How to Keep Your Chickens Cool During Hot Weather

Best ways to keep your chickens cool during the summer. Ways to prevent heat stress (acidosis), signs and treatments for heat stress in chickens and much more.

Tips to Keep Your Chickens Cool in the Summer

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The best way to keep your chickens cool in the summer months is to make sure they have plenty of shade, cool water, and electrolytes. Industrial fans and plenty of ventilation can help chickens stay cool in the hen house or coop at night, and will also help increase egg production. Hens lay fewer eggs when they are suffering from heat stress. Heat stress can cause your chickens to get a ph imbalance that can lead to acidosis. Acidosis if left untreated is deadly. Find out how to prevent your chickens from getting heat stress (prevent acidosis) and more. In addition to the following tips during very hot weather I like to give my chickens a chicken spa day every month too.

How to prevent your chickens from getting heat stress: Prevent Acidosis

Keep your chickens cool during hot summer temperatures with these great tips.
  • Install insulation in your hen houses
  • Provide ventilation and  fans
  • Put shallow pans of water in shady areas (they will stand in the water to cool off)
  • Make sure there is plenty of shady areas where they can cool off
  • Remove feed so that they will not be digesting their food during the hottest part of the day. Food digestion generates body heat. Feed them at night and leave the lights on so they will eat it (chickens rarely move around in the dark).
  • Use sprinklers, cooling pads or foggers
  • Use evaporative cooling fans inside the hen house
  • Make sure cool water is available at all times
  • Reduce the amount of feed you give them and use feed with more vitamins and nutrients to make up for feeding them less. You can also add vitamins and nutrients to their water to make up for the less amount of feed. 
  • Change feeds. Feed like whole corn and cracked corn should only be used during cooler weather and is especially good during the winter months because digesting this type of feed will generate a considerable amount of heat in their bodies but can cause extreme heat stress in the summer months.
  • Keep litter and bedding dry-reduced food intake and higher vitamin and water intake can cause loose watery feces which can cause illness.
  • Freeze water with fresh fruit, veggies and herbs in cupcake pans for a nice cool treat.
  • Put ice cubes and herbs in their water.
  • Freeze water in small freezer bags and put them in water container's to keep chicken water cool.
  • Give your chickens a chicken spa day

How to Tell if Your Chicken Has Heat Stress

Heat stress can cause your chicken to get sick or die. Check out the signs and symptoms that can indicate whether your chicken is having heat stress and how to relieve that stress.

Signs, Symptoms & Treatments for Acidosis

Symptoms of heat stress include panting, holding wings out, paleness or extreme redness. If your chickens are not cool enough they could develop a condition called acidosis and even die.

How industrial fans keep your chickens cool and increase egg production

How industrial fans keep your chickens cool and increase egg production. If you use industrial fans there is a much lower chance that your chickens will develop heat stress or acidosis.

Insulating Your Hen House/Chicken Coop 

It is fairly easy to insulate a hen house or coop depending on which method you choose. Insulating your coop will keep your chickens cooler in the summer and warmer during the winter months. Check out these great idea's for insulating your chicken coop.

Use Solar Power for Lights and Fans in Your Hen House or Chicken Coop

Using solar power to run your lights, fans and other things in your hen house that operate on electricity can save you money on electrical costs and reduce your overhead chicken keeping costs by a substantial amount. Solar Power Kits and Solar Powered Generators make it easy to get started.