How to Cool Off Your Hot Chickens: 6 Ways

When the temperature goes from 70 degrees to 100, every thing suffers, even your chickens. Chickens can take heat but radical changes are hard for them. Chickens will eventually adjust to the hotter temperatures but may need your help in the process. I'm not a vet. I have raised layers for many years and these are the things that I do to cool off my chickens when they are getting too hot.

KNOW THE SIGNS OF CHICKENS GETTING TOO HOT

Egg production down.
Chickens just lying around.
Chickens off of their feed.
Chickens with mouths open and panting.

FEEDING HOT CHICKENS

When chickens eat their grain, it makes them hot. I may throw a handful of scratch out in the evening and they have some feed in their coop. IF you use lights, try setting the lights to come on in the wee hours like 2 in the morning. It is coolest then and the chickens will eat better. (Caution: Overweight chickens are at risk in hot weather.)

My chickens have access to an outside lot. I throw grass clippings, weeds and leaves in there along with things from the garden, such as squash. They pick through this for bugs and blades of grass. This type of feed causes them less body heat than regular feed with corn and other grains.

CREATING SHADE FOR CHICKENS

We are blessed to have a tree that shades the chicken coop. This has not always been the case. Some of my coops have had no shade. I have attached tarps to the fences and also to the coops and made a "temporary" shade for them. The tarps also reflect some of the heat from the building where they are hung.

We have purposefully left a small spot where weeds grow. Our chickens love going in this weedy jungle to look for bugs and to get into the shade as well.

WATER COOLS HOT CHICKENS

Of course providing your chickens with fresh water is a must. On really hot days, if I dump the water a few times during the day and replace it with fresh, cold water, the chickens drink more and stay cool better.

I also drag a hose with a sprayer nozzle over to the coop. Our coop has a tin roof on it and it really heats up from the sun shining on it. I spray the roof and sides of the coop and this drops the temperature inside. Some people mist the inside of their coop, I don't

CHICKENS USE DUST AND DIRT TO COOL OFF

There is a spot in our coop that is approx. 1 foot by 1 foot that is soft dirt/dust. The chickens use this dust and dirt spot to help cool themselves off. They lay down in the dirt and rub it through their feathers. This action seems to cool them. It also helps with fleas and insects. There is also a bare spot in their lot that they use for this.

CHICKENS LOVE FANS!!

We have a square house fan hanging in our chicken coop. The chickens know its there and they love standing in the breeze that it creates. A fan also circulates the air for better ventilation. We simply hung the fan from the ceiling of the coop. It blows directly on the hens. I think we have it set on the medium setting. Using a fan to cool off your chickens is extremely helpful when it's raining outside and the chickens are inside for the day.

SPACE FOR HOT CHICKENS

Cooling chickens is easier if they have plenty of space so that they are not on top of each other. If you don't have a small lot, it's not hard to make a temporary one so that the chickens can get cooled down. Make sure you are not overloading your coop in hot weather with too many chickens.

Basically these are just common sense ways to cool of your chickens. The main thing is too start thinking about ways you can help your chickens stay cool BEFORE they encounter the extreme heat and humidity of summer.

Cool with water. Cool with dust and dirt. Cool with shades. Cool with plenty of space. It's not hard or expensive to cool down those birds!

source: my experience