Nearing 100 degrees F

[gpresdo]

Mine like it when I pour a bucket or two full of cold water on the ground and it makes puddles. They wade through the puddles and cool their feet down, and, as an added bonus, the water hydrates their yard waste bedding (which is otherwise very dry, as my run is covered), and all of a sudden they find little crass clippings and leaves and stuff to eat as they get moist again. So, added entertainment. I haven't managed to get them to use a wading pool of any other kind yet (the sled method, trash bin lid, baking tray etc - they just don't want to step in it). But they do like the puddles.

The reason that dirt/mud puddles ...vs container puddles...are more acceptable, they often get a worm coming up for air...not normally an attraction to water.
Even though chickens have a craw for grain processing..they love raw protein. Try meal worms and they go a little ballistic in wanting more.

 

[K0k0shka]

The reason that dirt/mud puddles ...vs container puddles...are more acceptable, they often get a worm coming up for air...not normally an attraction to water.

Yes, and also I don’t have to clean poopy sludge out of a container later

 

[Flockincrazy]

Puree watermelon poor it into muffin pans or icecube trays freeze it and give it to your chickens that's what I give mine on crazy hot days

 

[Jrios58]

Depending on the breed....plenty of shade and water will do. Movement of air in any form......fan...open window/door...breeze.... is a plus.
This is why breed selection is very important. Hot or cold.
We had heat index of 107 today with close hot sun.

That was the first thing I looked into was how well different breeds handle heat. It's hot from May thru September (at least!) In Texas. By the way, panting is normal, mine pant all the time right now.

 

[Tuwamare]

We're in Oregon as well. Our laying hens did pretty well with plenty of water and some icy treats (froze water with some scratch in it). The meat birds were suffering pretty bad. We have a big tarp draped over them. They didn't care much for the icy treats, but did enjoy the electrolyte water and a fan set up against their pen. They were all lying in the path of the fan, just enjoying the air flow. Didn't lose any of them. Plan on doing it again this weekend when the temps rise again.

 

[Need my chicken fix]

Right now, as I'm typing this, it's 90 degrees in Oregon.
Inside, the temperature is terrible. We have no air conditioning, and even using multiple fans isn't enough to keep us cool.

And as for our birds? They're out in the sun.

We hung up towels over the roof of their run to give them shade, and they've been in the shady spot for most of the day.
All day long they've been 'panting' with their beak open.
Two of our girls- Chickety and Valentina- have started lifting their wings whenever they get up and move to regulate temperature.
They have access to electrolyte water and we've been changing their fresh water constantly to keep it as cool as possible. They've spent most of the day laying in the shade or pecking at ice cubes we've frozen bits of apples into.
Right now, I have half a gallon of water in the freezer that- when frozen or very cold- I'm going to set into the coop so they've got something cool to huddle around.
Our girls are almost fully grown, about a month away from when we expect them to start laying.
However, from what we've gathered, young chickens have a harder time regulating their temperature than older chickens.

We're especially worried about Valentina- who, as opposed to our novogen browns- is a fully black australoop. She's been showing more signs of exhaustion from the heat than our other girls.

Is there anything more we can do for them to cool them down? We've given them shade, are offering them frozen treats, changing and cooling water constantly, and we're going to give them a frozen gallon to lean against in an effort to cool them down a bit more. But it's only supposed to get hotter as the week goes on, and we're getting increasingly worried that our girls are going to be suffering.

I wetdown the ground

Right now, as I'm typing this, it's 90 degrees in Oregon.
Inside, the temperature is terrible. We have no air conditioning, and even using multiple fans isn't enough to keep us cool.

And as for our birds? They're out in the sun.

We hung up towels over the roof of their run to give them shade, and they've been in the shady spot for most of the day.
All day long they've been 'panting' with their beak open.
Two of our girls- Chickety and Valentina- have started lifting their wings whenever they get up and move to regulate temperature.
They have access to electrolyte water and we've been changing their fresh water constantly to keep it as cool as possible. They've spent most of the day laying in the shade or pecking at ice cubes we've frozen bits of apples into.
Right now, I have half a gallon of water in the freezer that- when frozen or very cold- I'm going to set into the coop so they've got something cool to huddle around.
Our girls are almost fully grown, about a month away from when we expect them to start laying.
However, from what we've gathered, young chickens have a harder time regulating their temperature than older chickens.

