keeping chickens cool in summer heat

[newbiemimikim]

I too am from California and the only thing that I have been doing is the mister is running and a fan but they still look so hot. Poor Girls. I also go out and wet the ground. This seems to drop the temperature a little. I hope that we are done with our heat wave though. I would hate to lose any of my girls.

 

[AnimalQuackers]

I too am from California and the only thing that I have been doing is the mister is running and a fan but they still look so hot. Poor Girls. I also go out and wet the ground. This seems to drop the temperature a little. I hope that we are done with our heat wave though. I would hate to lose any of my girls.

Hi Newbie,

I am a newbie too, so you can take this advice with a grain of salt. I think the mister and the fan are good ideas, but I think they could benefit from some INTERNAL cooling, too. We gave our girls a slice of cold watermelon yesterday - at first they didn't know if was food, but in a few minutes, they went nuts and finished it down to the rind! We also add some ice to their waterer and have been using the little foot baths (we just use a glazed tray to a flower pot filled with water and some ice cubes). They do seen to enjoy that and stand in the cool water.

So, I think in addition to the mister and fan, try to get them some cool things to EAT. Might help!

Michelle in Massachusetts

 

[andreamcn]

That is just adorable!

 

[trooper]

I have a small fan in my coop.When I built it I also built it up off of the ground so that they can get get under it in the shade and where it is fairly cool.The end coops are about a foot off the ground and the middle one is about 18 ".I have windows for cross breezes and also a big shade tree.I have 3 coops tied together so they have plenty to get under.I also have a make shift lean-too for them to get under and get out of the sun.The back side of the coop is in the afternoon shade and all of this makes it better.

 

[RIR43]

I put a lot of ice cubes in the water and check the water a lot and make sure it is cool and put a fan in there if you do not have access to a fan or power source to get a fan to your chickens then you can put a tarp over half of the coup to make it shady and let a few puddles of mud in there

 

[Harborview Hens]

this is how we do it in Kentucky, lol..........

Red neck Hell! It's Brilliant!!!!! Going to do this tomorrow! Thankx

 

[SilkiesForEver]

This is how I do it.

 

[mikeharold]

In my part of Cali summer is rather warm and have our spells of 100+. This past week we were 110 for a couple of days and 103 or more pretty much the rest of the week. I did much of what is mentioned here. They are in complete shade and can go under the coop, but that's not enough. I wet the dirt under the coop in the morning and they dig in when it gets hot. Our normal waterer is a nipple system, but when it's that hot we put water in a pan and throw in froxen 1 liter bottles so they have ice water to drink, they love it. The biggest help though really was the mister system. Ours still don't like going out under it, but it cools the whole run and the cool air rushes under the coop. At the peak of the day the chicks were just hanging out under there not even panting even with it being well over 100! The misters are the best $25 I have spent on the chickens so far. I put mine on a garden timer so the misters come on around noon-1 o'clock just as it's starting to get good and hot. Lots of great ideas here, great thread.

 

[chickencoop789]

I dig holes in the shade and the girls sit in them to keep cool.

 

[chickwhispers]

Love all the great ideas here! Last year was my first year and I froze several gallon jugs and had a fan just blow across them and froze smaller containers that I added to their waterer. This year in northwest Ohio it's just starting to get into the 80's but when it gets warmer I think I might try the "brilliant redneck" version! Maybe my water will stay frozen longer!