The HEAT!!

[Soujrnr]

Gosh, the heat has been awful here in northeastern Tennessee. Today, it's supposed to be up near 100 degrees, and our humidity this morning is already at 86%. We set up two fans blowing into the coop. They don't seem at all interested in the sprinkler or pool, but they aren't the smartest creatures in the world either.

We've been putting ice packs in their water bucket as well. We know they tolerate cold much better than heat. We are a bit concerned, but we let them free range and they seem perfectly content to dig a crater in the dirt and stay dusted all day in the shade.

Are any of you having any problems with your girls due to heat? How are you dealing with it?

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

try and get some deep shade there if you can. Even mounting a plywood piece (secure) on an angle so they have another deeply shaded but ventilated area in the run is good. If there's lots of humidity be careful with too much sprinkler, as they may have trouble getting totally dry. We're also so humid here, not quite as hot, and it's hard to escape. you're doing all the right things. ventilation and shade, access to cool water. This is sadly going to be the future for a lot of us

 

[Loving my girls]

My girls adore ice cold watermelon. I put slices under a mister in the shade and it keeps them cool.

 

[Soujrnr]

My girls adore ice cold watermelon. I put slices under a mister in the shade and it keeps them cool.

That's a good idea. We do give them cool treats like watermelon, grapes, and such. They love it, but I like the idea of putting slices under a mister.

 

[aart]

A mister will do no good in a humid climate.

Electrolytes every few days and a big block of ice works well here.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Gosh, the heat has been awful here in northeastern Tennessee. Today, it's supposed to be up near 100 degrees, and our humidity this morning is already at 86%. We set up two fans blowing into the coop. They don't seem at all interested in the sprinkler or pool, but they aren't the smartest creatures in the world either.

We've been putting ice packs in their water bucket as well. We know they tolerate cold much better than heat. We are a bit concerned, but we let them free range and they seem perfectly content to dig a crater in the dirt and stay dusted all day in the shade.

Are any of you having any problems with your girls due to heat? How are you dealing with it?

I know this is from yesterday, but how's your weather today? Lol we woke up with us being quite breezy and a tad chilly 62f central Indiana here.

For our girls when our heat decides to come(jinxing it I know lol it's been wave of hot cool) we do have a pool(it's a sled and a large not very deep storage tub) and we have fans to circulate air, some plywood leentoos, and a shade tarp over nest boxes section of our pen. We also have a giant dirt bath under the coop. (I have an article for pics- although not of fans and leentoos) I even dug a small hole a fill with water or let our hose drip a bit when it isn't too humid to cool their feet.

 

[Clarence62]

Ridiculous heat in Maryland as well so no swamp coolers work. Super high humidity.
Things I have been doing…..
Was blowing fans over bags of ice but that gets expensive and a watery mess. So now I freeze big 32 oz cat litter containers (pic attached) and blow the fans across it. Girls love it. I also freeze milk containers with water and they lay around them. The block ice works better than cubes. They have lots of shade and ice water and treats too but at 110 heat index they need support.