So the hot weather is coming early.. We're looking at almost 40C this week, and its technically not even summer yet.. What does everyone do for the hot weather? So Far-- I've found their favourite shady spots and put out extra water dishes. Occasionally throw in an icecube to keep it cool. And thats really all I've done The coop has ventilation along the top to let hot air out. It's homemade and has a few gaps here and there that lets the air flow. Now they have about 4 different water dishes in various places I take snacks out to them in the shade (cucumber peels, bits of tomato) to make sure they're getting a bit to eat while they flop in the shade. What else can/should I do??
I did the ice in the water thing last June. It was over 100F for a week straight early in the season before they had time to adjust. By the end of the summer they seemed to be taking the heat just fine, but that first big heat wave wowed them! I froze a block of ice and put it in a shallow pan of water for them to walk in. They loved it and all tried to stand on the ice block! That's all I did extra. Their coop has great ventilation and of course shade.
That is so strange, thinking about summer coming on in November! There are several threads on here from "last summer" (for most of us--July and August). Try doing a search for "hot weather", "extreme heat", etc... Here's one thread with some very good ideas. Good luck, had 105F here and it was no fun, not used to that in the Pacific Northwest! https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=203584&p=4
We had horrible heat this summer. My coop is only lightly shaded with a lattis-work run. What helped me the most was having a water mister on the hose. I didn't even have to buy one, I just turned the nozzle to "fine mist" mode and hung it on the fence. The chickens didn't go around it at first, but after about two weeks they LOVED it. The mister also cools the air in the immediate area. When they didn't have the water mister they dug down in the deep litter of the coop to stay cool. Good luck!
