Experiencing a heat wave where you live? Here are 10 Things you can do right now to keep your chickens cool in the heat.
Here in wine country, we’ve had a warmer summer earlier in the year than usual. There have already been a few heat waves of several days over 90 degree heat in a row. This last one follows after only two days of cooling down between waves.
Why do we need to keep tabs on our hens in hot weather? Well, like dogs and cats, hens cannot sweat to cool off, like we humans do. A hen has a much harder time regulating severe swings in temperature. And, a hen could easily succumb to heat exhaustion in a very short time – a few hours or overnight. So it is important to watch your hens and make sure they aren’t showing signs of distress from the heat wave.
Which Hens are the most vulnerable?
The hens at the most risk, in my experience, are older hens that are no longer laying. Because well, they are just more susceptible to everything. There is a loss of hormones as they age, which may make it harder for them to regulate their body temperature. Anecdotally, we have a hen who is 9 years old and still laying between 3-4 times a week! She has exhibited far greater heat tolerance than our other hens of the same age and breed who are no longer laying.
In addition to the older chickens, larger birds, weaker birds (for example, a recovering hen), darker birds (such as a black hen), are also at a higher risk than the average chicken. Certain breeds also have more or less heat tolerance than others.
Also be alert for broody hens who may not be willing to move out of a hot nesting box. Nesting boxes are enclosed and can trap heat if there is no place for the heat to escape.
Signs your Hens may be in Distress:
It is a good idea to check on your chickens frequently during a heat wave. This is how you can monitor them to make sure everyone is feeling groovy in the heat. If you’re not home, try to have a neighbor look in on them daily, if possible.
Here are a few signs to look out for. First we’ll cover a few things you may see which should not cause a panic:
- Panting. Like dogs, hens don’t sweat, so panting is the only way they can cool down. On hot days, its normal to see a hen with an open mouth, panting. As long as the hen is up, alert, and its head and tail are both high, the panting is normal.
- Holding their wings out and away from their body. A hen, especially the bigger breeds and those with lots of feathers – will hold her wings away from her body. This allows air circulation under the ‘wingpits’ where it can get the hottest! This is normal, and again, as long as her head and tail are up, she should be fine.
However, the following are signs that a hen is in distress, and you should act quickly. If your hen is laying down on the ground while panting, lethargic, her head is down, her tail is low, and she is not moving, you should move her into a cool spot immediately. Take her inside an air conditioned home if possible (in a cage) just to get her temperature down quickly. If air conditioning is not an option, take her into a shady spot. Ideally, a spot where sun hasn’t beat down for at least an hour. Try inside a barn or under a large canopy tree. You may also wish to get some ice packs near her body to quickly bring her temperature back to normal. And don’t forget to hydrate her!
10 Things You Can Do to Keep Chickens Cool in the Heat
You want to avoid the above scenario at all costs, if possible. Allowing a hen to get too hot could weaken her, reduce her egg laying capacity, and even change her personality. Set some heat-busting strategies up prior to an impending heat wave.
Here are the 10 Things You Can Do to Keep Chickens Cool in the Heat and avoid heat stress.
- Provide shade – cover hot spots in the run. I strongly suggest that all runs attached to coops have overhead protection. This is primarily important for predators. But it also provides critical shade on the hottest days. If there are any areas which get hit from the side, or through a window, add a tarp, sail, or a board to cover so that the hot sun can’t stream through and beat down, increasing the overall temperature of the entire area. We have a window in our coop. The sun comes in the afternoon heating up the nesting boxes so much that the girls won’t lay. When we lean a tall piece of plywood over the window, the temperature comes down significantly. Then the girls can return to their boxes.
- Cross breeze – ventilation. Make sure that both your coop and run have ventilation at the minimum, and a good cross breeze. It’s a good idea to have removeable panels on the run. In the winter you want to prevent cold and blustery weather from getting in. But in the summer that breeze makes a huge difference.
- Fresh water and ice cubes. Make sure that there is plenty of cool water for your chickens. They need to drink a lot more on hot days to keep their body temperatures in check. Keep the water in a shaded spot. If the water is heating up quickly, you can add ice cubes to it. If you have a big ice block to float, that’s always a great option, too. It will not only cool down the water but also some localized ambient air.
- Area to dust bathe. You are probably familiar with dust bathing. It is a charming activity that hens do which helps to keep mites off their skin. Well, it is also a great cooling activity. Just a few inches beneath the surface of the earth the ground gets much cooler than the surface temperature. If your run is hard ground, break up the dirt to allow dust bathing. Or, add a layer of shavings to allow the hens to dig down and cool off. You could also add a baby pool filled with dirt, this also works!
- Add frozen water bottles. You can freeze a bunch of water bottles (or a big block of ice) and put these around the run. This will help to cool down the ambient temperature, but also give a cool spot for a hot chicken to nestle in.
- Water down the bottom of the run. On the hottest days, putting cool water on the ground will help to drop the temperature of that area. This is a quick temporary fix: once the water has dried, the area heats up again. Do not water down their dust bathing areas. And you’ll probably want to do this in conjunction with several of the other strategies listed here.
- Frozen fruit or vegetables. It is a good idea to keep some frozen veggies or fruit on hand for hot days! The chickens will love the healthy treat, and the cold will help them keep cool. It will also add some hydration to their diet. They may not eat the fully frozen treats, but once they melt just a little bit, every last cold blueberry or pea will be gone!
- Add a fan to the hottest area of the coop / run. This recommendation goes hand-in hand with a cross breeze, and I should have made this # 3 on the list! If you have any hot spots in the coop or run, adding a fan to the area will help to move that hot air out and keep the overall temperature down. Our birds will actually sit in front of the fan to cool off!
- Use a mister. An inexpensive mister will keep the air temperature a few degrees cooler. Some chickens like the cool mist – my friend’s Polish chickens love it. Some chickens won’t go near the water, but will appreciate the cooler nearby temperature.
- Add electrolytes to their water. Lastly, adding electrolytes is like Gatorade for your chickens. This adds vitamins back to their depleted little bodies and helps them withstand the heat. Best of all – packages of electrolytes made for chickens are very inexpensive.
Those are my 10 Things You Can Do to Keep Chickens Cool in the Heat. I hope you and your chickens are keeping cool! Let me know in the comments if there are any other strategies you’ve tried.
