what do you think of this?

[bucky52]

dog house solar power exhaust.this hot weather has really got me worried.i have provided shade,fans and water.my poor flock is still panting.in the evenings when they are on the roost,wings are out and panting.their coop is so hot even though i have two fans going full blast.yesterday evening dh took their solid door down,and built them a door made with hardwire cloth and renforced it with welded wire.i'am hoping this will help cool their coop down.now back to my subject.i have been doing some searching on fans etc.
found the solar exhaust fan .has anyone on this site ever used one.or know anyone that has.there was only one.4 star review.the price ranged in between $45.00 for the small and $ 55 for the larger model.

 

[FireTigeris]

I'd suggest a swamp cooler if you can do it.

I'm in FL and I have a large kiddy pool (sometimes two) for water and I also spray down the coop around 11:00 AM and until it drys it lowers the temp- I do nothing further

 

[bucky52]

how does a swamp cooler work.do you hook a water hose to it.

 

[FireTigeris]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooler

There are directions here on BYC:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/14097/our-hillbilly-swamp-cooler

This is not for me in FL- I forgo the fan and spray down the floor of the coop, it works best in DRY climates (not sure where you are)

 

[bucky52]

ok ii found information on swamp coolers.they don't work in places with high humidity.plus they are pricey.my dh would not go for that.
he's a penny pincher.he has been ragging on me.he says i have the chicken fever really bad.

 

[FireTigeris]

Well you can build one with a fan and a wet cloth,


But - are you as humid as me in FL?

I spray down the coop floor before water restrictions are on and let it dry out, my coop is fully shaded from 10am-4pm and only gets morning and evening sun. so that helps too.

For humid climates
-shade
-extra water
-ground to dig in

 

[bucky52]

humidity here in va.this week hovered around 95%.

 

[FireTigeris]

About the same- nice and wet-

ok, mine aren't panting or too heat stressed, they have dropped egg production.

What does your coop look like?

I have three tons of ventilation

 

[bucky52]

my coop is 6x7,front has 5x1.5 welded wire window.open door on the bottom two vents behind roost board.another bottom vent.the entrance door for us,is hardwire and welded wire.dh even put a awning over the windows to block the evening sun.the front of the coop faces west.and all that hot sun just heats it up.when dear husband built this coop.his thoughts were if it faced north,come winter all the cold wind would hit the front.what ever i hinted at,and i hinted alot dh would build.Two coops three runs two are roofed.two chicken tractors.so i did not have the heart to tell him that the last coop should have faced north.dh has worked so hard.and been so patient.

 

[FireTigeris]

I'm one of those people that needs pictures but maybe someone can help,

If you looked at mine the closed end is north, the open end faces the house and south, the east wall is closed with vent windows in the plywood and the west wall is open.

24*12*8 total with 12*8*8 fully covered + coop (3*5*3) - the rest is hardware cloth wrapped, the floor is vinyl lattice.