Official BYC Poll: Have you ever had issues with heat stress in your flock?

[BigBlueHen53]

I've not had a chicken become prostrate, sick or ill, or die from heat. They have plenty of shady places to hang out when it gets hot, and multiple water buckets. On hot days I check the water frequently, and if it starts to get warm I either replenish it with fresh water or put ice in it. We keep PowerAde bottles in the freezer for this, each about 1/3 full of water, well, ice. When needed I top them off with water, screw on the lids, and put two in each water bucket. I want my girls to stay hydrated and I don't think they drink as much when the water is warm.

 

[Donna-NC]

I've taken quite a few precautions for my girls -

• I have box fans running all day long whenever the temp goes above 80 degrees in both the coop and outside in the run; part of which is under a sunroom and completely shaded 24/7 and has a stone exterior house wall.
• I also have a 250 gallon water tank that collects rainwater for our gardening that I have a pump connected to which I use to dampen the soil in the covered part of the run each evening when the temps go up into the 90s. By morning the water has been absorbed and the ground is now just damp and much cooler. The one box fan is pointed towards the ground and really spreads that coolness.
• I feed the girls lots of moisture saturated, partially frozen treats (rinsed greens, sprouted mung beans, watermelon, berries) during the hottest parts of the days. It increases their hydration and cools them off a bit. It is somewhat amusing to see a chicken get 'freezer head' they just sort of stand there looking confused then shake and snap out of it.
• The waterer is back in the far corner of the run next to the house and it's actually quite cooler back there. I put my hand into it on a 100 degree day and it's as cool as water coming out of the house spigot so they have an abundance of cool, clean water. And they do drink a lot of it when it's really hot. I dump it and refill it daily to keep it fresh.
• I'll sometimes mount the hose from the water tank on the fencing next to the fan, put the nozzle onto mist and turn the pump on for awhile. The fan scatters the mist around a lot further and the girls will go in and out of it as they choose.

All in all, those things seem to be working for the last 15 years since we've had our multiple flocks of Orpingtons here in NC.

 

[SoCal Chicken Mama]

I made a newbie mistake and used too much water to do my once a week wash down of the under coop run. When I noticed it was still wet in the morning (that hasn't happened before) I told the girls we were going on a field trip, bustled them into the pet crate, and made a makeshift Chicken Tractor out of some old plant fences (to keep bunnies out). I put them out on the back lawn with hardware cloth screens over the top, and recently cut tree prunings on top to make shade. I gave them food and water, but I ended up spending the morning improving the tractor as the girls quickly showed me all the ways they might get out of it. At noon I was satisfied it was secure, so I asked my husband to monitor them (make sure you can always see four) while I took a shower to get ready for an afternoon appointment. He did, but only from inside the house. 20 minutes later I went to check on them, and saw one panting, and one laying upside down while another chick watched over her. I quickly hustled them back to the deeper shade of their under coop run and gave them fresh food and cold water. I had made an electrolyte solution for them, but they wouldn't drink it! But within a few minutes they were happily running around again. It was a 98 degree day. But I do appreciate the construction of the store bought coop more, now that I've seen what a good job it does keeping them cool. It is also partially sheltered by the house.

 

[Love Donkeys]

North Eastern Alabama gets very hot and humid, sometimes 24/7. Our Speckled Sussex free-range from 8am until they decide it's bed time. There's plenty of shade and water available to them.

Our 25'Lx8'Wx8x'H walk-in coop has insulated ceiling and southwestern wall. There is also covered front porch facing easterly. There are 3 repurposed screened storm doors and 4 house windows. We hung two AC box fans on each end of the coop to exhaust the stale coop air. (Fans can pull air more efficiently than pushing air) The fans are operated by an attic-fan thermostat which is set to turn on at 80°. At first we used solar fans but the weren't up to the task and lost power during the night

When the exhaust fans are running the chickens hang out on the coop porch and enjoy the breeze entering the coop.

 

[skeeeter]

In all the years we've kept chickens, I can only really recall them suffering twice from heat stress. Different years, different flocks. The first time, we heard splashing sounds in the chicken house and going to see what was happening, I found hens taking splash baths in the water bucket .Surprise!!
The second time was just this last year when we had like 3 weeks 105°+ temps (100° everyday in the house by 2pm). We lost 5 of 12 hens and one went crazy trying to peck everybody else's eyes out during that time. The crazy lady met noodles for dinner, sad to say. Sorry not sorry.

