poor panting little critters! what else can I do?

[ChickieNikki]

It's 104 heat index, and my poor critters are so hot! They are so silly though--they huddle together under their waterer, but they won't go near the frozen plastic water bottle I tossed in there to cool them off! I put another frozen one in their waterer and ice in the tray to keep them cool, but there's just not much they can do! And yet, at sunset, 6 of them try to fit on 12" of roost space, and fuss around, knocking each other off the ends, all smooshed together! I froze some chopped kale (which, by the way, tastes awful!), and I'm going down to toss it in to them! Any other suggestions to keep them cool?

 

[monathequeen]

Hi,
Your poor chickies will be fine. They are equiped to take HOT temp's and extremly cold temp.
My chick's are all fighting the heat. 103 today.
Just make sure they have plenty of water and I put icecubes in my water....keeps it cold and they love it. I know they seem miserable but, trust me, they will be fine.
I hope you dont have them INSIDE !!! They need ventilation. Any kind of shade will do.

 

[annek]

If you can put a fan on them it will help, chickens deal worse with heat than cold and they can die from the heat. Here is a pretty good article on it.

http://www.shagbarkbantams.com/page1.htm

 

[ChickieNikki]

Quote:
They're in the coop full time, but the door is wide open, the window is partly open, and the soffit is open--they can't escape, so it's just like a shaded 3-sided coop. It's open all day and all night, too--they've been perfectly fine once the sun goes down (no more panting by then, at least). They'll be able to go out once the fence comes in (shipped by Premier1 on the 15th, still no sign of it...will call tomorrow), but there's no shade in their fenced grazing area other than the 66 sf under their coop, which I will dampen for them. After going through this horrendous heat wave, I'm going to pick up some plastic play houses or something like it on Craigslist for shading them!!!

 

[cposz]

Our girls have no idea what to do with the bottles of frozen water. They pecked at it a couple of times and stood there looking at it, and then have completely ignored it.

 

[ChickieNikki]

Quote:
give 'em a bit--it took mine 3 hours (after they ripped off the labels--got those out of there) to just get bold enough to stand on them--someone's bound to end up figuring it out--or not, mine aren't the brightest--they'll probably fight over the roost that's 2 feet from the rafters!!

 

[Garden Gal]

Maybe offer them a bit of cold watermelon with some meat left on it. Mine ignored it at first, but when I came back, all that was left was a thin shell of skin!! This might help cool them off a bit. Fans blowing over an ice block or frozen bottle will also cool them a bit.

 

[vfem]

If mine look hot I mist them with the hose while I'm out with the kid... my younger chicks love it, my rooster hates it.... but once the ground is muddy, they are like pigs rolling in it. We all end up cooled off and entertained.

I also move some lawn furniture out on the lawn for more shady spots for them to use.

 

[Mahonri]

I need to hook up a fan and misting system like Vanessa has out in Glendale. It was so nice walking between her pens.

When I put ice in my waterer... all of my hens CROWD around it.

But hey it's dark out now and still 100 degress.

Should hit 106 tomorrow.

 

[Maryallison]

I was wondering the same thing today as I watched my poor hot chickens. I did loose a Roo the other day and was wondering if it was the heat. Got up to 103 here today again. Just miserable.