Other tips to keep chickens cool in 85°+ heat

[CallMeBokBok]

Hey everyone, I'm a beginner chicken owner. My wife and I finished building our coop, and we need more ideas about keeping our chickens cool this Summer. We live in southern California, and it's starting to get to 90° here, so we just want to make sure our chickens can withstand the season. They're 13 weeks old. One's a Lavender Orpington, another's an Olive Egger, and the last is an Amberlink.

They've been panting since we put them in our coop/run. So far, we have the following cooling solutions:

• Solar-powered fans blowing in the coop
• Misters for the run
• Shade cloth

The coop also has a window on each side as well as the front.

We've been giving them cold watermelon, and we just put a pan with cold water and bricks for them to stand in. Is there anything else that we should do or add to the run so they can be comfortable? Thanks!

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Have you got an outdoor thermometer you can place in the coop about midway up?

I’m thinking that despite the existing windows, you need more, and much bigger, openings. In your climate, you could have an open air coop, perhaps one solid wall, maybe 1-2 partial walls.

Which compass direction does the side with the nest boxes face? That black lid is scary to me.

 

[CabritaChicks]

Your coop is aesthetically adorable- you can tell you put time into it. But like my first two coop-fumbles, I realized more ventilation was the only answer to my heat concerns. I too have solar fans- but it is more to move air stagnant, not 'cool' air.

I was about to say exactly what Mother of Chaos pointed out — more ventilation is always better. I think where many people slip up is by only putting vents at the top of the enclosure. When the ambient temperature is already high, that air doesn’t really circulate or escape properly. What you really need is more ventilation at chicken level.

Black attracts (and absorbs) more heat.
Black surfaces absorb all wavelengths of light and convert them into heat, making them warmer in the sun.

White reflects most wavelengths, so it stays cooler.
White (or light-colored) surfaces bounce sunlight away, absorbing much less heat.

Some places sell reflective surfaces- even reflective paints. That may help the nest box situation.

And furthermore: plant a fast growing tree.. or a few of them. You wont regret it.

 

[CallMeBokBok]

Your coop is aesthetically adorable- you can tell you put time into it. But like my first two coop-fumbles, I realized more ventilation was the only answer to my heat concerns. I too have solar fans- but it is more to move air stagnant, not 'cool' air.

I was about to say exactly what Mother of Chaos pointed out — more ventilation is always better. I think where many people slip up is by only putting vents at the top of the enclosure. When the ambient temperature is already high, that air doesn’t really circulate or escape properly. What you really need is more ventilation at chicken level.

Black attracts (and absorbs) more heat.
Black surfaces absorb all wavelengths of light and convert them into heat, making them warmer in the sun.

White reflects most wavelengths, so it stays cooler.
White (or light-colored) surfaces bounce sunlight away, absorbing much less heat.

Some places sell reflective surfaces- even reflective paints. That may help the nest box situation.

And furthermore: plant a fast growing tree.. or a few of them. You wont regret it.

Any suggestions for fast growing trees? Our chickens are not in the coop during the day so by the time they go in the coop is nice and cool inside. They like to hang out in the run and underneath the coop since it’s shaded

 

[CabritaChicks]

Any suggestions for fast growing trees? Our chickens are not in the coop during the day so by the time they go in the coop is nice and cool inside. They like to hang out in the run and underneath the coop since it’s shaded

What is your zone number?

 

[Mrs. K]

Check the shade throughout the day. It tends to change dramatically through the day. Shade and water is what they need.

 

[thecatumbrella]

Do they stay in that enclosure the entire day? It's obviously getting blasted by sun (same as my chicken run, so I'm not faulting you there), but the rooflines as so low on both the coop and run that hot air doesn't have much of a chance to escape. You need to give them something bigger if they're to be confined. My run is 6 ft tall with a tarp roof (which is horrible), but it's also 20 feet long. This allows deeper shade to develop underneath that I can augment with a fan, shade cloths, and wetting the ground with a watering can. There's simply nowhere for them to escape in yours. The shade cloth is maybe a couple feet above their heads.

I'm sorry if this comes across harsh. I can tell you really care about them! But in the short term, is there another spot you can place this on the property that gets better shade, especially late in the day? If not, please consider purchasing a larger chicken run (even something like a cheap walk-in from Amazon) to give a larger buffer between the sun and them. You can also upgrade to a 90% shade cloth to better block out the heat, and move it around as needed.