Keeping Chickens cool while not home

[FettuccineAlfredo]

We live in the South and it is very humid and hot. We are going out of town and leaving our chickens for a week. We have a great baby sitter. They will have lots of water but I am worried about the heat.

I have been giving them frozen watermelon and misting the run with the hose. They are in a completly shaded area with a cover over their run. Ideally they would have a fan that ran during the hottest part of the day but no one will be there to make sure it doesnt catch on fire. I would also put a mister on a timer, but again would hate to leave our water running and have somthing go wrong. The babysitter works and might not be there in the middle of the day - either mornings or evenings- so she cant give them frozen treats when it matters. Any suggestions on what to do? We leave Thursday and dont have much time.

 

[BlakeDucks1515]

As long as they have shade and water they should be fine. I don’t see why a fan would be an issue or a water sprinkler. I have a fan in my barn for my ducks and it has been great. Also, a sprinkler shouldn’t cause any issues either. I’m not usually home during the day and have both.

 

[Chickensandbirds]

Shade in the run and plenty of ventilation in the coop is the primary concern, IMO. Fresh, cool water is a must. Our waterer (5 gallon) is filled fresh each morning, and is in the shade all day. When it is 96-100+ it still gets hot. -have to place a frozen ice jug in it each morning, or add ice throughout the day to keep it cool. (We fan and mist ours daily, too. -wouldn't be as concerned about that, if they have shade, as I would be water getting too hot.)

 

[Barbs Girls]

We put frozen chopped fruit in a bundt cake pan, fill it with water and put in freezer overnight. If she goes to work in the afternoon, she could get it out. Set the pan in water to loosen the fruit rung, dump in a foil pan and put in the shade/ run. The girls love pecking at it and it helps them cool down.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I make giant ice cubes out of empty 2 ltr bottles. If she is willing to put an ice cube in the waterer as needed it should keep the water cold as it melts. Being giant it will melt slower.

 

[FettuccineAlfredo]

Will do! I like the idea of putting frozen waterbottles in their water.

 

[blackdog043]

I was away last week (8 days) no one looking after my chickens. I have 2 horizontal nipple waterers (10 gal) and 2 no waste feeders (40 lbs of feed) all my chickens survived and it was very hot and humid. I have a covered run that gets some sun early in the day, but the whole coop and run sit under trees. I don't do anything special when it gets hot and they do fine.