Ways to keep cool during the Summer

[bigdaddyabc]

OK, the ice bath is HILARIOUS! I have a very very open coop and a box fan in it for them. My run has many shade trees and bushes. I also turn on a sprinkler for a while in the heat of the day, and they enjoy the cool shower. I will have to buy a bag of ice for them next!

 

[ZooMummzy]

Quote:
It is a funny thing to watch

I originally put it out there so I could set fans up in front of the bucket and blow cool air on them but they decided they would rather stand and play in it instead, lol. A couple of them would stand in it for a really long time! I guess it worked since I didn't lose a single chicken that week. I didn't post the photo, but one day it was 114 and I panicked so I moved them all into my husband's garage while he was at work

It has a cement floor and very cool so I knew it was better for them than the hot dirt run. When the weather cooled later in the day, I put them all back outside and hosed down the garage. He never knew till he saw the photos later

Here are the garage photos:

 

[gryeyes]

"Someone once recommended a plastic tall kitchen garbage can with a couple of 2 litre bottles of frozen water in them and a light drape on the open end to help hold in the cold coming off of the ice bottles. (Very similar to what Cetawin is describing but a bit larger) Voila! Instant small air conditioned room for the chickens. Maybe even add in a bit of wetted down shavings or straw for added comfort. I tried this last summer when we were hitting around 104 (But it's a DRY heat! ) and the girls really loved it once they figured out what it was for. I had to toss my head hen in and then everyone got the idea."

Ooooh, I LIKE this idea! I happen to have a spare, plastic kitchen trash container, too! It's nice and tall but rectangular so it will sit where it's put on its side and not move around. Dunno about the "drape" thing, though. Hmmmmmm.

Thank you!

 

[chics in the sun]

Yesterday I wrapped one of those re-freezable cooler things in a wet washcloth for one of them (she is still new, and in isolation). I thought it might be more comfortable to sit/ stand on than a bottle, and she did seem to like it. I also fill up and freeze my smaller waterer and put it outside in the morning. As the ice thaws it provides a continuously cold source of water while I am at work.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

I live in Sacramento, where it gets really hot.
\\The weather has finally turned and it started getting hot here over the weekend, I think summer gonna make up with a vengeance for the long spring.

Over the weekend, I went to a few BBQs and basically I offered to clean out my friends' freezers for them.
I scored myself a freezer full of old, freezer-burned bags of frozen veggies and fruit.

I have enough to last the summer I think.

I just went and thru em all some handfuls of frozen corn, and they gobbled it right up.

A crop or belly full should bring their core temp down a little for a hour or so . . .
Imma start giving this stuff to them around 3-5 pm, the hottest part of the day here.

Letting a hose run all day for my chickens just doesnt make sense to me, what with all the arguments in Ca over fresh water and who gets it . . .