Poll Time: Cool the Coop & Chickens

[3KillerBs]

The next important consideration is ventilation and air flow are often not solved by the same methods.

Excellent point!

This is why Monitor and Clerestory roofs work so well -- letting the heat get out at the top and drawing cool air in from below. The flat-roofed brooder, however, gets hot despite having over 16 square feet of ventilation. There's nothing to move the hot air out.

My coop is the coolest place in the yard, despite being located in full sun because of this and because I took advantage of local microclimates and the air currents on my property.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/repecka-illustrates-coop-ventilation.77659/

 

[KyCoop]

Curtains for the west side of the run. Inexpensive cloth shower curtains and rods. Open and tied during the day. I close them in the evening when the sun is going down and is directly on the run. Works wonders.

 

[bethnlee]

We live in Las Vegas = very hot! We do all of the above. Mostly open air coop, lots of ventilation and double shade cloth. I put frozen water bottles in the nest boxes for them to lay against. We have large terra cotta plant saucers we fill with water that they stand in. I also will sprinkle the ground in the big run for them. Lots of cool water.

The other thing we do that I didn’t see addressed is our, we call them red neck swamp coolers. Lol! It’s a plastic tote filled with water. It has a pvc frame we attach swamp cooler pads to with holes in the top to trickle water down on the pads From a small fish tank pump. Works like a champ. Chickens will lay right in front of it when it’s hot. Pictures attached.

Hum…when I look at this clever setup I wonder if the water filled filter isn’t on the wrong side of the fan? My swamp cooler blows the air thru the wet filter…am I missing somethin?

 

[Leslv]

That is correct for house swamp cooler. We tried it that way but the box fan didn’t have enough umph to push the air thru. This way it pulls the air from the pad &blows it into the run. Hope that makes sense.

 

[LastMinuteLizzee]

My coop and run are on the east side of my house so the day ends in the shade, but it gets a lot of sunny mornings til almost 1 or 2 pm! They free range in the back yard but I added a reflective tarp to the run and I have caught them chilling in there in the afternoons. I also caught them sitting spread-eagle on the ground next to my rain barrel after I overflowed the watering can. Reminded me of the dogs sleeping on the kitchen tile.

We're still getting wind in Central Texas so even though it's been an oven, it's been more like a convection oven with moving air LOL. If it goes stagnant I will add a fan to the run, right now a fan doesn't make a difference.

I add ice to the waterer to keep it cool but not cold.
I give them grapes from the fridge and plan to buy watermelon.
I run the backyard sprinklers for 5 minutes every afternoon to help cool things down a bit.

I tried dipping their feet in an under-the-bed plastic bin with water but they didn't want to stay there. I will keep it available for them though since we are expecting triple digits for the next 10 days!

 

[LastMinuteLizzee]

My news right now.View attachment 3542016

I'm north of Austin and we're a good 5 degrees higher across the board! It's redonculous! Thankfully the actual day is never as hot as they predict but it's pretty dang hot and it's only June!

 

[texsuze]

Very good points made by Shadrach.
I'd also like to add that there ain't NO heat like Texas heat. Period.

 

[GreenJay]

I'd also like to add that there ain't NO heat like Texas heat. Period.

Amen to that! "If it doesn't kill ya, it'll make ya stronger!" We're not gonna go below 100 until maybe July 2nd, humidity and haze are just awful, wind varying from none to hot blasts.

I've started a mud spot in a shady area of the run and been setting an ice chunk there in the afternoon, girls seem to enjoy the "cool zone".

 

[SamLockwood]

In addition to ventilation & a hefty water supply, I also did the following:

1) Built raised coops that incorporate the area under the coop into the run, giving them shaded space (the feeders & waterers are under there as well).

2) Painted the coops mostly white to reflect heat, and I used white polycarbonate panels for the roof to do the same.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

On really warm days, I will take a five gallon bucket of water, and then wash each chicken in it. It cools them off

I’ve done this too, with a couple hens who have trouble cooling down. They don’t like it, but it’s very effective, and they’ve never had any problems with it. I’ve never, ever had a hen get hypothermia by doing this. In 110+ degrees, it simply isn’t possible, and they dry off within half an hour. I’ve had two hens die from heatstroke in five years, and one recover. We get such blazing sun here that it bakes everything in sight, unfortunately. I give the chickens a mud puddle in their run when it’s warm, and they have a black bowl that some of them have learned to stand in. They don’t like frozen mulberries, though, as I found out while trying to get rid of excess fruit