So how many of us have AC in their coops?

[Mahonri]

After loosing two of my favorite hens to the heat this past week, I went to Home Depot today, bought a little Zenith AC unit. (Cost me $108.37 w/ tax included)

Cut a hole in the coop wall, put in 2X4 supports both above and below where the unit would go, put in the unit, put up an outside support so that it wouldn't fall through to the outside, put up the weather stripping around the unit, plugged it into the surge protector, put up some cloth strips over the pop door, closed the windows and turned it on. Amazing how quickly it changed the temp inside.

I suppose the next step is going to be to put insulation on the ceiling and around the walls. I can do that a little at a time.

I'm going to turn it on at about 1PM and turn it off at about 8PM each night.

DW wonders when I'm going to put in cable TV for them. Is there a chicken channel somewhere?

 

[KellyHM]

Mine would love to have an AC unit, but I have too many coops to buy one for each of them.

 

[greathorse]

Would a swamp cooler get you where you need to be? It might be less on the electric bill and I think Arizona is a good climate for it. We are in the 90's here in colorado now and I see the birds pant some but I think we are fine here. I can imagine the heat in your part of the world. It has to be hard on the birds.

Not sure the swamp coolers would work in Florida was directing comment to OP. I think they need a dry climate to be effective.

 

[Chicksdigit]

Wow, Your eggs are getting expensive...........

 

[ArizonaNessa]

I am sorry your lost your hens

and if I had just one coop I would totally have ac in mine. Of course I would have to completely redo my entire set up to do ac.

 

[gritsar]

My coop is insulated, but it will never be air conditioned. With my flock being free ranged, they head to the woods when it starts to heat up in the daytime and don't come back until late afternoon. Changing their water out for fresh several times a day. They're coping fine.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[Mahonri]

I looked at some little swamp coolers. They were much more expensive to buy and they only work in April, May, September and October. Half of June and all of July and August, swamps are useless as the monsoon hits.... dew points go up and they just don't cool.

Guess I'll see how much my electric bill goes up.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
Extremely.

 

[phoenixmama]

I probably won't be putting AC in our coop. What I've been doing these last couple days is letting them all roam my yard (It's surrounded by a cement block wall). They like to hang out on the back patio...that's where it is the coolest. Holy chicken and turkey poop, batman.

I'm thinking that I'll try to set up a mister where the trees shade part of their run. It's on the to do list.

Just a thought...do you get scorpions around your place? The reason I ask, is that my Cuckoo Maran has been stung a couple times. The last time I found her, she couldn't move at all. She definitely would have died if I hadn't found her as fast as I did...since it was so stinkin' hot out and she couldn't move enough to pant. If she had died, I would have just though it was the heat that killed her.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Phoenixmama ~ I found a scorpion in my little coop when I was rearranging things for the misters the other day. OMG I freaked out so bad because I am very very allergic and of course it got away. I brought in my two smallest birds and watched the others for a day or two to make sure they didn't get stung. I think it would have killed my baby cochin or my OEGB because they are so small.