Putting birds inside during heatwave?

[b0ckb0ckg0rl]

Hello friends,

It's extremely hot over here 34-36°C and it came very suddenly yesterday. Apparently it's going to last another week. We've never had a summer like this before!

We have two Japanese Bantams, a 4-5yo hen and a 3-4yo rooster who normally roam our back yard and although there is plenty of shade and dust to bathe in, they still go and sit out in the sun panting. They've always done that, but summers haven't been this scalding hot before and they've managed alright so far, with the necessary care of cool water that is changed multiple times a day, fresh food, puddles of water to stand in.

Recently, however, we lost a hen after an extremely hot day last week, and although we aren't 100% sure that it was heat exhaustion, we think it definitely factored in. So we've maybe become a little panicky. Yesterday and today, we put them in our wood shed where it's much cooler during the hottest hours of the day. Basically, when we saw them starting to have reactions to the heat, usually early afternoon, we put them inside and then let them out again around 6 in the evening when it's a bit cooler. They have cool water, today with some electrolytes and an ice cube, fresh food and hay in there. It's a place they usually wander into themselves when the door is open, but now they don't seem too happy about being put inside. The hen is making lots of noise, like when she wants in the coop, but when let out doesn't go and lay so I think she's just saying 'I want out'.

Putting them inside was recommended to me by some other chicken owners, but I'm not sure if this is really a good solution. I don't really know what to do. They're not great outside, but don't seem content inside either. Any advice?

 

[Folly's place]

Chickens will do badly in high heat, and finding the best places for them will definitely help! If the shed door is open a bit so they can go in and out, will they go inside without being locked in? My birds head for the coolest places they know about in hot weather, thankfully not that hot!
Your hen may have died because of the heat, added on to some other health issue she was hiding.
If locking them inside seems best, go for it! Any unwanted critters in that shed?
Mary

 

[b0ckb0ckg0rl]

Chickens will do badly in high heat, and finding the best places for them will definitely help! If the shed door is open a bit so they can go in and out, will they go inside without being locked in? My birds head for the coolest places they know about in hot weather, thankfully not that hot!
Your hen may have died because of the heat, added on to some other health issue she was hiding.
If locking them inside seems best, go for it! Any unwanted critters in that shed?
Mary

Thank you for your reply!

No, they don't do that. That's kind of the problem, they're not very good at staying in the shade and seeking out cooler areas. We put their water and food in the shade, but even then they still don't tend to stay. And when we open the shed door, it warms up as well. No unwanted critters, thankfully!

I was thinking of maybe trying to section off a small part in the shade, and putting them in there with cold (ice) water, cold treats and maybe wetting parts of the ground so they can stick their feet in it, and seeing how they react to that.