My 7 seven week old chicks are in the run/coop full time. The temperature has been from 106 one day last week (lots of icy footbaths and ice water on the ground in the run) down to a balmy 96 today (a few days in between were cooler). The girls have handled the heat fairly well -- not an excessive amount of panting.
That is until today (96 degrees). When I got home from town, they were all in one corner of the run in a heap, and they were all panting. We had gusty heavy wind today, and they were in the corner the wind was coming from (like cattle, I suppose, following the wind). I went out with iced water and ice cubes and a couple of frozen bottles of water. They cooled down and spread out and were doing much better. It is now about 80 (after a bit of a front went through). When I checked on them to lock them in for the night, 4 of the girls were huddled together in one of the nest boxes. They were crowded (duh), and all were panting.
They have been sleeping on the ledge at the top of the nest boxes, but I suppose they have outgrown that. I know I shouldn't let them sleep in the nest boxes, but they aren't comfortable sleeping on roost bars yet. They have a 4" wide one, and another one that is narrower (I'm going to have to fix that issue tomorrow and put in the 2x4 that is reserved for that spot.)
I pried out 3 of them, and put them on the roost. One stayed (the Welsummer -- at least one has some sense), but the other two kept trying to go back to that "favored" box (there are 3 nest spaces, but the silly chooks all want to be in one). I suppose they aren't completely comfortable on the roost yet, but cheese, how do I spread them out so they won't overheat over night. I've been out twice to separate them out, and I'm going back out again to be sure they haven't all moved into the same space again.
Anyone dealt with this issue? Any suggestions?
That is until today (96 degrees). When I got home from town, they were all in one corner of the run in a heap, and they were all panting. We had gusty heavy wind today, and they were in the corner the wind was coming from (like cattle, I suppose, following the wind). I went out with iced water and ice cubes and a couple of frozen bottles of water. They cooled down and spread out and were doing much better. It is now about 80 (after a bit of a front went through). When I checked on them to lock them in for the night, 4 of the girls were huddled together in one of the nest boxes. They were crowded (duh), and all were panting.
They have been sleeping on the ledge at the top of the nest boxes, but I suppose they have outgrown that. I know I shouldn't let them sleep in the nest boxes, but they aren't comfortable sleeping on roost bars yet. They have a 4" wide one, and another one that is narrower (I'm going to have to fix that issue tomorrow and put in the 2x4 that is reserved for that spot.)
I pried out 3 of them, and put them on the roost. One stayed (the Welsummer -- at least one has some sense), but the other two kept trying to go back to that "favored" box (there are 3 nest spaces, but the silly chooks all want to be in one). I suppose they aren't completely comfortable on the roost yet, but cheese, how do I spread them out so they won't overheat over night. I've been out twice to separate them out, and I'm going back out again to be sure they haven't all moved into the same space again.
Anyone dealt with this issue? Any suggestions?
