Keeping my chickens cool. Any suggestions?

[sophiechick411]

Looking for some ideas to keep my chickens cool. We've been having a heat wave for the past few weeks here

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm wondering if those big, blue ice thingies(for coolers) that you put in the freezer would help. I think if you have a few and put a light towel over them maybe some of the birds would lay on it, or near it.

I seem to remember a pet shop years ago that had a cooling mattress for dogs. I would think that could keep a few chickens cooler. Have to google it and see if it comes up. I know people use the water "misters", ice in the waterers - freeze gallon bottles of water and put it around the area. Shade, shade and more shade is great - real or shade cloth or whatever it takes. Fan in the coop well protected from chickens. Watermelon is great but, it goes fast.

When my friends silkie hen is panting like crazy, she puts out a shallow pan of water and the hen stands in it.

 

[sophiechick411]

Thank you. I'm gonna give your ideas a try. We love our chickens and want to keep them happy.

 

[MoonShadows]

We eat a lot of watermelon during the summer. We cut the watermelon into 4 pieces and take the flesh out. Afterwards, we freeze the rind, with a little pink flesh left on. On hot days I take one of these out of the freezer and put it in the run. The girls like pecking at this cool treat. We also freeze other fruits like strawberries and bananas for them.

Depending on your waterer, you can also try putting ice in the water.

Frozen water bottles stuffed in old socks and placed in the coop give them something cool to lie next to.

Also, do not be afraid to put a fan blowing in from one of the shady windows.

 

[sophiechick411]

Thanks for all your helpful info. We will try the frozen watermelon too.

 

[rachelwillow]

My girls had a lot of trouble in the heat a couple of weeks ago, the heat came on pretty quickly and we weren't prepared. I found an old, huge saucer (like for under a houseplant), it's pretty large like 24 inches across, or maybe more. It's plastic and I fill it with water, they use it for a kind of swimming pool. They stand in it and drink from it as well. I refresh it a couple of times a day if I am around and it's very hot. They have their regular waterer, and I added another small bowl of water that I refresh at the same time as the pool. Also I have a large gallon container (from salad mix at the grocery store) and I put an electrolyte solution in there. They love that and drink quite a bit. Save-a -chick in the packets or I found a bottle of tablets that dissolve in water. I have noticed very little panting since I started with all the fluids all over the pen. It's almost like having random water here and there encourages them to drink more.

I did do frozen watermelon floating in the water, they loved that. I tried a 2 liter bottle, frozen with water and placed that in the pool, but it seemed to melt fast and they didn't find it amusing. Sometimes I run the fan on the run, just for more air flow, and I have been running the fan into the coop in the early evening so it cools off some before they head in for the night. My girls are afraid of the fan though, so I have to be sure to turn it off before they are wanting to go in.

Also I read that when it's super hot, it's best to leave them alone, not to bother them a lot as they get excited and that raises their temp. Same goes for treats (other than cold ones) because the process of digestion heats them up, and they get all worked up when they get treats. And no corn scratch when it's hot as corn makes them heat up. Good luck!