What are your guys’s favorite way to keep your chickens cool in the summer?

[crunchygranola]

I’ll second the free ranging. The birds know where to stay cool if given the opportunity.

Absolutely.

 

[sdm111]

Get you a sack of whole oats. Fill a 5 gallon bucket about a quarter full with oats then fill with water and cover if possible each day top off water and after about day 3 start supplementing chickens feed with the soaked oats. They love them and it gets more water in thier system. They will sprout and get smelling bad by the day. Each day they love them more and more.
It gets alot more liquid in them than what they would normally drink. Great for high heat summers

 

[Loving my girls]

It’s been so hot thinking of getting one for myself too no joke I walk in theirs sometimes and it feels so nice

mine is only 2ft high

 

[Loving my girls]

I give mine chilled tinned tomatoes, apparently when they pant they lose a lot of vitamins E and C. Tomatoes and tinned tomatoes have both and ones as good as the other.
If it gets really bad I give electrolytes but be careful with this, I put down only 1 day in 7. Considering my hens free range all day they don’t drink from this dish all the time as there are water bowls everywhere with ice packs in. The electrolytes help their kidneys when it is overly hot.
Oh and I only do the electrolyte thing when the temperature exceeds panting temperature. I find it’s not just the temperature but a combination of breeze & humidity.

 

[Muffett]

A massive heatwave is going through Pennsylvania with nasty heats I’ve barely seen…
PA is the one state I’ve been in that has had the most inconsistent weather— I mean, you get all four seasons in one day. With that being said, what are some of your guys’ favorite ways to keep your chickens cool? I’ll list some of mine.

- I fill up a tray or large plastic container with cool hose water. Then, I put a clean red brick inside and sprinkle some ice around it. The cool brick absorbs the cold water and gives the chicken a place to stand on… bonus points for sunflower seeds. Just make sure they aren’t standing in the ice water. This stayed cool for hours.

- I noticed how quickly ice melted in my waterer, so I put mass chunks of it instead of individual cubes and always have a frozen water bottle to put in. This keeps it colder for longer.

- Mini pool filled a few inches with cool water and sprinkle BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) in it. Chickens love wading in it and the seeds help them drink.

- Fan. Obviously.

- I take their favorite dust bathing/ scratching spot and I hose it down pretty good with water. I noticed my chickens love rolling in the cool, wet dirt compared to the dry stuff.

- Any stones that I have in my yard, I hose down and cool off.

- Sometimes I just hold the hose on a gentle mist and they just stand under it, purring.

- Free ranging as long as I can/ all day.

- Nice cold watermelon as an occasional treat… or any frozen fruit, really.

Love to hear yins suggestions!

We have a fan in each coop. Our outside run is covered for shade. I run water for them to peck and wade in. They really like mud! Lol

 

[Muffett]

I give mine chilled tinned tomatoes, apparently when they pant they lose a lot of vitamins E and C. Tomatoes and tinned tomatoes have both and ones as good as the other.
If it gets really bad I give electrolytes but be careful with this, I put down only 1 day in 7. Considering my hens free range all day they don’t drink from this dish all the time as there are water bowls everywhere with ice packs in. The electrolytes help their kidneys when it is overly hot.
Oh and I only do the electrolyte thing when the temperature exceeds panting temperature. I find it’s not just the temperature but a combination of breeze & humidity.

Watermelon! 95% water and vitamins. They love it cold!