Summer cool down?

[ashrich6]

Hey eveyrone! I live in Salt Lake City and it is starting to get up to 90 degrees during the day. I am a new chicken owner, I have 4 buff orpington hens (hopefully all hens...they are 8 weeks old) and I was wondering how to keep them cool in the summer heat. They roam in the backyard when I am home but when I am not home they are in their coop. They do have shade and plenty of water while I am gone but is there any thing else I can do to cool them down?

Thanks for the help!

 

[nokomis nancy]

Hot here too in Florida on the gulf coast. I have a fan in their run during the day, 6'x21', and bring them chilled watermelon , cantaloupe, lettuce and other chilled fruits several times a day. I also run a smaller fan in their coup at night which has hardware screened windows on three sides. Also put gallon jugs of frozen water in front of the outdoor fan for "chick a.c."! Nothing is too good for my peeps!

 

[Percheron chick]

That and I give mine a wading pool. Either give them a shallow 3 gal horse feed or something similar filled with water or dig out a spot in the run and flood it a few times a day.

 

[CHchickie86]

I'm near Sacramento, CA and we hit at and over 105 in some places today. My chickens have a 10 foot by 30 foot run that they're in during they day (I live in town, so no free ranging!). I have two 5 quart feed pans filled with water which a couple of them stand in along with their regular water containers. I also freeze fruit (strawberries are their favorite) either by itself or I'll fill a shallow baking dish with water and freeze it with the fruit so they have to peck the ice to get to the goodies. My indoor rabbit also graciously donated his small box fan to the girls and they literally sat on the ground in front of it for almost two hours. Strangely my two Swedish ducks didn't care about the sweltering heat and were foraging in the grass in full sun for most of the day.

 

[Kazfam]

Do they have an area to dust bathe? It keeps them cool and helps rid them of parasites.

My son made a designated area in the run - outlined it with left over plastic flashing and filled it with loose dirt (about 12 " deep) - they love it.

If there is an area in your yard that has loose dirt they may dig a hole and lie in it.