Over 100 degrees F here - new to raising chickens

[Xanadu]

Hi everyone, I will go introduce myself later but am in need of an answer right away. This may not be an emergency, problem is I don't know and figure better safe than sorry. My two little chickens (had 3 but one got out of our imperfect effort at building a pen & poof) were each half the size of my average ladies fist July 1 and are now each bigger than my fist. We immediately corrected the escape points. I don't know how old or what kind they are. The problem is the black one is holding her wings a little out from her sides and breathing with her mouth open and the yellow one is doing the breathing thing but not the wing thing. I thought about running the sprinkler although the humidity is high here in North MS, I also have a mister or I could just wet the ground in their pen. I did a search on answers on this but they were all last year and only referred to a 90 degree temp but it is over 100 here. Some favored the wet ground method, one the misting, etc. Is there any experienced consensus now on how to help them with this heat? If I have to I will bring them in the house in a large bird cage I have but I don't want my husband to get mad and not want us to have any more chickens but I don't want them to die either. Their pen is about 10' by 12' and under some pretty large shady trees.
Thanks for any advice you can give me!

 

[our4chix]

Hey There,
I am fairly new to chickens as well, but I have dealt with the horrendous heat with my birds as well! We have a smaller chicken coop than you described, but we used a small electric fan that we ran an extension cord to the porch for. It kept their coop mildly cooler (around the 80s) but it was much more tolerable for them to come back to at night. As for when they were outside playing, their coop overhangs in their play area slightly, providing a nice shadow and cool ground underneath. They would dig and dust around in the cool ground to keep themselves cool. So, I would suggest just making sure they have ENOUGH shadowed area to dig around in. Also, make sure they always have clean water. Maybe even through a few ice cubes in there for them. The key is to just know your chickens which takes a few weeks, but just make sure they stop panting and are not too lethargic. If they start to seem lethargic, bring them in one at a time into your house where it is cooler for a 5-10 minute cool down. This will help cool off, but it will also help your birds get used to you touching them and they will become friendlier.

Hope this helps!! Good luck!!

 

[ChelseBrun]

Oof! Definately make sure that they have clean, fresh water at all times! To drink that is. And it would help a lot if the water is relatively cool. Make sure they're in the shade, (if your shelter is in direct sunlight it would be a good idea to add another layer of shade, esp. if the roof is metal, since that will act like an oven...) I don't know about mist or wet ground, I don't have experience in that, but it sounds like a good idea as long as you don't dump it right on them! Maybe have a wet half and a dry half of the pen, so the chickens can tell you if it works or not? And just a random idea, what if you got an old bathtowel and soaked it in cold water? Then wring it out, fold it into maybe four layers thick, and lay it down on the ground in the pen? Set the chicks on it and see what they do?
I hope they come through alright!

 

[our4chix]

OH! Another thing to do: freeze water bottles/milk jugs and but them in there for the chickens to lay against. We did this for our chicks and they loved it!!!

 

[Xanadu]

Hi Our4Chix & Chelsebrun!
I was hyperactive and went ahead & wet down the ground in their pen & although they fled from the area I was wetting at the time when I was through I noticed they had already quit panting and holding their wings out, looked happier too. I didn't spray any on them as the water seemed to panic them coming from the hose & I want them to trust me but this worked so no need. I did it one half side at a time so they had a place to run to. I also took some cold packs I had in the freezer for muscle aches, stacked them together in a plastic grocery bag, tied it shut and set it in the pen. They seem to be very suspicious of it though.

I have been reading as much as I possibly can on here and learning so much - raising chickens is much more complicated than it at first looked to be. I'm sure glad to be able to come here and learn from people like you! Thank you for answering me so quickly!

Now I need to learn how to protect them from all the dog and deer ticks we have around here and how to build a coop for however many hens my Dh finally decides we can have. He wanted 20-30 but has put it on hold for budget reasons. Don't know how late in the year I will still be able to get chicks or how late it is safe to do so weather wise....or how it will go mixing new ones with these two. Or what kinds to get. Sigh. More fascinating research to do. : )

 

[ChelseBrun]

Sounds like you did fine!
You might have better luck with the cold packs if you use something that you can put directly in the coop, like a frozen water bottle. Chickens don't seem to like plastic bags! (At least mine are afraid of them. Probably the noise and the "unpredictable" movement from the wind.)
As to building a coop, I don't know if you have weasels in MS, but if you do, one thing to remember is that if a mouse can get through, a weasel can get through. It's a good idea to make the place that they sleep mouse-proof, to avoid predators. Also, since you're in snake country, those can also be a threat to your babies. In the daytime it's not as big of a deal, (esp. for weasels,) but I always make sure my birdies are in a mouseproof coop at night. (Actually, it's better sealed than that, because weasels can get through some pretty tiny spaces...)
Dog and Deerticks? I got chickens to protect me against them... Chickens eat ticks. Maybe it's different down there, but I'm not convinced that you really need to worry about those. But I could be totally wrong. Are there tickborne illnesses for chickens?