Keeping orpingtons cool in summer

[Nikki80]

I'm getting buff and lavender orpington chicks in March and was wondering how best to keep them cool in the summer once they're able to move into their coop/run? Where I live, summer tends to be in the low 90s but it's not surprising if it gets to 100. Coop has plenty of ventilation, they'll have plenty of shade in the run, and I plan on adding a kiddie pool with shallow water on hot days that they can walk through. Anything else that I can do?

 

[TooCheep]

That should pretty well cover it. I have comparable weather and it has worked well for me.

The only addition I recommend to people beyond shade and ventilation is access to open water on especially hot days. Nipple waterers work well, but slow down drinking and open water allows them to drink more deeply. The pool should cover that.

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

What youre doing sounds enough. As toocheep said, open water for them to drink from is important.
Good luck!

 

[StacyT]

Summers here we get highs between 100-120. My Orpington’s don’t like it when it starts to get above 100. On really hot days I keep an eye on them and if needed they’ll get dunked in a pool to cool them off. Otherwise I keep the drinking water cool by putting blue ice in their water and give them plenty of shade. I tried setting up a kiddy pool for them to walk in when they get hot but all they did was drink out of it. I had better luck digging holes and filling them with water.

 

[SourRoses]

I've found water temperature to be really important. On the hottest days I go out around noon and run the hose until the water is cooler, fill a gallon bucket and bring that to them. Depending on the temp, I might repeat that about 3 pm.
I know a lot of people use ice but sometimes it seems like they're putting it into sun heated water? In any case, make sure your water sources are always in the shadiest place you can arrange.
When chickens get hot they seek out the water frequently, it's one of their primary ways to cool down.

Aside from that, it's important to have deep shade. I wouldn't be able to keep this breed in Florida if it weren't for our Grandaddy Oak trees.
If the sun slants in to your run too much, you can add potted plants / bushes to the outside of your run on the afternoon side, or use shadecloth, etc.

(I kept English Orps and now their floofy descendants.)

 

[JenniMcChick]

Ditto on all said above.
Texas summers get brutal, but my Orpington girls made it through their first Summer last year with some help from "Mom".
We bought sun screen tarps that cover both ends of run where there is no tin roofing, only chicken wire, & have them drape over 12-18 inches along the side walls also. We left one side up year round, and removed the other during the winter when they were more likely to want that sunshine.
That tarp will go back up in about a month or so.
I also froze 1 gallon water bottles & placed in the plastic tub & the hollowed out tree stump set up as a dust baths. The girls cuddled up next to them. I rotated those out during the day as they melted. Also offered them chilled watermelon halves & frozen blueberries in the afternoons.
I tried some cute IG or Pinterest frozen water treats with frozen berries in them, but the girls weren't fans. They did look really pretty, but no point if the girls just let them melt w/no interest in them.
I also sprayed the run down once we were getting close to the hottest point of the day. The girls appreciated the cool ground & would immediately go scratch up a dust bath in the non-grassy areas of their run & chill in the cool earth.
We have only gotten to high 80s so far this year, but now that they are older & free-range during the day, they have many more options of shady spots with a breeze that they've discovered on their own & go to at various points during the day to chill.
Once Summer gets here, I'm assuming I'll use the same methods that worked for us last year. Only addition so far is the additional water containers I've placed throughout our property so they don't have to go all the way back to the coop for some.
Good luck with your new babies & enjoy every minute of their cute fuzzy days as they grow so fast!
I think you'll absolutely love them cause IMO Orpingtons are just the best!
Here's a pic of this year's babies: BBS Orpingtons being raised by broody buff that I raised last year.

 

[Nikki80]

Ditto on all said above.
Texas summers get brutal, but my Orpington girls made it through their first Summer last year with some help from "Mom".
We bought sun screen tarps that cover both ends of run where there is no tin roofing, only chicken wire, & have them drape over 12-18 inches along the side walls also. We left one side up year round, and removed the other during the winter when they were more likely to want that sunshine.
That tarp will go back up in about a month or so.
I also froze 1 gallon water bottles & placed in the plastic tub & the hollowed out tree stump set up as a dust baths. The girls cuddled up next to them. I rotated those out during the day as they melted. Also offered them chilled watermelon halves & frozen blueberries in the afternoons.
I tried some cute IG or Pinterest frozen water treats with frozen berries in them, but the girls weren't fans. They did look really pretty, but no point if the girls just let them melt w/no interest in them.
I also sprayed the run down once we were getting close to the hottest point of the day. The girls appreciated the cool ground & would immediately go scratch up a dust bath in the non-grassy areas of their run & chill in the cool earth.
We have only gotten to high 80s so far this year, but now that they are older & free-range during the day, they have many more options of shady spots with a breeze that they've discovered on their own & go to at various points during the day to chill.
Once Summer gets here, I'm assuming I'll use the same methods that worked for us last year. Only addition so far is the additional water containers I've placed throughout our property so they don't have to go all the way back to the coop for some.
Good luck with your new babies & enjoy every minute of their cute fuzzy days as they grow so fast!
I think you'll absolutely love them cause IMO Orpingtons are just the best!
Here's a pic of this year's babies: BBS Orpingtons being raised by broody buff that I raised last year.

I actually have a mini chest freezer (this thing is tiny which is perfect) ordered that will be specially for freezing water bottles and fruit for the chickens lol My fiance thinks I'm overdoing with the freezer but ours is always stuffed and my luck he'd think the frozen watermelon was a snack. Plus I've wanted chickens for years and FINALLY we own our own place with enough land for a moderately sized flock. I wanna do everything I can to keep my girls happy and healthy.

 

[JenniMcChick]

Love it! & so will your chickens.
& Tell your dear fiance you're not the only one "overdoing" it. Always good to have co-conspirators.
I had a larger sized mini-fridge up at school when I was teaching/coaching. It is now on the back porch and is dubbed the "Chicken Fridge". I divy up the huge bag of crumbles into gallon ziplock bags & keep it in there so it stays fresh. Also where I keep their mealworms & a gallon jug of water to refill the waterer in the run. Whatever got warm/hot then gets dumped on the ground in shady spots of the run. They LOVE to then go lay in it!
I just use the hose to refill the other water containers in our yard.
We're blessed to have an additional refrigerator and upright freezer in the garage that we use to store meat, as we butcher a steer each year & also store whitetail & axis meat harvested during hunting season. I use whatever space I can find in either of those 2 to freeze the additional bottles I go through during the Summer heat. FUN times! Thank God I no longer work full-time! These chickens ARE my full-time job over the sweltering Texas Summer months!