keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[noobchicken]

We put a fan in the coop to circulate air. We also freeze gallon jugs and set them in the coop, our chickens lay next to the gallons. Our chicks free range so they dig holes to stay cool

 

[ChickenWhisper0]

I freeze my chickens waterers over night and put ice cubes in it through out the day! they seem to like it! I keep reading that they like to take dustbaths in the mud/wet dirt? is this true? do they not care? wouldn't it stay in their feathers?

 

[noobchicken]

I freeze my chickens waterers over night and put ice cubes in it through out the day! they seem to like it! I keep reading that they like to take dustbaths in the mud/wet dirt? is this true? do they not care? wouldn't it stay in their feathers?

Our chicks take dust bath. They ruffle up their feathers to get the dust out when they are done

 

[Becca J]

I froze some large chunks of ice inside some 16oz yogurt containers, then put the ice into one of their waterers. All of their water is in the shade, but the chicken house does get quite hot dispite the cross breeze blowing through it.

 

[whitt910]

I live in Southern California and for the last week it's been in the range of 90-100 which is ridiculously hot! We have buff orpingtons, rhode island reds, and barred rocks, who are free range during the day and put into their coop/run at night. I really worried because the orpingtons are heavily feathered, but everyone has been doing fine.. I bought a mister (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Cobra-Mistand-10057W/100373188) which i keep under their shade trees. At first they were like what is this, but now they enjoy it. I also wet the ground in the morning before we leave for work that way at least they can dig and dust themselves with cool dirt. I tried the frozen bottles, but noone laid beside them so i started putting them in their waters to keep the cool. I also freeze tons of fruits for them, watermelon, strawberries, blueberries (which are their favorite) and whatever else i think they might enjoy. So far so good, they do get hot and pant and will hold their wings away from their body, but short of bringing them inside there isn't anything else we can do. Plenty of fresh water and everyone seems to be doing fine...

 

[CountryGeorge]

I share a fan with the feathery ones, they get it during the heat of the day and I get it at night when I go to bed. I also planned ahead and placed the coop and run under a large ash tree so they have terrific shade during the summer when they need it.

 

[Fletch83]

So many great ideas in this thread! I'm in north Texas so we're just about to get into our super hot summer. My coop and run is underneath two shade trees and catches a nice cross breeze, which really seems to help a lot. Lots of extra water with tons of ice and frozen water bottles have been working for us so far! They also have access to plenty of dirt for dust baths.

 

[Big Zo]

great idea, where can i buy those cups???

 

[AZChickenQueen]

I am in Phoenix and I use the cheap misters that you can buy at Home Depot. They cost $12-$25 depending on how long of a run you need and are made of a flexible plastic tubing with little brass mister fittings. You just screw the end to a regular garden hose and it doesn't take much water to run 'em. My rule is once it hits 100, the misters go on and stay on until dusk or it gets under 100 - which means dusk this time of year, LOL! I have NO fall-off in egg production during the hottest months using the misters and I do put up shade-cloth over the enclosure as well to supplement the shade they get from their coop, nearby trees and plants. If you have hard water like I do, you may need to clean the brass fittings every few months by unscrewing them and soaking them in a little jar of lime-deposit remover overnight.

 

[aldarita]

I freeze my chickens waterers over night and put ice cubes in it through out the day! they seem to like it! I keep reading that they like to take dustbaths in the mud/wet dirt? is this true? do they not care? wouldn't it stay in their feathers?

I wondered exactly the same thing, I discovered that the sand gets dried very fast and then they just shake it. My chicks first walked funny because they did not know what was going on, the sand dried fast and everything went back to normal. Now I dampen the sand instead of making it muddy and mix it wit a rake, so based on my experience, not too much water is better and it still cools the sand enough for them to enjoy the baths and cool off. I just read here that putting frozen gallons of water on the sand works great so I am trying that tomorrow.