keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[cleopatra]

It hit 105 here last weekend. I sprayed the ground down in the shaded areas where they like to hang out. I put some ice in the waterers and made sure any fruits and veggies I gave them were all chilled down. I let mine free range in the hottest part of the day since most of the yard is shaded. That way they can pick the coolest spots out themselves.

 

[HiDesertChicken]

I also live in the SoCal desert near Joshua Tree Nat'l Park. I use metal oil drain pans filled with water and change it 2-3x a day. The cheapest ones I found were on the DOItBest website. Several are standing in the water right now. I have an enclosed coop, but the run is covered with industrial shade cloth I was given from construction sites where they have to install that dark green wind-block mesh. Works better than all the other shade cloth. I also feed alfalfa daily and wet it down thoroughly. They then dig in the wet areas and rest in the cool earth.

 

[mrealm]

It was fairly hot a few days here last week and I took a deep storage bin lid and filled it with water. I had read that chickens like to stand in water and experience cooling through their feet. At first they ran over to the lid and stared at it for while as if it is was going to jump up and attack them. They shortly realized it was water and they all began to drink from it. After a short time they all decided to either stand in it or run through it from end to end.

 

[Pensionista]

My girls don´t have to suffer 100 degrees, but certainly it gets up to 80. I get the hose out and make their run sodden so that they are paddling in water. They love it because it also softens up the ground so they can ferret around more. Their eggs are really big now (I´ve only had them since the spring).

 

[jodoe10255]

i have two kiddie pools and a stream running through my land but the girls don't go in them. we've had some very hot and humid weather lately and they tend to stay in the wooded area.

 

[appps]

Well at 100 I didn't worry too much other than shade and cool water. I figure like the cold they have to acclimatize to our regular hot to survive those super hot days we end up getting each year

When it hit 104 I rigged up a misting spray and locked them out of their coop as it was hotter but that's of course where they wanted to be.

When it hit 113 I worried myself sick lol and ran the mister all day long They all made it through the freakish hot couple of days.

 

[EddieH]

When it gets really hot the wife puts a homemade chicken AC in the run with them. Take a small (about 13 gal) trash can and lay it on its side. Put a frozen gallon jug in it. The chickens will go inside the trash can and stand by the frozen jug. We also have fans and the main coop has a ceiling fan.

 

[MamaChik]

I live in Mesa AZ where the temps this week have been 115-120. My girls have been major troupers in this hellish environment. This is the hottest they have ever experienced and they are even laying eggs through this whole mess.
I have their entire pen area covered for shade and a box fan blowing through there as well as a small fan blowing in the coop. i have a big screened area on almost all the walls of the coop to make sure there is plenty of ventilation. In the shade near the box fan i have a nice tub filled about 4 inches with water for them to stand in and cool off. they love taking turns standing in the tub then coming out and standing in front of the fan. I also water down the sand pit in the morning so that later in the day they can lay in the nice cool sand holes. When I get home from work they get cold watermelon.
I love my gurls!!!

 

[Apachakita]

We live in AZ near the Mexican border and we just had temps of 118* to 120 degrees. My chicken coop is chicken wire covered in sunscreen mesh. I have a misting system inside and one on the outside. A fan at each end in a 10 X 10 coop. There is no chicken run, hubby built a little structure inside the coop with nesting boxes and an open area. I also hang covers on the sun side during the day. I have two small tubs that I fill with water and place a brick in each one. The girls love to stand on the brick to cool off. The fan on one end is hanging high off the ground behind the mister to blow the mist. The fan on the other end is low on the ground and the girls stand in front of it. With the hot temps this week-end the highest temp in the coop was 106 and everyone did just fine. I also give them frozen watermelon every afternoon.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

TONS of water!