Texas

[Nksg75]

I have a few weeks wait. I'm going to be in serious trouble when my quail start laying. I better get busy building another quail cage and brooder now.

Ahh, how many eggs did you set?
I assume you hatched them from that person inRosenberg?

 

[Nksg75]

Quick question to those of you in south Texas. We all know the humidity is off the charts here, and hot as hell along with it.
I have an open air coop with 4 fans blowing shaded(cooler air), there are several trees providing shade to 1/2 of the coop.
Yet it still reaches 98*-99* inside the coop almost daily.
I do the usual things like putting ice in waterers(this only lasts so long in This heat), frozen treats, I let them free range about 5-6 hours a day.
I started hosing down one side of the coop floor, so the hens can lay in the cooler damp earth. This seems to help on a temporary basis, however I am worried in the long run am I just asking for trouble with this hosing down?
Humidity, wetness could be a breeding ground for coccidios.

 

[Pugsabi]

Quick question to those of you in south Texas. We all know the humidity is off the charts here, and hot as hell along with it.
I have an open air coop with 4 fans blowing shaded(cooler air), there are several trees providing shade to 1/2 of the coop.
Yet it still reaches 98*-99* inside the coop almost daily.
I started hosing down one side of the coop floor, so the hens can lay in the cooler damp earth. This seems to help on a temporary basis, however I am worried in the long run am I just asking for trouble with this hosing down?
Humidity, wetness could be a breeding ground for coccidios.

I'm in the DFW area, but when it gets super hot and humid here, I put a frozen gallon of water in there. They like to lay against it. I'll switch it out as needed, but it really seems to help. I also have a planter of sand that I dampen a few times as needed. Plus frozen grapes and watermelon.

 

[Dandy's mom]

New to BYC, and in the booming UNtropolis of Dobbin TX. Have 1 VERY spoiled Indian Runner named Dandy Lion who pretty much thinks she makes the rules.

 

[Pugsabi]

New to BYC, and in the booming UNtropolis of Dobbin TX. Have 1 VERY spoiled Indian Runner named Dandy Lion who pretty much thinks she makes the rules. View attachment 1516674

Well with that pretty face, I can see why! She's gorgeous!

 

[Dandy's mom]

Well with that pretty face, I can see why! She's gorgeous!

Thank you She's so cute and such a mess, if you could see her from all sides, her tan grew in to where it looks like she's wearing a tan vest. very straight line around the bottom of the chest, and a thin white line down the front chest to look like a split in a vest.

 

[Dandy's mom]

I'm in the DFW area, but when it gets super hot and humid here, I put a frozen gallon of water in there. They like to lay against it. I'll switch it out as needed, but it really seems to help. I also have a planter of sand that I dampen a few times as needed. Plus frozen grapes and watermelon.

Quick question to those of you in south Texas. We all know the humidity is off the charts here, and hot as hell along with it.
I have an open air coop with 4 fans blowing shaded(cooler air), there are several trees providing shade to 1/2 of the coop.
Yet it still reaches 98*-99* inside the coop almost daily.
I started hosing down one side of the coop floor, so the hens can lay in the cooler damp earth. This seems to help on a temporary basis, however I am worried in the long run am I just asking for trouble with this hosing down?
Humidity, wetness could be a breeding ground for coccidios.

What is the roof made out of? Sometimes that can make a huge difference.

 

[007Sean]

Quick question to those of you in south Texas. We all know the humidity is off the charts here, and hot as hell along with it.
I have an open air coop with 4 fans blowing shaded(cooler air), there are several trees providing shade to 1/2 of the coop.
Yet it still reaches 98*-99* inside the coop almost daily.
I started hosing down one side of the coop floor, so the hens can lay in the cooler damp earth. This seems to help on a temporary basis, however I am worried in the long run am I just asking for trouble with this hosing down?
Humidity, wetness could be a breeding ground for coccidios.

You might try a mister instead of hosing it down.
My pheasants are in planted enclosures so I water my pens down almost every night, every other night for sure. All of my pens are setup so they get morning sun and afternoon shade but it still gets hot in the sheltered part of their pen. They dig huge holes all over the pen, and lay in the moist dirt. The main thing I notice is the amount of water they drink is doubled during the 104°F to 105°F days with a heat index of 108°F, other than that they handle the heat well.

 

[Dandy's mom]

What is the roof made out of? Sometimes that can make a huge difference.

We went to Home Depot and got some insulating styrofoam sheets (comes in 4x8 like plywood) fairly inexpensive, and put it inside our shed. Just doing the roof and back wall where the afternoon sun hit decreased the temp in there by 15 degrees and that was closed in completely with no ventilation.

 

[Nksg75]

What is the roof made out of? Sometimes that can make a huge difference.

Roof is corrugated metal. One thing I should have mentioned is I have my chickens on another persons property, and I modified an existing structure. I am sure they would be ok, for me to modify it further, but not sure how much money I really want to invest on further structure modifications. I spent so much on hardwarecloth and failed to realize the metal was going to be a issue.
Here is a pic before all the fans were installed.