The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching

Hot weather and stress on chickens

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Jess:
Morning,
Lately we have been having very hot and dry weather here.
It has been 100 plus, and today is forcast to be 101, with no end in sight.
My chickens walk around with their mouth open panting.
They are sheading feathers a lot.
I am keeping them all the water and feed they can eat and drink.
I have a lot of shade trees and bushes for the to get under.
Question, what else can I do to make them comfortable?
I am hopeing for a break, but the weather channel just gave the local forcast for the next 7 days and the coolest day was 99.
I don\'t know what we are going to do when it gets summertime, like in July and August  
Thanks
Jess

Jean:
I have never lost an ameraucana to heat.

Some things I do in July and August up here is put ice cubes in the water or lay out frozen water bottles for the birds to lay on.

You can also make a mister system with pvc pipe and little nozzles purchased from Home Depot or Lowes.  They are quite inexpensive.

Fresh water is the main thing they need.

Jess:
Thanks Jean,
I just feel sorry for them, they seem so uncomfortable.
I check on their water often and they sure are drinking a lot.
I let them run free range, so they can move around and find a shade to get under.
The only bad thing is that they like to get in Elaines flower beds, but thats OK with her.
Thanks
Jess

Mike Gilbert:
My poultry barn has large doors on both ends with a walkway down the middle.  Chickens in pens on both sides.   In hot weather I use a box fan at high speed near the north door to keep the air moving.

Beth C:
I second the fan, and anything you can do to increase shade for birds that are penned. I like camo leaf netting (mine is military surplus, but they probably sell it in sport shops, too, since people use it for deer/duck blinds) because it provides shade w/o restricting air flow. Paul Smith told me last year his birds do well up to about 105, over that he starts losing them, and I\'ve found that to be true here as well - I lost quite a few last year but not until it got up to 107, then they started dropping like flies. I finally got desperate and turned them all loose until fall. It\'s a calculated risk - lots of things can happen to a loose bird - but in the approx. 3 months they were loose I didn\'t lose a single bird, and I was losing 2-3 a week before that, so for me it was definitely the lesser of the 2 evils.

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