preparing for summer heat

[akyramoto]

does anyone have any tips to help keep my girls happy this summer?

I have them on an automatic waterer that I check daily, half of their run is covered with canvas for some shade, their coop has about 35% open walls to allow for any breezes. I also got them a mister that will be set up on a timer so that it turns on for 10 minutes every hour. i put the mister in the shaded part of the run.

Is there anything else I need to do? Yesterday it was 93! the girls were open mouthed & holding their wings off of their bodies.


thanks!!

 

[justusnak]

Sounds to me like you have some very lucky chickens there! Way to go on being a good momma.It may take some time, but they will dapt to SOME heat. I put a fan in the coop for my flock....they love to lay in front of the fan on hot days. Just make sure to secure it, and that they can not get thier beaks in the blades.

 

[Varisha]

I have soda bottles filled with water that I'm freezing. When the heat goes up I plan on putting half of them in the the pen. Then when they melt I will switch them out whith the ones in the freezer.

 

[cookinmom]

Quote:
Varisha, tell me more about this. Do the chickens sit by the water bottles?

I tried freezing a plastic container of ice the other day and put it in their water dish. It lasted all of about 20 minutes, so I'm looking for more ideas.

 

[65browneyes]

I use the frozen 2 liter bottle method for my rabbit. I keep it in her nest box, and it stays frozen most of the day, even in 120 degrees. Never considered it for the girls.

I'm lucky that I'm here during the day, so I spray the outdoor area down lightly a couple times a day during the warmest parts of the afternoon. The hen house and coop are mostly shaded as well.

 

[SpottedCrow]

I used icepacks where Slifer used to sleep in "the chair". She was a Brahma and suffered more than her Leghorn buddy when it got really hot.
I also used a footbath and dipped her feet to cool her off too...
They have a fan for the summer and a heater for the winter...spoiled darned things.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

They love cold watermelon we have a creek with a small bridge crossing it they love to hang out in searching for wharever comes their way.

 

[lhamid]

foot baths are very useful for keeping them cool. I have misters and I bought these shallow pans from Home Depot that are for waterheater overflow. They have a hole in the side where the overflow pipe goes so you need to put in a stopper (it comes with a threaded fitting, I bought pvc cap). When I empty them to refill, the birds wait for me to refill. The frozen 2 litre bottles are good too. I used them all last summer. We had a bad heat wave and I lost a few birds in spite of my best efforts.

 

[SamG347]

There are many things you can do. I do a combanation of the following....

Fan to draw in cool air and blow out hot
Wadding pools for them to splash in
Watermelon and Canteloupe
Electroylites added to their water

We lost a bird to heat last year so we decided to get in gear and the list above is what we have done. Good Luck to everyone and hope your birds fair well!

 

[cookinmom]

Let me ask about the fan: does this go in their house, or out in their run? When I was a kid, my dad used to put a fan in our living room window blowing out into the yard, to pull the heat out. Would this be the same thing, or should it be blowing directly on the the chickens?
Right now they don't seem to like wind blowing on them, but when it's 98 in the shade I don't think they'll mind!
I'm planning on putting a fan for them, but want to put it in the best place.