Keeping the Girls Cool in 90s & 100s temperature...?

[analyticalblonde]

I completely understand the struggle. I think I would try the breathable cloth on the west wall if I were you. Did you put up your misters? If so how are they working out for you? I'm putting mine up today, just trying to decide the best place. It's supposed to hit 100 again today an the humidity is at 21% right now.

I installed the mister yesterday and a complete surprise was my girls started kicking up the moist straw and scratching down to the dirt and completely immersing themselves and dust bathing! I was so happy!!!! I am not too worried about the straw getting molded as it is too hot, dry, and with the girls kicking up and about, it would dry out before any mold could set in! I am happy that they didn't get alarmed by the mister noise. I will be looking on-line to see if I can find a canvas clothe today (another poster said to look for one that has 90% UV protection). Hopefully, I can find something I can hook to the run walls...If not, Hubby is pretty ingenious to figure a way to mount it.

 

[analyticalblonde]

This is off topic, but can I ask what model/make your run is, where you bought it, and how much it cost? I really like it

I picked up our run from Tractor Supply...here is the link:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/producers-pride-welded-wire-canopy-coop-gc001

When we purchased it, it was a new product they offered so we paid the full price...it is on sale now. The wonderful thing about the purchase as it was free delivery. It comes in a substantial metal crate and the delivery guys had a forklift to bring it right into our garage! The assembly instructions are pretty good and my husband & I were able to build it together in about 3 hours. We did several modifications...1) we cut additional venting holes at the top of the coop; 2) we installed rubber shower liner along the top of the nesting boxes because when it rained (ah, the good 'ole days), we saw water had leaked in; 3) the set-up comes with anchors, but where we live, the winds do gust up to 45 mph and we knew with the canopy, it would act like a sail, so we purchased J-hook rebar and pounding those into the ground around the entire perimeter which was two-fold - it anchors the coop/run and was used to anchor the 1/2" x 30" hard wire we installed around the entire perimeter; 4) we purchased a solar panel, back-up battery, photo-sensored chicken door from these people (https://chickendoors.com/?doing_wp_cron=1563818448.7269339561462402343750)...absolutely the best investment! We installed the door on the south side and have the manual door that the coop comes with available should the auto-door fail; 5) I painted the entire exterior of the coop with Olympic Maximum Stain/Sealant in One to protect it from the elements (not the interior) prior to constructing the set-up; 6) we purchased roofing "goo" and re-sealed the roofing material that covers the nesting boxes; 7) we purchased door shims to better secure the roosting bars inside of the coop. The only drawback I can see so far are the nesting boxes seem a bit small for my girls but won't know for sure until they start laying. They may or may not use the boxes...we shall see. The coop/run system is well designed and thought through but only needs some minor modifications. It is perfect for my 10 girls.

 

[analyticalblonde]

Curious what your humidity levels are?

True Dat! I have some 70% shade cloths ad they are barely effective.

Higher protein feed can help because they eat less volume when it's hot.
The corn having a warming effect is a bit of a fallacy, any digestion creates 'heat' and most feeds are corn based anyway.

Hi aart!

It is good to hear from you again!

The humidity levels here range from upper teens to the lower 30%. So our heat is a dry heat...I would be a mess if the humidity was like when I lived in Indiana! I live in a high desert area at about 4500 ft elevation. It is dry, hot and not much grows here unless you throw GALLONS of water on it...typical sagebrush, wild weeds and grasses, etc.

I'm thinking about getting a shade cloth just to hang on the west side where the sun is at its most brutal...

 

[igorsMistress]

The thing that works best for me is cool water to stand in and a mister. My flock will use these before they'll eat when it's hot. It can be as simple as ice cubes spread out in the coop in the hottest part of the day. In the evenings they enjoy puddles of water to stand in before bed.

Also, electrolyte solution every few days in one waterer and changing their water in the afternoon for cooler water helps.

 

[analyticalblonde]

I installed the mister yesterday and a complete surprise was my girls started kicking up the moist straw and scratching down to the dirt and completely immersing themselves and dust bathing! I was so happy!!!! I am not too worried about the straw getting molded as it is too hot, dry, and with the girls kicking up and about, it would dry out before any mold could set in! I am happy that they didn't get alarmed by the mister noise. I will be looking on-line to see if I can find a canvas clothe today (another poster said to look for one that has 90% UV protection). Hopefully, I can find something I can hook to the run walls...If not, Hubby is pretty ingenious to figure a way to mount it.

By the way, I only ran the mister for about two hours from 2PM to 4PM which did cool the hot side down a bit but mostly because I didn't want to saturate the run and give the straw time to dry out a bit. I think I will continue this approach because for the next few days, it is going to be triple-digits here.

 

[analyticalblonde]

The thing that works best for me is cool water to stand in and a mister. My flock will use these before they'll eat when it's hot. It can be as simple as ice cubes spread out in the coop in the hottest part of the day. In the evenings they enjoy puddles of water to stand in before bed.

Also, electrolyte solution every few days in one waterer and changing their water in the afternoon for cooler water helps.

I purchased two kitty litter trays and have filled them with water so they can dip their feet into them...so far, they are just walking around them and looking at them as if they are intruding on their free space...anyway, I have read somewhere that chickens a leary to change so it may take a few more days before they get it (if at all). I have noticed a reduction in them eating which worries me because they are coming up on 4 months old and typically should start laying at that point. Someone on the thread mentioned when they are heat-stressed, their laying usually diminishes...mine have not started yet so a delay from the heat is OK for me as long as my girls can tolerate this heat. I got the mister set up yesterday and from what I could see, it was a great idea...I will be continuing to use the mister during the hottest part of the day for a few hours a day and hope it alleviates some of the misery.

 

[analyticalblonde]

I feel your and @analyticalblonde pain. I am in NW CO and also in the high desert. Most people just don't understand how dry it is where we live. We had a beautiful back yard and lawn for a few years after we moved in here, but after the extreme drought a couple of years back, we gave up. It was costing us over $300 a month in water to try and keep it alive and it was a losing battle so we gave up. It's still costing us $100 or more in water trying to keep the front lawn alive.
I was thinking about trying misters for my girls as they are all panting something awful, glad to know that it does help and I will be setting them up today. On a plus note, even though it was 100 degrees yesterday, I still got my first egg! @analyticalblonde I hope the misters are helping your girls and they are doing better.

Thank you so much @hispoptart ... I am so happy for you! I truly hope the mister works for both of us...just about pulling my hair out to make my girls comfortable!

 

[igorsMistress]

Great news that the mister works! Some of my flock prefer that and others the ice cubes on the ground in their coop. These guys haven't figured out the wading bins yet, they drink from them instead oh well.

 

[igorsMistress]

One thing about shade cloth...don't go all the way down to the ground with it if your breeze typically blows from the hot side. It's a screen but it does block airflow a bit. Leave 6 inches or so. You can purchase up to 90% shade cloth online. I have 80% over a garden...it's definitely cooler than without it in there.

 

[hispoptart]

Thank you so much @hispoptart ... I am so happy for you! I truly hope the mister works for both of us...just about pulling my hair out to make my girls comfortable!

This heat is just crazy. We've already had a few small fires in our area do to dry lightening strikes. The misters I have are old garden misters and I set them up but they had the ground quite saturated with in 5 mins. So those are not going to work. I'm looking at getting the one you bought. It has so really good reviews. How long was it before the ground started to get wet?