Last Sunday, we nearly hit 100 degrees F here in Charlotte, NC!  And the humidity made it all the more unbearable!  Admittedly, with everything going on at our home on the weekends, i wasn’t paying too much attention to our flock which was still roaming around “free range” in the back yard.  I few times, however, I noticed that all five hens were laying down in the shade, so I figured they were keeping cool.  While this was partially true, the hens were in much worse shape than I realized, especially the two little Bantams! Luckily, I was able to make the hens more comfortable while it was still in the mid-90 degrees outside.  Do you know the signs that your flock might be overheating?

Signs of a chicken in heat trouble:

• Panting
• Wings spread out to the side to release extra heat
• Loss of appetite
• Lethargic or less activity
• Diarrhea from increased water intake

If you see any of these signs, act quickly!  In the short term, chickens with heat distress will produce less eggs, eat less required nutrients, and in the long term, could have lasting illnesses or even death.

So what can you do if you’re battling the summer heat for your flock?  Here’s a few ideas and examples of what we did for the Sterling Flock:

Water:

Water….water….and more water!  Poultry eggs are 75% water so if your hens are dehydrated, then this impacts their ability to produce eggs.  In times of increased temperatures, make sure you have water sources available in multiple places around your hens’ living space.  For our free range hens, I have two water sources inside their run and two additional ones beneath a shady spot where I know they like to keep cool.  Chickens will not drink warm or hot water so you should keep bags of ice in  your freezer to help keep the water sources cool.

We have a hanging Hen Hydrator 3.5 gallon bucket inside the run that holds a fair amount of water.  Beneath the bucket are three nipple waterers that the hens will peck at to get droplets of water.  The lid comes off fairly easily for replacing water and adding ice.  When you add ice to this hydrator, the sides of the plastic bucket will sweat with cool water and can attract attention for the hens.

Something new I added recently for the shady spot is a Harris Farms 1-gallon Poultry Drinker, but I bought an extra “dome”.  I keep one dome in the freezer overnight to freeze water, and the second one is on the drinker stand, with frozen water from the previous day.  The frozen water will melt throughout the day, providing cool drinking water for the flock.  I replace the melted dome with a frozen one in the morning and repeat the process!

Shade:

Speaking of shady areas, this is also important for the chickens during the warmer summer months.  Our hens love to hang out beneath the stairs of a large treehouse we have in the backyard.  The area beneath the stairs is fairly spacious and allows for a nice breeze to flow.  Having a spacious area is important so the hens are not on top of each other, further adding to the heat issues by huddling in the smaller space.

Coop design and ventilation:

Our hens go up into the hen house at night, which is about 3 feet above the ground.  And even though the temperatures are slightly cooler in the evening, the smaller space can get  equally hot if proper ventilation is not present.  There’s a ramp that we raise up at night to seal off the hen house.  Lately, I have been keeping that ramp lowered about 12 inches from the “closed” position as it allows more air to flow into the hen house.  I also installed an inexpensive, $20 fan from our local Ace Hardware store and attached it to the outside of the side access door to the hen house.  At night, I turn on the fan and it provides a steady stream of pushing air through the hen house.  And it’s very quiet too!

You might also consider the paint color of your coop as a longer term solution to dealing with the heat.  Choose colors such as white or other lighter shades that reflect the heat rather than retain it.

Decrease the amount of bedding material in the nesting boxes:

I noticed that our hens were not going into the nesting boxes.  They have actually been laying their eggs in the dirt of the planter that sits on the front side of the hen house!  I learned that the bedding material (pine flakes) actually retains heat!  I had piled in the amount of bedding material, thinking I was giving them a comfortable bed.  That might be a good idea in the winter, but in the summer it was creating a hot bed, literally!  To resolve the problem, I scooped out most of the bedding material, leaving about an inch in each of the nesting boxes.  Easy fix and happy hens!

Fresh and frozen fruit:

Our chickens are already pretty spoiled when it comes to daily fresh fruits and vegetables.  During the hotter times, however, watermelons are especially great for the hens.  Chickens are attracted to the color red anyway and the watermelons contain a fair amount of water.  What works for me is going to the local grocery store and buying the smaller, round watermelons.  They can easily be cut in half and then “quartered” to give to the hens in the morning.  On a related note, always remember to remove the leftover rinds at the end of the day.  Any food left out in the open can become a source of attraction for predators such as raccoons or weasels.  And I wouldn’t leave the watermelon out in the hot sun as they could become spoiled.

Frozen fruits are also great.  Similar to the waterer above, the frozen fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, etc.  Try freezing berries in a bowl of water, creating a giant popsicle of sorts!  Chickens are very inquisitive and they’ll peck at the popsicle throughout the day.

 

These are just a few ideas to keep your hens cooler in the summer months that I was able to quickly do this past week.  It was amazing how quickly the chickens recovered from the condition they were in on that Sunday afternoon!  Happy, healthy flock!