Redneck AC for chickens!!!

[Atchurch]

That

Exhaust is SO important! - I think a lot of ppl may forget about needing an exhaust to funnel that hot air “out” of the coop… Once I caught onto that, the air in our coop was much more comfortable.

We have a barn fan that only does Exhaust, then I have another for circulation at the roosts as well as a small battery fan to clip just at their nesting boxes… I feel for them working so hard in the nests; they deserve a bit of air in them, IMO. Plus, my birds are obsessed with the fans. They love them! LOL!

That's a wonderful idea! I think I mentioned that I got a pretty high-powered little rechargeable camping fan for them. So, now I should buy another one for the back window to pull stale air out! Thanks for that! Like I said in my original post, chicken people are geniuses!!!

 

[jBabychickn]

That

That's a wonderful idea! I think I mentioned that I got a pretty high-powered little rechargeable camping fan for them. So, now I should buy another one for the back window to pull stale air out! Thanks for that! Like I said in my original post, chicken people are geniuses!!!

We definitely love our rechargeable camping fans!! I bet you’ll feel a significant difference adding that exhaust fan…Happy summer days to ya!!

 

[jBabychickn]

I have read about this "coolers" before, I wonder how long their cooling last.
I tried frozen water gallon containers since I read some posts that said their chickens sat around them, but my sweet girls ran away from them, by the time they got used to them, the ice had melted so they were of no use. I guess once they know they are harmless, they might come close to them but it will probably take some time for that to happen.
I used to heavily complain about being 100 degrees, now I am looking at the weather apps for the 10 day forecast hoping to see the temp coming down to 100. This summer is the worst I have ever experienced, and I truly hope it will eventually end.
I started fermenting feed and put in in the fridge overnight. They eat it in the mornings and I believe this will help with the incredible stress they are experiencing.

I think this apprehension is quite normal — It took several days, perhaps a week, of placing the water jugs/bottles out. I kept doing it though, as I really wanted them to have something cool to lay next to.

— I guess wasn’t too surprised since the things I’ve added to their coop so far, even with new waterers, roosts or climbing playthings, they’ve always took several days to feel fully comfortable with them.

Eventually, they starting doing what I’d hoped with the iced-down bottles. A few of my chickens never have cooled off next to them, but several have… One thing I did do, I don’t know if this helped or not, but I would kick some dirt over the bottles so they weren’t so bright & shiny out there in the daylight.

— My favorite is to watch my black Silkie hen, Blossom, stand on top of the old 2-liter with a Dr. Pepper label on it. Her just stands there on it with her little black feathered feet for several minutes; I’m sure it’s a nice overall cool-down, with the blood from her cold feet circulating around… Smart girL

PS - Love the idea of offering them some “Cold Fermented Feed”! — I’m definitely gonna use this great idea … Thanks for that one!

 

[Lil TexHens]

So, my hubs just reminded me that we have a styrofoam cooler out there that we can cut up and just test out how cool, and for how long it will work. So there's my Sunday experiment! Then I can guage it to an extent and then go to work on that old, hard side cooler if this pans out.

Suggestion… cover any exposed styrofoam with packing tape… I’ve seen from others that their chickens pecked, and ate, the styrofoam

 

[KatieKatieTheChickenLady]

Oh my goodness yes. Southwest Florida is horrible. Our “feels like” temp with cloud cover and an incoming thunderstorm is 104’

Even with plenty of shade and fans, my chicken has completely stopped laying eggs

 

[Atchurch]

Suggestion… cover any exposed styrofoam with packing tape… I’ve seen from others that their chickens pecked, and ate, the styrofoam

It's outside about 2 inches from the ½" wire, so they can't get to it and they can still feel it.

 

[LouiseG]

So it's gotten up to 113° here in North Central Texas already and been over 100° for 5 weeks, with a little rain last night. But being born and raised here, I knew that rain storm was just gonna make it even hotter today! And it did!

I have a fan and mister in the chicken run, at separate ends, so they can get into the mist, but when they go eat, they're on the fan-generated wind. It's not really humid right now because there's just zero water in our atmosphere. BRUTAL! And the coop is under mature trees, the run has tarps, and all those things to keep my sweet birds protected from the sun. We put the vitamins in a small waterer every 3 days to keep their vitamin D up.

