Best Ways to Keep Your Chickens Cool in The Summer.
The following are the best ways I found to keep my chickens cool during the summer: Frozen water bottles, solar powered coop fans, good ventilation, do it yourself homemade dry ice air conditioners, and making sure there is shade during the day for the hen house or chicken coop and run. The easiest way to do it is to keep your chickens cool is to recycle old plastic soda bottles, fill them with water, freeze them and put them in the chickens water dish or water bucket or water barrel.
For a quick fix you can put ice cubes in their water dish but from my experience in extremely hot Texas heat those ice cubes melt pretty fast and buying bags of ice to put in chicken water can get real expensive real quick, not to mention you will have to do it again every hour or so.
See more ways keep chickens cool below.
For a quick fix you can put ice cubes in their water dish but from my experience in extremely hot Texas heat those ice cubes melt pretty fast and buying bags of ice to put in chicken water can get real expensive real quick, not to mention you will have to do it again every hour or so.
See more ways keep chickens cool below.
Freeze water in old plastic bottles:
You can fill the old soda bottles and even old plastic milk jugs with water and freeze them solid over night. Wait until the temps hit 80 F degrees or above and simply put the frozen bottles in the water. Doing this will keep the water cool during the heat of the day and all night. I have used a gallon milk jug in water pans, 4 2-liter soda bottles with frozen water will keep a 55 gallon food grade barrel with poultry water cups cool all day and night even in temps reaching over 100 degrees F. Don't forget to gather the bottles up and refreeze them every night or if you have extra bottles you can freeze them while you are using the others. Do not use plastic bottles that contained chemicals or cleaning products because residue from those products may still remain in them no matter how well you clean them.
Coop Ventilation:
Make sure your coop has ventilation. The vents should be on all four sides of the coop. Improper ventilation can cause respiratory issues with chickens.
Fans:
Use fans to help your chickens stay cool in their coop at night. Solar powered or wind powered fans work best for chicken coops and are much safer than running extension cords.
Shade:
During summer months your chicken coop and at least half of their run should be in a shady place. If you cannot move your chicken coop you will need to provide shade for the coop and at least half the run to help cool the ground they walk on. If you do not provide shade it will be way too hot for your chickens which can cause them to suffer heat stress, respiratory problems and even kill them. There are several ways to provide shade for your coop. You can make a frame from 2 by 8 boards and put tin over the top or you can use a shade canopy screen which will allow air to flow through while protecting your birds from excessive heat and direct sun.
DIY Dry Ice Air conditioner:
You can make an easy to do DIY air conditioner for inside your chicken coop from a five gallon bucket (See link to page below).
You can fill the old soda bottles and even old plastic milk jugs with water and freeze them solid over night. Wait until the temps hit 80 F degrees or above and simply put the frozen bottles in the water. Doing this will keep the water cool during the heat of the day and all night. I have used a gallon milk jug in water pans, 4 2-liter soda bottles with frozen water will keep a 55 gallon food grade barrel with poultry water cups cool all day and night even in temps reaching over 100 degrees F. Don't forget to gather the bottles up and refreeze them every night or if you have extra bottles you can freeze them while you are using the others. Do not use plastic bottles that contained chemicals or cleaning products because residue from those products may still remain in them no matter how well you clean them.
Coop Ventilation:
Make sure your coop has ventilation. The vents should be on all four sides of the coop. Improper ventilation can cause respiratory issues with chickens.
Fans:
Use fans to help your chickens stay cool in their coop at night. Solar powered or wind powered fans work best for chicken coops and are much safer than running extension cords.
Shade:
During summer months your chicken coop and at least half of their run should be in a shady place. If you cannot move your chicken coop you will need to provide shade for the coop and at least half the run to help cool the ground they walk on. If you do not provide shade it will be way too hot for your chickens which can cause them to suffer heat stress, respiratory problems and even kill them. There are several ways to provide shade for your coop. You can make a frame from 2 by 8 boards and put tin over the top or you can use a shade canopy screen which will allow air to flow through while protecting your birds from excessive heat and direct sun.
DIY Dry Ice Air conditioner:
You can make an easy to do DIY air conditioner for inside your chicken coop from a five gallon bucket (See link to page below).
