keeping hydrated

[zoruagalaxy]

during humid and hot temperatures aside from the shade, is it ok to put sprinkled ice on the floor where the chickens lay for keeping them cool? Also i heard people sometimes dip their feet in water to keep them from overheating, does that work aswell?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Foot baths work very well. You don't have to dip their feet. They will just stand in the water. Their blood vessels in the legs and feet while standing in water will serve to cool their body temperature.
I wouldn't sprinkle ice if there is bedding as that will just melt, make the bedding wet causing mold/fungus and give a good environment for coccidia to reproduce.
For the foot baths, I use big rubber feed tubs with a frozen water bottle floating in the water. I refill water bottles and freeze them.
Having the right breed of chicken for hot climates will negate the need to worry.

 

[3KillerBs]

Here's my article on Hot Climate chicken keeping: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

And @aart's article on Extreme Weather: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

Since our heat arrived late and suddenly after a cold spring, I did something yesterday that I don't normally do. When I made up a batch of electrolytes (in a separate waterer with plain water also available), I used some of the solution to make wet mash, which I normally make with plain water).

Chickens love wet mash and it's a good way to ensure that they're well-hydrated.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Going to Up Vote wet mash for helping with hot. My experience agrees. I've had less luck with foot baths.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I make wet mash with whey and kefir and then I freeze it and give it to them frozen. It is a very popular ice-cream treat.

When feeding close to 80 birds each day (at my peak), that's a lot less practical. How about 58 degree spring water, straight from the aquifer?

 

[DonyaQuick]

My chickens like to eat ice. They did this in the winter eating little bits of ice that formed on the fence. It was abnormally hot yesterday for the time of year so I sprinkled some mini ice cubes in the run for them. They played with some of it and ate some; it seemed to help a little bit although not a lot. Hosing down part of the run's substrate with cold water seemed to do more for them over a longer time frame. Lets them get their feet wet and evaporatively cool as they walk around. I also give them a little wading tub but I had to teach them to use it by picking up each one and standing them in it a couple times; one still doesn't like it that much but a couple others did make reasonably frequent use of it.

 

[3KillerBs]

Hosing down part of the run's substrate with cold water seemed to do more for them over a longer time frame.

I *sometimes* wet a portion of the run for them.

Never all of it -- I believe in giving chickens choices and letting them make up their own minds what they like best.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I wasn't suggesting it would work for you - but for a small flock it is a nice fun cooling treat. Someone else might enjoy trying it.

I wasn't disagreeing, just pointing out that it's a size dependent solution. Though yours carries some of the benefits of fermenting, which mine does not.

 

[K0k0shka]

Mine hate foot baths. I tried all kinds of ways to entice them to step into the shallow 18" planter dish I used, including sprinkling scratch in the middle of it in the water. They'd stretch their rubber hose necks to pick out the scratch, without putting a single toe in the water. They tolerate me holding them in the water, but the moment I let go, they jump out. What they really do love though, is when I hose down the run. It always has holes here and there from them digging, so it forms puddles, which they love sloshing through and drinking from. I leave their favorite dust bathing corner dry, and wet the rest. They scratch through it, walk on it, sit in it, and have all kinds of contact with the cooled-off ground. So that's my go-to method. That, and a chilled watermelon cut in half.

 

[RoyalChick]

Going to Up Vote wet mash for helping with hot. My experience agrees. I've had less luck with foot baths.

I make wet mash with whey and kefir and then I freeze it and give it to them frozen. It is a very popular ice-cream treat.