All that said to say that IT'S STILL FREAKIN' HOT! Their coop is pretty well ventilated but in THIS Texas heat...it's just not enough. So I googled Chicken AC just to see what came up.

These chicken people are geniuses! So now, I'm gonna get the crappy old cooler that is gross with weird rust spots (didn't know plastic rusted. LOL) that we'll never use anymore...cut a hole in the side, and dump our frozen gel bags in it, put the fan in front of the hole and set it all up outside the run so they can't get to it. But it will help them tremendously!

Now just gotta figure out how to pipe that into their coop at night. We rigged up a fan on a ladder outside the biggest window to seriously increase airflow. But the nights are still close to 100°!

Happy AC-ing!!!

I put two kiddie pools in my run and filled them with sand (holes in the bottom for drainage) and I add ice to them at about noon every day. When I go outside to collect eggs they are all standing in them. I also have 20 gel ice packs in my freezer I put half of them in the coop, swapping them out each night. So far I haven't lost any hens (I processed my extra roosters). I also feed them frozen corn or frozen peas during the day, and sometimes I'll throw a whole refrigerated melon in the run and they tear into it.

 

[Magoo1957]

Exhaust is SO important! - I think a lot of ppl may forget about needing an exhaust to funnel that hot air “out” of the coop… Once I caught onto that, the air in our coop was much more comfortable.

We have a barn fan that only does Exhaust, then I have another for circulation at the roosts as well as a small battery fan to clip just at their nesting boxes… I feel for them working so hard in the nests; they deserve a bit of air in them, IMO. Plus, my birds are obsessed with the fans. They love them! LOL!

so....breezes blowing on the girls is OK? even at night when they roost as well as pointed at the nesting boxes? I was thinking of a couple of these mounted up high in my shed to coop conversion.....thoughts?

 

[Lil TexHens]

so....breezes blowing on the girls is OK? even at night when they roost as well as pointed at the nesting boxes? I was thinking of a couple of these mounted up high in my shed to coop conversion.....thoughts?

I use these exhaust fans; they are fantastic! My chickens dust bathe in the coop because I have coarse sand for litter, and the fans totally hold up to the dust. In the winter, I use the fans on the lowest setting (variable speed 1-10) to vent out any ammonia and moisture (respiration and droppings). For summer, it helps with the extreme heat and humidity too.

As to your question, chickens don’t like breezes on the roost unless it is extremely hot. I’m in Texas, the heat in the summer can be 92* at night. That’s when the chickens don’t mind the breeze while roosting. That said, otherwise they don’t want a breeze on them while roosting.

The exhaust fan can be placed high above their heads, when roosting, so not to cause a breeze on them.

I do have some placed low so that I can have breeze on them while they’re roosting… but this only during extreme heat at night.

I’ve included some pics of the exhaust fans installed at roost level to help with the extreme heat. However, don’t use the roost level fans at other times of the year. I have exhaust fans at the highest point of the coop for use all year round.

 

[Magoo1957]

I use these exhaust fans; they are fantastic! My chickens dust bathe in the coop because I have coarse sand for litter, and the fans totally hold up to the dust. In the winter, I use the fans on the lowest setting (variable speed 1-10) to vent out any ammonia and moisture (respiration and droppings). For summer, it helps with the extreme heat and humidity too.

As to your question, chickens don’t like breezes on the roost unless it is extremely hot. I’m in Texas, the heat in the summer can be 92* at night. That’s when the chickens don’t mind the breeze while roosting. That said, otherwise they don’t want a breeze on them while roosting.

The exhaust fan can be placed high above their heads, when roosting, so not to cause a breeze on them.

I do have some placed low so that I can have breeze on them while they’re roosting… but this only during extreme heat at night.

I’ve included some pics of the exhaust fans installed at roost level to help with the extreme heat. However, don’t use the roost level fans at other times of the year. I have exhaust fans at the highest point of the coop for use all year round.

Thanks, so much! How many of those fans do you have in the coop? You've put my mind to rest.....one more solution to my 1000 questions!! The coop and run will be under the trees so that'll help somewhat but I'll follow your advice to the letter.