The scorching sun…
The sticky humidity…
The hot temperatures…
Chickens natural way of keeping cool is to spread their feathers to let the heat escape. They are also smart enough to seek shade, create dust bathing areas, and drink plenty of water.
Although they do a pretty good job of keeping themselves cool, I (along with many backyard chicken keepers) tend to pamper our flock a little 😉
I implement a few things to help our ladies out in the heat of summer.
SHADE. Our ladies love to congregate under the coop. They are out of direct sunlight and a little breeze can go under the raised structure. Shade from trees or shrubbery can also provide a respite area for a flock of chickens.
DUST BATHING AREAS. Chickens love to dust bathe. It’s a way for them to spread their wings and cool off, while also killing parasites.
Any pliable ground will do – they just need to be able to scratch and pick a hole in the dirt.
COOL TREATS. A cold melon hits the spot for many of us on a hot summer day. Our ladies come-a-cluckin’ when they see me carrying melon rinds. They peck it clean and thank me by providing delicious eggs.
WATER. In the warmer months, I change back to using the galvanized water troughs for our ladies. The metal helps to keep the water cooler than the plastic ones I use in the colder months. I have two – one gets filled in the morning, the other gets filled and swapped out mid afternoon.
Without spending a lot of money, these are a few things we can do to help keep our chickens cool during the heat of summer.
8 Comments
Sadly some people don’t realize animals have their methods, but can always use some help by giving them a proper setup. Dog houses are supposed to be raised off the ground like chicken coops to allow the dog to get underneath and benefit from the shade, the cooler ground and any breezes.
Living in Florida, it’s easy enough to keep animals, but the heat is as big a problem as extreme cold. I like your article for being informative, easy to read with photos and to the point.
I keep about 6, 20 oz bottles 3/4 filled with water, in my freezer and every day I put one down in the chickens watering can at about 1:00 to keep the water cool the rest on the day.
I have plastic water containers, I give my chickens electrolytes on REALLY hot days and pour in ice cubes. I also moved their coop to an area that was shaded in the afternoon and evenings.
I have a child’s wading pool for my geese, and a galvanized water tub. I set the hose to overfill these at a very slow rate – a pencil thin flow. This creates a sloppy mud hole which, ugly to look at, has several advantages. My hens cool their feet in the muck, it waters the Willow slip I planted there (which is now almost an actual tree to shade my birds), and it flushes out mosquito larvae and eggs. I have gold fish or minnows in the horse troughs, but the water is to foul (pardon the pun) in the bird waterers for fish to survive. I don’t like losing the water in our drought situation, but the benefits are worth it. I rarely lose birds and our temps can get up to 110′.
I live in central Texas and I certainly do the watermelon trick as well. But when the temperatures get into the 100s, I freeze water in plastic orange juice bottles and place then in my water cooler bucket. The cops are shaded under a big tree so the ice melts slowly, keeping the hens water nice and cool. They love it!
I freeze ice in 1/2 gal or quart size containers. I put these large “ice cubes” in the chicken’s water in the morning since I am gone during the day. The water will still be cool in the late afternoon. I also have misters and one of the reflective sun shades up on the sunny side of the coop.
I only have the plastic waterers. But when I fill them, I put a frozen water bottle in each of them. Also put in alittle Gatorade when it is really hot. I have a fan in the coop also.
All good. I also put blocks of ice in their water. On really hot days I’ll put gallon jugs of frozen water in the coops. It acts as N sir conditioner. I also change to bedding to sandbox sand. Safe and cooler than shavings.