I live in NE Oklahoma, and right now at 10:30 pm, it is still 97 degrees....was 104 today; don't know what the heat index was. I have about 30 three year old hens and 4 roosters,(Langshans, NN's, RLW Cornish, Cuckoo and Black Marans hens, with roosters being Langshan and NN's.) and 40 four month old cross breds of both sexes that will be butchered soon . All are on 2 - 1/2 acres of shaded pasture, going to roost in a lean-to built at the end of a big metal building at night. Door on the shed stays open, replaced by a hunk of cattle panel double covered with chicken wire to keep unwanted visitors out.
At noon, or whenever the temp hits 95+degrees, air temp, I go to a hydrant in the pasture near where they hang out, and turn on the attached sprinkler that puts out a heavy mist in an approximate 25 foot circle, for an hour. The birds come running to meet me when I go down, and then gather around the edges of the circle, and under the mist. When I shut it off, they hunker down in the damp dirt and are handling the heat quite well. Many are not even breathing with their mouths open. I check them about 3:30, and so far, have not had to repeat the misting.
I'm on a rural water line; water is EXPENSIVE, so I can't do what I'd like to. Also, the water lines are only two feet down in the ground and our soil temperature was given as 95 degrees almost two weeks ago on a Tulsa TV station. Lord only knows what it is now. The water is NOT cold; not even cool. But it seems to do the job.
I had a much better system set up when I lived in Montana, and it kept both the rabbits and chickens cool. But, I had my own well and didn't have to pay for water.
As for the rabbits....there are 6 of them; 5 NZW does and a buck. They are in all wire 30" x 40" x 18" cages held up about 4 feet off the ground by a wooden frame, under shade trees on the lawn near the house. The wind goes through from whatever direction. White boating vinyl covers the top of the frame to keep the sun off and reflect it away. Each cage has a large hunk.....3 x 3 feet...of mattress padding that I wet down with the hose a couple of times each afternoon. The rabbits are wet down with the hose too, using a low pressure sprayer nozzle that will put out a good bit of water without also blowing them out the other side of the cages. After the first couple of days, they have settled down and each makes just one trip across the back of their cage, letting me wet down both sides. The buck comes to the cage door to meet me for his shower.
The buck and one doe take the padding, wad it up with their front feet, and lay on top of it. The others sometimes throw theirs around the cage, but don't seem quite bright enough to lay on them.
Each wetting lasts about 2-1/2 to 3 hours before needing to be repeated.
Unconventional? Yup. But so far, I've not had to get my shovel and start digging a hole.
