Keeping chickens cool in the summer?

[DanaW]

We do put a tub out for them filled with water (change it daily). Our bared rock (Flo) has learned to stand in it on hot days. She does this on a regular basis now. I even catch her nodding off in the tub of water as she gets relaxed in there. We call it her spa.

I did read someone who suggested keeping a pail of cool (not cold) water handy. If they are panting and their waddles are pink instead of red, or you think they are over heating, just pick them up and hold them in the cool water. I do this fairly regularly now as we are having days over 100. They resist until they feel the cool water and then they just seem to calm down. When they get out, they are not longer panting or holding their wings out.

 

[DoubleMM]

112° today... Giving them shade, frozen peas and poring cool water on their favorite dust spot. Their run is on old river silt and they seem to like it. Helps some, but anything above 105° is miserable.

Going to try the ice jugs.

 

[Frindizzle]

Hit 97 today...in Oregon!! Go figure...problem here is we are in the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains Range at elevation 4,543. So when it gets anything over 90 it's like the trees just 'suck' the air right out of you....awful. Girls are doing okay, though. Thier temporary run is in deep shade and I keep the sprinkler on low so it just hits inside the run by about a foot or so. So far so good kinda sorta....

I live in the northwest too, it has been hot...

 

[themadchicken]

Mine free range in my backyard and i have there's a lot of bushes for them to get out of the sun. I put a sprinkler under their favorite bushes every 3 or 4 days to keep the ground damp.I can always tell if the ground is drying out because they are digging holes to sit in and keep cool. I don't wet their dust bath holes since they are not under the bushes and are in the sun for most of the day. They seem to like their dust baths dry and hot. I also have 6 waters in shaded areas so they have cool water.

 

[lovetopaint]

My ladies like frozen applesauce.

 

[RobSherman]

I bought an inexpensive patio mister at Lowe's. It stands on it's own, no assembly, nor instalation are required. In the heat of the day, I hook the hose up to it, and the girls seem to appreciate it. I have noticed that they stop panting when it is in use. They also love cold watermellon anytime, but especially when it's hot.

 

[ctchopper]

So many great ideas from everyone! The heat solution truly is something that needs to be fine tuned for each person's (chicken's) situation. I'm still working on it. I have tried many of the suggestions here and am using some of them, but I can't seem to get the all-day solution figured out. I'm a teacher, so right now I am home all day and can run out, add ice, check their condition, etc. But my limitations are that it is a very small coop and I have dogs who are not chicken-safe to say the least. So I let them free-range for an hour in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon if I can be around and have the dogs in their run.

I have tried a mister but they absolutely hate it! They don't know what's good for them! My husband suggested a small, portable swamp cooler that he could put on a timer, so that when I go back to work, I know it will turn on at a given time and keep them cool(ish) through our stupid hot afternoons. I'm hoping that will keep their feed dry (because of our small run area, the mister hit everything). So, until we can try that, I have a fan on low (they don't like the wind, either) but it's placed on the end of our narrow run so they can get farther from it but they can't escape it. Any comments/critiques on that one? I swear, these girls are tougher to keep comfy than are the dogs. I guess I could let them in the house, too? Um, no.

In the meantime, they are chowing on frozen watermelon, lounging on a wet towel (gross) and I've even dunked them in a small fountain a couple of times when it's reached around 105 and they're standing around with their mouths open and their wings out. How did people raise chickens 100 years ago?? Just accepted losses, I guess? So, enough rambling. Thanks to everyone for all of your great ideas. I'm going to try to attach a picture of our beautiful but small coop and run so you get what we're dealing with. (We have four chickens.) The run is about 3X10.

 

[ekavi]

Our girls and goats will only drink the water that has a large ice cube in it. Potatoe salad from Sam's Wholesale store has large containers, perfect square to freeze. We have a juicer and now we can put the "mulch" in icecubes. Oh so much fun with these creatures.

 

[PrimroseMom1]

So many great ideas from everyone! The heat solution truly is something that needs to be fine tuned for each person's (chicken's) situation. I'm still working on it. I have tried many of the suggestions here and am using some of them, but I can't seem to get the all-day solution figured out. I'm a teacher, so right now I am home all day and can run out, add ice, check their condition, etc. But my limitations are that it is a very small coop and I have dogs who are not chicken-safe to say the least. So I let them free-range for an hour in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon if I can be around and have the dogs in their run. I have tried a mister but they absolutely hate it! They don't know what's good for them! My husband suggested a small, portable swamp cooler that he could put on a timer, so that when I go back to work, I know it will turn on at a given time and keep them cool(ish) through our stupid hot afternoons. I'm hoping that will keep their feed dry (because of our small run area, the mister hit everything). So, until we can try that, I have a fan on low (they don't like the wind, either) but it's placed on the end of our narrow run so they can get farther from it but they can't escape it. Any comments/critiques on that one? I swear, these girls are tougher to keep comfy than are the dogs. I guess I could let them in the house, too? Um, no. In the meantime, they are chowing on frozen watermelon, lounging on a wet towel (gross) and I've even dunked them in a small fountain a couple of times when it's reached around 105 and they're standing around with their mouths open and their wings out. How did people raise chickens 100 years ago?? Just accepted losses, I guess? So, enough rambling. Thanks to everyone for all of your great ideas. I'm going to try to attach a picture of our beautiful but small coop and run so you get what we're dealing with. (We have four chickens.) The run is about 3X10.

Nice. Swamp cooler is a good idea. If they aren't free ranging a mister does get everything wet. You might need to create a shaded fenced area for the daytime, safe from dogs and such and lock them in the coop at night, safe from nighttime predators. One idea is to cut a hole in the back/sides of the coop for better air flow. Then cover the holes with hardware cloth. You can then take the piece you cut out and hinge it to close when it's colder. I had to do that with my coops that were open on the sides and front but solid on the back.

 

[dclark]

I changed out the water bucket in my waterer with a 5 gallon cooler full of ice water. The ladies have been showering under the water nipples lately.