Lessons learned while trying to beat the heat...

[L2fly]

I have a small pre-fab coop/run, with three young birds. This week, our temps are ranging from highs of 108-101, Sun - Sat. My coop/run is under trees but gets afternoon sun, so I put up a 10X10 Cool-a-roo shade awning Saturday, and I've been experimenting with one of those free-standing misters from Home Depot, on a timer. But, each time it goes off, my three girls HIDE from the water, under the coop!

This time I was curious to see if the higher temperatures would temp them to be under the mist at all. Nope! The only thing that appeared to benefit from the moisture was flies, as it turned my nice, dry sand run into fly nirvana. So I removed the misting system.

I've got solar powered fans on order, and today at lunch I'll run an extension cord back there for a fan, until those arrive. I'll put a cake pan in the run, full of ice, for dipping feet & beaks, with a couple of frozen water bottles.

Anything else anyone can think of, to keep my girls from melting?

 

[Stephine]

Something I read recently was to put corn in water with one end of a long string and make a hanging frozen treat. This gives them something to play with as they chip away at it to get to the treat inside. 110+ degrees.....may not last long but maybe worth a shot. You can also make a mini air conditioner using your fan and a small cooler with ice. Two holes in the cooler, one to blow air Im With the fan, pushing air across the ice, the other hole directed into the coop or area where the chickens area expelling cold air. Worked great camping, should work for chickens. Also, freeze a huge block of ice instead of ice cubes, it will last longer. Good luck

Frozen treats are great, but they shouldn't be offered in a way that encourages unnecessary activity. The chickens should be kept calm in the heat and chasing after swinging treats will just warm them up. Just plunk the treats in a dish or two or three to assure easy access for all and add a little cool water.

 

[Mrs Howey]

I give my chickens frozen blue berries when the heat starts to go up. I just place them out by the coop (thats where they stay in the heat) in the shade of my coop which happens to also be by the door. I also place some in the waterer to keep that cool. My chikens like standing on the blue berries till they are about half defrosted then they eat them and they like picking the blue berries out of the waterer. I wash the waterer when i change the water out (i change it often to keep the water cool). I also keep melons in my refrigerator as a cool treat for them. I like to offer them the fruit because its juicey and helps keep them hydrated. I also offer them frozen peas and chilled zucchini and tomatoes so they arent always eating fruit and have more variety in their diet.

 

[Percheron chick]

I put my kitchen waste in cottage cheese containers, cover in water then freeze. Place it in a feed pan and as it melts they eat the goodies. Just squeeze the container and it pops right out. You can do the same with their feed.

 

[SonoranChick]

This is great advice, I've also read not to disturb chickens I. The heat of the day during the summer. They need to rest and movement creates heat and energy. This is from the book "Storeys Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow

 

[Stephine]

My girls have finally figured out the pavers in a tub of water heat sink set up - yeah! Now I see them panting hard and walking over to stand on the pavers until they can keep their little beaks closed again and then step off and move around for a while. The frozen water bottle in the nest boxes is a big hit, too. I ordered a new shade cloth for the run - aluminet - and am now feeling a bit more confident for the rest of this heat wave.

 

[aart]

.... I definitely would NOT give them any corn in the heat. There's something in the way their bodies process corn that generates extra heat. We only give them corn in the winter when we're trying to keep them warm.

This is a bit of a fallacy.
Any digestion creates heat.
...and most chicken feeds are primarily corn.

 

[TXchickmum]

-always boiling hot in the summer here in Texas. I keep two large fans on the coop (and the coop is mostly open to air in the summer on three sides). Also, I place a mister in front of the run with a large fan right behind it. The fan blows the mist into the run, keeping a good area cool. The chickens love it! I freeze milk jugs full of water, place them in the waterers, and change them out periodically during the day (usually about every six hours). -seems to make summers tolerable for my old girls.

 

[Stephine]

For anyone interested in what people who studied this issue have to say about it, this is from a different thread (sorry, can't figure out how to link):

Ok, the question at hand is whether feeding corn to poultry during hot weather is detrimental. The traditional wisdom is that it makes the bird hot which can lead to greater heat stress and even death in hot weather.

When nutritionists talk of corn being a "hot" feedstock they are referring to the caloric content. Corn is much higher in calories per pound than most cereal grains. People then mistakenly assume that a "hot" feed must make an animal hotter. In defending this they say the excess calories must produce more heat making the animal hotter or they think that that "hot" refers to the animal's temperment, that feeding excess calories makes
them more energetic thus burning excess energy that increases the animal's temperature.

Getting down to the basics of nutrition, a complete ration consists of proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates, lipids (fats), vitamins and minerals. Energy available in a ration is stated in calories. If you were to burn a portion of a ration in a flame to extract all energy you would be measuring the Gross Energy available in kilocalories per kilogram.

All of this energy is not availale to the animal. A certain portion of energy is passed on through fecal matter. The remaining is termed Digestible Energy. A portion of this energy is passed on through the urine and creation of gases. What is left is Metabolizable Energy, but once again all of this energy is still not available to the bird. A portion of this energy is expended as heat in digestion and metabolic processes. This portion is referred to as the Heat Increment. What is left is Net Energy used in maintenance and production. Maintenance being the energy used in daily activities and production being energy used in growth, replacement, and reproductive products.

The Heat Increment is what we are concerned with. The heat produced in digestion is related to the fiber content of the feedstock. The higher the fiber, the more heat. Heat produced in metabolism differs among the nutrients in a feed ration. For protein the heat increment is 20-30%, for carbs, 10-15% and for fats, 5-10%. (Best numbers I could come up with, they vary among different texts).

Based on this, some nutritionists recommended formulating feed rations by Heat Increment to reduce heat stress in livestock. Since animals cut back on feed intake during hot weather, they recommend increasing total energy in the ration to help the animal maintain on the reduced intake. They also recommend lowering protein levels and feeding more carbs, or even better, fats, which have the lowest Heat Increment. Additionally they recommend low fiber rations to reduce the heat increment from digestion.

So where does that leave corn? Well corn is high energy, easily digestible, and low in protein, everything that the nutritionists recommend to reduce heat stress.

Conversely, in cold weather, birds will eat to meet their energy requirements. If a coop is maintained at moderate temperatures feed intake stays fairly normal. If the temperature plunges the birds eat more to maintain their temperature. If they are eating an excess of standard rations they are getting too much protein in which the excess is excreted in the urine, leading to poor feed conversion. Once again, corn to the rescue! Supplemental corn can help them meet their energy requirements and cut their protein intake back to required levels.

Quote:

Mac:

I have a PhD in Livestock Nutrition and could not have summarized the use of corn in monogastric rations better. Thanks for a very good explanation.

Jim Ph.D. KSU 1998

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:

Mac:

I have a PhD in Livestock Nutrition and could not have summarized the use of corn in monogastric rations better. Thanks for a very good explanation.

Jim Ph.D. KSU 1998

And I taught High school and Adult production Ag for 10 years and have farmed all my life. I agree Jim . Thanks Mac!​

I think it is really interesting how naturally we assume that if something is food for the cold it has to be bad in the heat!

 

[FlyWheel]

Just so y'all know, fans don't cool the air, they just move it around. The only reason it feels cool to you is the moving air speeds up the evaporation of the moisture on your skin. Unless your chickens are wet or have learned how to perspire I can't see how it would help much, other than pulling out the humidity in a coop from their breathing.