Keeping my girls hydrated in extreme heat

[snow5164]

What about the water temperature? If it is about 100F air temperature, it won't be long before the water in a 5 gallon bucket is 100F. Chickens won't drink hot water. frozen water bottles dropped in the bucket or fount a couple times a day will help.

I use large rubber feed tubs with a frozen water bottle floating in them for foot baths that some birds will take advantage of.

I can open the top of my 5 gallon waterer and add fresh cold well water , I do this every morning and check them in the afternoon.

I like the frozen water bottle idea, I’ll add that to my birds kitty litter pools thanks

 

[mrs3rrl]

We normally have no triple-digit heat waves, but this year we had several days - up to 108! My chickens like to hang out under some small trees/bushes, so I watered this area well - until it created little stream that ran off. There's some leaf litter in that area, which helped retain the moisture. They loved it! Didn't seem distressed about the heat at all. I also have a leaky faucet that I leave on, and they help themselves to it.

It also helps to have a breed that is heat-hardy. Some breeds do well in the heat, some do well in the cold. Some do well in both. I have 2 New Hampshires and 2 Red Sex Links.