We're especially worried about Valentina- who, as opposed to our novogen browns- is a fully black australoop. She's been showing more signs of exhaustion from the heat than our other girls.

Is there anything more we can do for them to cool them down? We've given them shade, are offering them frozen treats, changing and cooling water constantly, and we're going to give them a frozen gallon to lean against in an effort to cool them down a bit more. But it's only supposed to get hotter as the week goes on, and we're getting increasingly worried that our girls are going to be suffering.

I wet down the ground really well and then when the water soaks in ground mine lay in the cool mud.

 

[SHeld]

Right now, as I'm typing this, it's 90 degrees in Oregon.
Inside, the temperature is terrible. We have no air conditioning, and even using multiple fans isn't enough to keep us cool.

And as for our birds? They're out in the sun.

We hung up towels over the roof of their run to give them shade, and they've been in the shady spot for most of the day.
All day long they've been 'panting' with their beak open.
Two of our girls- Chickety and Valentina- have started lifting their wings whenever they get up and move to regulate temperature.
They have access to electrolyte water and we've been changing their fresh water constantly to keep it as cool as possible. They've spent most of the day laying in the shade or pecking at ice cubes we've frozen bits of apples into.
Right now, I have half a gallon of water in the freezer that- when frozen or very cold- I'm going to set into the coop so they've got something cool to huddle around.
Our girls are almost fully grown, about a month away from when we expect them to start laying.
However, from what we've gathered, young chickens have a harder time regulating their temperature than older chickens.

We're especially worried about Valentina- who, as opposed to our novogen browns- is a fully black australoop. She's been showing more signs of exhaustion from the heat than our other girls.

Is there anything more we can do for them to cool them down? We've given them shade, are offering them frozen treats, changing and cooling water constantly, and we're going to give them a frozen gallon to lean against in an effort to cool them down a bit more. But it's only supposed to get hotter as the week goes on, and we're getting increasingly worried that our girls are going to be suffering.

 

[tamik1961]

I put ice in front of the fan so the air that comes off the fan is cool.

 

[Need my chicken fix]

Right now, as I'm typing this, it's 90 degrees in Oregon.
Inside, the temperature is terrible. We have no air conditioning, and even using multiple fans isn't enough to keep us cool.

And as for our birds? They're out in the sun.

We hung up towels over the roof of their run to give them shade, and they've been in the shady spot for most of the day.
All day long they've been 'panting' with their beak open.
Two of our girls- Chickety and Valentina- have started lifting their wings whenever they get up and move to regulate temperature.
They have access to electrolyte water and we've been changing their fresh water constantly to keep it as cool as possible. They've spent most of the day laying in the shade or pecking at ice cubes we've frozen bits of apples into.
Right now, I have half a gallon of water in the freezer that- when frozen or very cold- I'm going to set into the coop so they've got something cool to huddle around.
Our girls are almost fully grown, about a month away from when we expect them to start laying.
However, from what we've gathered, young chickens have a harder time regulating their temperature than older chickens.

We're especially worried about Valentina- who, as opposed to our novogen browns- is a fully black australoop. She's been showing more signs of exhaustion from the heat than our other girls.

Is there anything more we can do for them to cool them down? We've given them shade, are offering them frozen treats, changing and cooling water constantly, and we're going to give them a frozen gallon to lean against in an effort to cool them down a bit more. But it's only supposed to get hotter as the week goes on, and we're getting increasingly worried that our girls are going to be suffering.

I wet down the ground really well and after it soaks in my girls like to lay in the wet dirt. It seems to help cool them off .

 

[Beastmomma82]

We have had crazy hot weather too.. heat index for a few weeks was over 100.. one day it was105.. so my sweet husband installed 3, 24v fans in the coop. 2 blowing hair in the coop and one sucking the hot air out and it feels better then our house in there now! And the chickens love it.. they go in and out all day. Along with lots of water I'd say fans and shade are the trick!