What to do for hot weather

[new chick 203]

Besides the obvious picking the correct breeds for your area and siting your coop and run where there is some good shade, what do you do for you birds in the heat? I've seen allot of products lately with electrolytes and vitamins. Are they worth it? What do you do?

 

[smedly9921]

I give them electrolytes in there water once a week or so during the summer just to be sure. Also i have a fan in the coop to keep the air moving.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You are right on your first 2 points, selecting birds for climate is most important as is positioning housing in the shade.
Electrolytes help but so do foot baths with ice in the water, ice blocks in the waterer (they don't drink much warm water), eliminate all heat generating scratch grains like corn and wheat (in summer I only give oats for scratch), a fan at the window to blow cool air into the coop at night or extract hot air, frozen milk jugs hung at roost height and misters if it isn't too humid in your climate already.