Temperatures are rising!! How do you keep your chickens cool in the coop, run, and or brooders?!?!

3KillerBs said:

I've heard that those work wonderfully well in dry heat!

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Yes, the dry heat is why they work so well. I found the mister at Home depot, its a plastic tubing shaped like a cobra curled. I placed a cinder block on the bottom to keep the birds from knocking it over. It really works well with the box fan that distributes the mist.

I have such pleasant memories of experiencing a mister system(for people) while vacationing in AZ.
But, no, does not good at all in a humid climate.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

You sound like a wonderful chicken mom .
Like you, we heard about the misters for hot weather. My chickens hated it, as did I when I was out with them. We quickly got rid of it, agree that misters are not for humid areas.
As the others said, you want shade and ventilation! The tarps hold heat, but that won't matter as much if they are on the top of your run. If you want something less solid, we put a piece of reed garden fence on part of the top of our run. You really don't want to block the breeze from the side. You can add an awning or large beach/ patio umbrella to the southwest side to provide shade in the late afternoon. For our first coop, we used a shower curtain as an awning. It held up surprisingly well. We then added on to the run and it no longer worked so we switched to the umbrella. If you use an umbrella, make sure to take it completely down in high winds

My chickens free range, but seem to like being in the sun during the warmest part of the day. They have ample access to grass, clover, and my goat barns. Not sure why they like the heat!! And I live in Louisiana!

Well for me, misters work well, but we aren't too humid here. My girls won't stand under them, but hover around the edge. They also dig in the damp ground produced by the misters. Deep shade is imperative, IMO. I only have 4 hens, so if they look too hot, they come inside.

Duhonmommie said:

My chickens free range, but seem to like being in the sun during the warmest part of the day. They have ample access to grass, clover, and my goat barns. Not sure why they like the heat!! And I live in Louisiana!

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I know what you mean, one minute they are gasping like a heat stroke is coming on. The next minute, they are laid out in the hot sun like beach bunnies.

I live in south texas and extremely hot and humid weather. I have an open air coop type of coop that I built, yet that still didn’t cut it as far as chickens overheating. I invested in fans made specifically for dusty areas(think horse barns). I have 3 of these going full blast 24/7, I go out in the heat of the day and put the hose inside the coop and let it soak and entire area, and find that many hens will lay down in the wet area to cool off. I tried the whole frozen water bottle thing, however I have too many hens and I don’t have enough space in my freezer to freeze that many water bottles I would need for the number of chickens I have.
this year I have ordered another fan. I like the fans with sealed motors either Max Air or Tornado brand. These are the industrial ones that put out a lot of air, but also much safer for the area i have them in.

Nksg75 said:

I live in south texas and extremely hot and humid weather. I have an open air coop type of coop that I built, yet that still didn’t cut it as far as chickens overheating. I invested in fans made specifically for dusty areas(think horse barns). I have 3 of these going full blast 24/7, I go out in the heat of the day and put the hose inside the coop and let it soak and entire area, and find that many hens will lay down in the wet area to cool off. I tried the whole frozen water bottle thing, however I have too many hens and I don’t have enough space in my freezer to freeze that many water bottles I would need for the number of chickens I have.
this year I have ordered another fan. I like the fans with sealed motors either Max Air or Tornado brand. These are the industrial ones that put out a lot of air, but also much safer for the area i have them in.

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X2
I have a couple of industrial fans from TSC. I've been using them for 4 years without a problem. I usually turn them off for a few hours a day. I know the chickens appreciate them, because they gather in front of them. The rest of them love to sit in muddy areas, that i make under the trees.

My momma silkie doesn't seem to be bothered by the heat, and I think her two week old chicks actually enjoy it. More time running around the yard, less time cuddling to momma for warm.

For my other group, they are definitely feeling the heat. Got several layers of shade going - whole area is in a forest and part of the run has a tarp over it. They get some sun, but are easily able. Making sure the water stays stocked for them, also provided two additional dishes of water (trashcan lid in the run and storage box in the coop) with about an inch of water in it. In theory, they could stand in there or dip the wattle/comb to cool off quick. Additionally, I've been hosing down the top of the coop to hopefully cool off the interior, which seems to help, at least from my perspective.

My girls were you last year and I did mist them on the smallest setting...they didn't like it. I have added an OVEReasy coup and thought about using the mister in the roof to cool the inside where they lay and roost. The shade under it will be perfect. I'm going to water it now 100 is in the forecast on Monday. I will post a pick of the area I'm talking about.