So how many of us have AC in their coops?

[twentynine]

Mine are still in the brooder. I have a small fan set on one end of the brooder and I have opened a vent on the other end. Doesn't cool the air but it does create a breeze. In the afternoons the drink huge amounts of water.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
Had I not lost two hens to heat prostration this past week, I would never have considered it.... they made it fine through the heat last year, but then they were younger. Full grown hens have LOTS of feathers and the last thing I want to do is put another dead chicken in a bag in the garbage. The coop is in the shade until about 1PM... then part of it is in the sun from 1PM until 6PM... those five hours make my coop an OVEN... I've also got to make some shade for my run during those hours.

I'm thinking of the big umbrella like Sam the Yam has over in Peoria, AZ

 

[Casey3043]

My hens have large shade trees in their yard and they burrow down into the cool soil in the shade when it gets real hot. The chicks I got this spring have NO shade in their yard from about 2 to 5 pm. I bought a dog kennel shade, 10 feet square, and put it up on a frame. It only gives 70% shade, so under it I put a large plastic doghouse roof up on 4 x 4 stilts about 2 feet high for good air circulation under it. I put their feed and water under this, which also protects it from the rain.

The little chicks gather round under this when they lose their shade from the barn. I've noticed that the shadows are moving now as the sun goes back south, so I don't think it will be a problem much longer.

To whoever said their back yard looks like a homeless chicken shantytown, mine does too! Fortunately, no one can see it but me.

My first coop is beautiful, but there was no room for more hens, so the stuff I've rigged up for the baby chicks is the problem. I built their coop right inside the barn, but it gets very hot in there in the afternoon, so they are not spending any time in there.

 

[Jenski]

We have an AC unit in the large dog shed for extremely hot days, but nothing in our coops.

However, we are experimenting with other things to keep the girls cool.

1) DH installed a computer fan in the opening we use in winter to run cords to heat lamps. The fan fits right in the opening, and is shielded from the weather. We have it installed so it sucks air OUT of the coop up near the ceiling. There is an 8 x 11 covered vent on an opposite-diagonal wall, so there is air flow along the entire ceiling where it gets hot.

2) Coop screen door - - regular sliding coop door with the whole center cut out and covered in a layer of screen and a layer of 1/2" wire mesh. There is a reinforcement of 1/4" wood strips along the center for strength.

3) We cover the runs in hunting camo covers - - the kind that are full of holes for air flow.

4) On really hot days we put out old Pyrex baking dishes in the runs, and in the morning we set out big ice chunks made in old ice cream containers. The ice melts slowly during the day, providing nice cool water for the girls. Some of them even walk through the pans to get their feet cool.

5) We also set out ice-filled plastic juice containers. When it's really hot the girls will crowd around them, and sometimes even perch on them.

Hope that helps.


Mahonri, so sorry about your hens. If I were in AZ I would have done the AC as well. Good luck, and let us know how it works!

 

[Anny]

I don't even have AC in my house!

 

[phoenixmama]

Quote:
Yeah, but you don't live in the low Sonoran Desert, either! It's not uncommon to have temps over 110 degrees...and then when the monsoon season hits, you get those high temps with humidity! On those days, it is nearly unbearable. Our beautiful "winters" make up for it though!

 

[hippichick]

I'm kind of considering this. I've got more than one coop, but I'd love to put A/C in my main coop. Just to have a place to put the birds that I worry most about, like my BBS Orps. They're just so big and have so many feathers, that I worry about them.

I've got a window unit that I could install in the coop. My husband just worries about how much it would cost in electricity to run this unit-even for a few hours a day. My electricity bill for my home and barn runs $500-$600 a month here in the summer as it is. This particular coop has no shade, only full sun.

And wouldn't it be nice to have a cool place to go myself when I'm working out there??!!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i forgot to mention, i also have about 20 umbrellas in my backyard. i got them at Big Lots and they're a pretty good size. They were $6 a couple years ago, $8 last year, this year they went up to $10. But they last for 2-3 seasons. It makes a huge difference to position them above the pens to catch the heat of the sun and keep it off the tops of the runs and coops.

On my largest pen, for my big girls, they get the brunt of the afternoon sun. i've draped an old sheet from the front of the coop to the top of the run. The misters run across the front of the run and the sheet gets soaking wet then drips down to keep the ground damp and create a bit of a evap cooling effect at the front of the coop. And it looks oh so lovely.

 

[Damummis]

AC......

I wish I needed AC. How about an ARK instead. There is sooo much rain and cold damp weather here that my side yard is turning into chicken soup.

 

[rebbetzin]

My chickens are warm in the afternoons for sure, they pant a bit. The coop and run are in the shade for most of the afternoon. I did notice they were all in the run where the sun never reaches yesterday. I did sprinkle them with the hose the other day. I was thinking they would feel cooler as the water evaporated.

We have had wind, (85 mph! for a short time!) but no real rain to speak of the past couple of days. It is plenty humid out there though.