keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[KodiPie]

We live on the East Coast and are stuck in a weird weather pattern.
We have had high humidity and days of 85-89* temperatures.
I took my 1 gallon water container and put a smaller plastic bottle
that I had froze inside of it. The chickens just lived it. They also
love ice cold watermelon and grapes.They love the grape so much
I have taught my Rooster to jump on command for them. It is so funny!
I think the small wading pool is my next thing to try. If any one has tips on
high humidity and heat please let me know too. Happy summer to all!

 

[Sin City Chicks]

I love the idea of electrolyte supplements in their water. I am going to look into that. We live in Las Vegas. I let the girls out sometime between 4 and 5am, and by 7am, we are sometimes well over 100 degrees these days. In addition to several water sources, I keep frozen gallon jugs all around and it really seems to help. We keep the dirt around the coop nice and moist as well so they can dig trenches to sit down in. We are also trying a method we heard about recently. We keep a large pan filled with about 3 or 4 inches of water, and in the water we place porous red bricks. The idea is that the bricks absorb the water and it slowly evaporates. This creates a moist and slightly cooler place for the chickens to sit or stand on. So far they haven't figured it out, but we are going to keep trying. For now, since I am home most of the day, when it gets really hot and even I can't stand to be outside, I just bring the girls inside the house for a few hours. I have an extra large box in a designated area of the house for them to rest and cool off in. I put them back out in the early evenings. Don't know if this is something I should or should not be doing, but I love my girls too much to watch them suffer. We almost hit 120 degrees today.

 

[Chicken Staff]

Gertrude has been broody for about three weeks now and refuses to come out of her sweltering coop. Here is my solution to the triple digit heat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY-J0X5yd9U&feature=youtu.be

 

[katherinerose14]

Love reading all these things. I had no idea chickens ate watermelon.! love learning new things to keep my chcikens happy.!

 

[pollo disco]

my 7 hens : 5 sexlink and 2 ameracaunas recieve limited feed during the hot part of the day. I am adding more rice and veggies that my wife chops up for me. I have laid off the scratch. Only once in awhile. Also acv in the waterers. On hot stagnant days I took pails of water and dumped them in the run for the chickens to play in the mud. Then the girls usually just lay down in the shade near water and wait till the sun sets for bug hunting.

 

[OnceInALifeTime]

It has been staying about 100° here i have three wading pools for my chickens, geese and duck's they use them alot. i freeze tubs of water with bird seed and other treats in them and put them outside and my chickens love them! And i like them to cause they keep my girls cool and happy! I also feed cold watermelon but i make sure to slice it cause my OEG got trapped under a half once! Thank goodness i was out there!

 

[JNB]

Today I gave my 16 week old flock some Cold Watermelon It was a HUGE hit.... I turned a mister on for them.... they acted terrified Silly girls. After about an hour they were playing in it

For my laying flock I added 2 liter pop bottles filled with frozen water, to the run and coop. They loved them. Also I put frozen fruit in a suet holder.. Was A big hit with the older girls

 

[KilnChick]

I

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I live outside of New Orleans so it gets hot and humid here.    My husband put a ceiling fan in their coop that I turn on at night and I leave the window open.  It has a screen to keep out bugs. 
And their yard is nothing but shade trees.   We talked about getting a wade pool also if we need too.   He just put an old sink outside that constantly puts fresh water in it as it gets low.  That way I know for sure they always have fresh water.  I like the idea about cold watermelon too.  Will have to try that cuz they love anything special that I give them.
[/quoteI'm interested in knowing how your husband set up the sink to run fresh water when it gets low? I have been trying to come up with a way to do that, and I have 3 sinks to choose from. Would you mind sharing the info on that? I would really appreciate it.

 

[MarcoPollo]

We give our chickens frozen fruit and vegetables. Frozen banana slices with a bit of plain yogurt is always a favorite! Just installed a little fan too and they stand by it during the hottest part of the day. I add ice to their water container and also give them gallon plastic bottles that have frozen water in them. I lay the bottle on its side and they will stand in the cool water that drips from the bottle. I used a homemade "swamp cooler" last year by hanging a bed sheet on one side of the chicken run and hosing it down with cool water. The sheet I used got so moldy during storage that I can't use it this year. The chickens love days that are breezy. I really hate seeing them pant when there's no breeze and it's just miserable. The hour before sunset is when they seem to be most active, especially dust bathing.
From what I am reading here, I need to go buy a watermelon!

 

[PrairieChickens]

I built a sort of box out of cinder blocks with a roof over it and ran a mister on it. The water soaked into the bricks, then as it evaporated, it cooled the inside of the box giving the chickens a sort of air conditioning to retreat to when the heat got too much. Even though our temps topped out at over 115 for the past two years, we did not lose a single chicken to the heat.