unit - works great but even block ice- dry ice combo needs to be changed up to every 2 hours when it is really hot. What has worked best to keep the girls cool is a mister system with a fan behind it (just outside the chicken wire to keep it poop free and safe) they like it and huddle around it.. The fan spreads the water even better so no pooling;; frozen veggie popsicles they love too. frozen water jugs for cuddling (none of the girls warmed up to the idea LOL) not as effective as mister and fan.

Southwest Arizona - its a dry heat !

 

[aldarita]

Misters work great in dry heat but not in humid places.... I made the mistake of installing misters inside the run (I was told they would work when humidity gets below 50% and using special orifices in the misters for more humid areas) not such thing, the temp dropped but not significantly to make a difference to my flock. Right now I have high speed fans, the run is completely covered and there is a nice breeze most of the time, I have lots of sand on the ground and when it gets very hot, I wet some areas so they can dust bathe. This year is particularly hot for a lot of us that live in the south.
I also have plenty of watering stations, the main one that they like best has electrolytes on it.



We also installed shades to keep the coop and the run from getting too hot.

 

[twinsmom6]

LUCKY CHICKENS