Keeping chickens in extreme heat

[aart]

We rarely hit 100 here, but regularly have waves of mid 90's with 80-90% humidity.

My birds are confined with no great deep shade for last half of the day so I have to be vigilant during heat waves. I do have shade cloths up on run, which helps, but still not deep shade.

To help cool down the coop I also have a box fan in the east window of coop, where it's shady most the day, and turn it on late afternoon...blows cooler air into coop and pushes hot air out.

To determine heat stress levels I go by activity level, if panting and wing holding seems extreme, I throw out a few treats to see if everyone is moving well.

I put out large shallow pans of ice cubes late afternoon, they walk in and sit on them and sip the water as it slowly melts...used to add water but they would gorge on too much too fast, I have seen a chicken suffer from an 'ice cream headache'.

I give a dose of Sav-a-Chick electrolytes/vitamins about once a week during heat waves. It really seems to help....started this after they saved a heat stroked hen once.

BIG(9x14x2") chunks of ice last all day for wading, sitting, and sipping. This works much better than small ice cubes.

Make room in your freezer, you'll be glad you did.

 

[jolenesdad]

Surprise surprise @aart is a genius.

I got an email of this thread and literally came here to say AART WHERE DO I BUY ICE THAT SIZE before seeing the photo.

 

[Shadrach]

It gets pretty warm here, 40 degrees centigrade plus mid summer.
The core temp of a chicken is around 41 degrees centigrade. Above 41 degrees it is not possible for a chicken to transfer heat to the environment.
Breed does have an influence on heat tolerance but once it gets past 41 degrees it doesn't matter what breed you have.
One way to deal with this is to provide shade. Not all shade is equal however.
Plants make the best shade. The nature of suitable plants means only the top foliage gets direct sunlight. The progressive layers/branches below are able to remain at lower temperatures. If there is any breeze blowing this adds to the cooling effect.
When it gets very hot here the chickens prefer to be outside and have over the years found 'cool' spots, often under shrubs growing under tree cover.
A couple of the Moroccan chicken keepers I've spoken to here build clay/mud shelters; using cane as the framework and three or four inches of mud/clay as a coating. These are built as domes with four openings opposite each other which allow entry for the chickens and catch any breeze. They don't have trees or shrubs to provide shade.

 

[Morrigan]

I'm in California also.
I always have old milk jugs filled with water that I freeze. I put them in their waters mid morning and switch them out later in the day if needed.

I have mister fans going through out the day that I turn off the misting part around roosting time.

I have a ton of big bushes that they like to dig under. I wet the run down in the mornings to help keep the soil cool.

I have the mesh shade cloth over the top and sun side of the run.

Also make sure the coop and run is plenty big enough for them to spread out.

This is exactly my routine as well. It gets very hot where I live in the summer -- many, many days of well over 100. I've found most like to hang out near the mister fan, and I make sure they have a pan of cool water in their preferred spot. I have orpington's and they seem to manage OK. I've found that my easter eggers with the tiny pea combs struggle the most.