Those of you in the heat - do you change your feed? Cool your coop?

[fatcatx]

This will be our first chicken summer. We can get pretty hot - 100-105 degrees is not unusual for days at a time. We have low humidity so it is bearable.
I've read that because chickens will eat less in high heat that you should switch to a high protein feed (18-19%) to compensate for their lack of appetite. Has anyone found this to be necessary or beneficial?

At what temperature do I need to consider artificially cooling their coop/run?

For those that don't know the beauty of a dry heat: Give me some shade and a cold drink and I will happily sweat through 100 degrees. The day we were in Florida and it reached 86 degrees? I thought I was going to pass out!

 

[snowflake]

we don't get that hot in MI. but some cool their water with jugs of ice, make sure they have lots of shade and a fan if possible in the coop,
lots of extra water pans around, we did have some 100 degree days last year and some of my hens were standing in the pan of water, cool their feet I guess. I have heard that about the feed a flock raiser would work but make sure you provide oyster shell (extra calcium) just put it in a separate pan they will eat what they need

 

[fatcatx]

we don't get that hot in MI. but some cool their water with jugs of ice, make sure they have lots of shade and a fan if possible in the coop,
lots of extra water pans around, we did have some 100 degree days last year and some of my hens were standing in the pan of water, cool their feet I guess. I have heard that about the feed a flock raiser would work but make sure you provide oyster shell (extra calcium) just put it in a separate pan they will eat what they need

Hmmm guess that makes sense cuz when I'm hot I like nothing better than to wade into a stream!

Maybe I'll make some sort of wading pan for them when it gets really hot and see if they like it. Thier run is in the shade so that should help.

Does anyone change their feed in the hot weather?

 

[satay]

I live where it is really hot 9 months of the year and cold for the other 3. Never changed their feed at all. I use frozen water bottle for them to lay against in the really hot weather or misters.

 

[fatcatx]

I live where it is really hot 9 months of the year and cold for the other 3. Never changed their feed at all. I use frozen water bottle for them to lay against in the really hot weather or misters.

Do you ever see a drop in egg production during bad hot spells? The different feed is suppose to help keep them in full egg-production mode. We used the frozen bottle trick when we had a rabbit and it seemed to work well.

 

[satay]

A slight drop in eggs if it gets extremely hot but otherwise no.

 

[stepfarms]

does anyone have any tips for a young chicken farmer? its my first summer with chickens and I think im handling it well but Id like tips just to be sure.

 

[Percheron chick]

does anyone have any tips for a young chicken farmer? its my first summer with chickens and I think im handling it well but Id like tips just to be sure.

Why don't you start your own post and give more details to what your specific problems and issues are? Easier to get the information you are looking for that way.

To the OP, I give them a lot of frozen vegetables (sliced zuks and squash from last year's garden) for treats. I am looking for a higher protein and higher Ca feed to switch to to make up for all the garden scraps I give in the summer. I will probably have something custom milled.

 

[debjo]

Found this great blog post on how to take care of hot chickens yesterday - we in Denver are already dealing with a string of 90+ degree days. I've tried so far the ice water and the cold melon both of which went over well.

http://citygirlfarming.wordpress.co...ays-to-help-keep-your-flock-cool-this-summer/

 

[amenfarm]

This will be our first chicken summer. We can get pretty hot - 100-105 degrees is not unusual for days at a time. We have low humidity so it is bearable.
I've read that because chickens will eat less in high heat that you should switch to a high protein feed (18-19%) to compensate for their lack of appetite. Has anyone found this to be necessary or beneficial?

At what temperature do I need to consider artificially cooling their coop/run?

For those that don't know the beauty of a dry heat: Give me some shade and a cold drink and I will happily sweat through 100 degrees. The day we were in Florida and it reached 86 degrees? I thought I was going to pass out!

Unfortunately, where I live is the humid, steamy south. i run a fan in the coop on medium this time of year. We free feed 22% super layer pellets, frozen watermelon, fresh veggie trim and triple the water supply with frozen water bottles dropped in. If you climate is the dry heat i would use a hose end mister, or I have a 15 head mister I got for 19.99 a few years ago. Set on a timer if you want it just on during the hottest parts of the day and you will be away-- putting a fan just behind the mister will really bring the temp down. their body heat is 100*, so if you don't lower your temp you will lose some. Here a few people run the sprinkles on top of the coop roof to lower the temp.