How to Prevent Heat Related Stress In Chickens
The best ways to prevent heat related stress in your chickens and keep your them cool in the summer months is to make sure they have plenty of shade, cool water, electrolytes. fans or a dry ice air conditioner, ventilation, and to put frozen plastic bottles or milk jugs placed in the water. Heat stress causes problems with chickens.
Hens lay fewer eggs when they are suffering from symptoms of heat stress.
Heat stress can cause your chickens to get a Ph imbalance that can lead to an illness called acidosis.
Acidosis if left untreated is deadly.
Find out how to prevent your chickens from getting heat stress and prevent acidosis below.
In addition to the following tips during very hot weather I like to give my chickens a chicken spa day every month too it helps to reduce the chances of parasites and helps cool them off on really hot days.
Hens lay fewer eggs when they are suffering from symptoms of heat stress.
Heat stress can cause your chickens to get a Ph imbalance that can lead to an illness called acidosis.
Acidosis if left untreated is deadly.
Find out how to prevent your chickens from getting heat stress and prevent acidosis below.
In addition to the following tips during very hot weather I like to give my chickens a chicken spa day every month too it helps to reduce the chances of parasites and helps cool them off on really hot days.
How to Keep Your Chickens Cool In The Summer
Keep your chickens cool during hot summer temperatures with these great tips.
- Put frozen bottles of water or ice in their water containers
- Make sure coop and water containers are in the shade.
- 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
- Reduce the amount of corn you give them and use a complete and balanced feed. Don't give them whole corn during the summer: 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.
- Make sure cool water is available at all times: Freeze water in small freezer bags or plastic bottles, and put them in water container's to keep chicken water cool.
- Build a DIY air conditioner for your coop from a five gallon bucket. (See DIY Air Conditioner)
- