swimming pool

[bduke]

if I put a little plastic pool in the run will the chickens get in it to cool off?
I know they are not ducks and generly don't like water but in centeral texas it gets pretty hot sometimes . i'm just looking for ways to beat the heat for them

 

[TheChips]

I do a few things to keep my chickens cool.

I dont have a dog pool for them because Im afraid they will slip. But I bought this from walmart.
Its small, doesnt take up much space. They can dip their feet in and be secure where they wont drown. I believe its only an inch of water. It has soft curves on the bottom. Easy to clean you can rinse it off with a hose.

They love sprayed water in an area of their run. They love kicking dirt up into their feathers. The further they dig, the cooler it gets. The dirt in the feathers keeps them cool. I put my hands under their wing and it felt cooler in there than it did outside!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-All-Purpose-Boot-Tray/15734493#Item+Description

 

[lovemy6hens]

Do you have a photo of the item from Walmart?
I'm also in central Texas. It's getting so hot!

 

[lovemy6hens]

Oops! I see it now.

 

[TheChips]

Im in Michigan. Though we have HORRIBLE apocalyptic winters we have bad humidity!

If I am watering the garden I also spray water in the air so it mists on them. They dont like it too much but if I can get at least 10 seconds of drips on them before they run into the coop, then I did a good job lol.

The best thing about that foot mat is you can leave it outside and not worry about them drowning, or slipping. I dont know if chickens can swim or not but id rather not find out the hard way

And its cheap!

 

[B-Goock]

Shade would help.
A cheap fan if you have electricity.
Can you plant anything in /outside the run?


I dug holes in the run on some really hot days so they would dust bathe in the new holes. At night I poured water in them to moisten the soil. Water evaporating pulls off heat. Some chickens might freak out if your digging around in the run but mine run over if they see I have the shovel. Heck I have to shoo them away just so I can dig. Mine know shovel+ digging= yummy worms/bugs. They stand right on top of the dirt I am digging out.

I know someone that tried the ducks and chickens together with a small pool set in the ground. Ducks love it but chickens will drown. They found out the hard way. It wasn't very deep but the sides were sloped. The chickens would try to walk out of it and slip which dunked their heads. He only lost one but another was in it and before we got it out I saw how they drowned in a 6-8" deep pool. The pool situation was fixed.

 

[cahia]

I put a tiny swimming pool from family dollar in my run and put just a little bit of water in it. So far all that's happened was one pooped in it before I got the water in!

 

[rubbleanddebris]

I have a "chicken wading pond" ha. Its a square bin about 3 inches deep. I put bricks in it so it wasn't too deep and filled it with water. They love to wade through it... my golden cuckoo marans like it the most. Bugs tend to fly in the get stuck with makes for a nice hen treat. I dump it out into the garden and refill about every other day.

 

[NewBostonChick]

I water down their run to help cool the earth a bit.. where they have dug holes during dust baths, I fill them up with water and they love the pools of water in those holes.. I make sure they always have fresh water too, add some ice cubes.. freeze cubes with treats in them.. Also, they love a cool watermelon to eat, lettuce, grapes, yogurt from the fridge, anything cool and refreshing! They have a cool spot in the shade where they gather.. The heat is hard on the chickens.. but we try to help in any way we can..

 

[Laurel Chicks]

This is a fantastic idea!! It's getting over 100 degrees now here in Texas, and I feel bad for the chickens at times ... they don't have a way to escape the heat, even though they have shade. I'm going to set up a very small pool like this, and maybe even try the Walmart boot mat shown above. All great ideas!