 

[SoCal Chicken Mama]

This is only our first summer, so I can't say each year, but I probably will, once we log that much experience. Since I shared my last heat experience, we have built a bigger run outside the nice shady coop, with a tree inside. Since it was built we have had three weeks with 5 days in a row of over 100 degree temps., even 105 and 106. I have one triangle of the pentagon roof permanently covered with a tarp for additional shade, and since I put it up we have needed the shade tarp to wrap around two sides of the run, too. In 3 weeks I have only taken the tarps of the sides one day. In addition, I have black shade cloth across the other side of the roof, so only the middle part with the tree is open to sun. They are attached with bungee cords so they don't blow off. I give them their grower crumbles early in the morning with cool water. By noon it's very hot and dry and they won't drink the warm water anymore, so I wet the shade cloth and the foliage of the tree for evaporative cooling. I hose down the patio which is adjacent to the coop to cool it. The water only wets the run area, not the deep shade area under the coop. They run in there when I spray, but enjoy scratching in the damp soil/bark when the water stops. I have tried giving them electrolytes or ice water in their waterers, but they won't drink it. They like to rub up against the cold bottle though. The best solution to get them to keep drinking during the day is to put a shallow pie plate of crushed ice with an inch water in it inside the deep shade area. Keep in mind, the ice melts very quickly at these temps, so there is no danger of choking. If there are extra cherry tomatoes in the garden, or zucchini's that got too big, or herbs like basil or thyme I throw them in there to give them more drinking options. They always eat all the veg and herbs out (leaving the zucchini skins), and then they like to jump in and cool their feet. After this, they seem well hydrated in the afternoons. The yard begins to cool dramatically about 4:00pm when the shadow of the house shades most of the yard. Only 4 chickens, about 11 weeks old. I refill any empty waterers with cool water. Withy this routine, early feeding and watering, water check mid-day, and putting them to bed in their closed coop just before dark, they have managed the heat very well.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

No, I don't have heat problems.

I have 90% shade cloth over the tops of my runs plus they have additional shading from all the trees. Each coop has its own fan. I change water daily in the coop 's gallon and the corresponding 3-gal waterers in the runs. Plus I keep RIRs which are recommended for warm/hot climates. No one ever seems to have a problem with the heat (or the cold for that matter). Also each bird has 4+ sq ft in the coop and 20-30 sq ft in the run. The roosts have at least 1 linear foot of space per bird so nobody is at all crowded and I think that helps, too. Alabama is hot but not THAT hot and we are in the hills and get good breezes, too, so the coops get good cross ventilation, as well.

I kept a flock in Florida for many years so when I built this place about 20 years ago I took all those Florida heat lessons to heart and built accordingly. Building the facility is the place to fix these kinds of problems before you ever get your first chick. And when you do start adding birds, for goodness sake pay attention to what those birds are gonna need to thrive! Buy appropriate breeds for your area no matter how much you really want something that cannot do well where you are actually gonna raise them! You'll save them--and yourself--a lot of grief.

HTH

 

[Sylvester017]

No, I don't have heat problems.

I have 90% shade cloth over the tops of my runs plus they have additional shading from all the trees. Each coop has its own fan. I change water daily in the coop 's gallon and the corresponding 3-gal waterers in the runs. Plus I keep RIRs which are recommended for warm/hot climates. No one ever seems to have a problem with the heat (or the cold for that matter). Also each bird has 4+ sq ft in the coop and 20-30 sq ft in the run. The roosts have at least 1 linear foot of space per bird so nobody is at all crowded and I think that helps, too. Alabama is hot but not THAT hot and we are in the hills and get good breezes, too, so the coops get good cross ventilation, as well.

I kept a flock in Florida for many years so when I built this place about 20 years ago I took all those Florida heat lessons to heart and built accordingly. Building the facility is the place to fix these kinds of problems before you ever get your first chick. And when you do start adding birds, for goodness sake pay attention to what those birds are gonna need to thrive! Buy appropriate breeds for your area no matter how much you really want something that cannot do well where you are actually gonna raise them! You'll save them--and yourself--a lot of grief.

HTH

I totally agree w/your assessment. Especially about getting breeds appropriate for the climate (Mediterranean breeds w/straight combs for hot regions & pea comb breeds for freezing regions), good coop ventilation (no drafts) even in snow country, and appropriate ~ more than just adequate ~ coop & run space. We quickly learned even small bantam chickens will go stir crazy in a run if they don't free range our backyard. We planted dwarf trees & erected 3 popup canopies for shade during the day plus we have 2 patios which one of those patios is to protect the coop from summer heat & winter rain leaks.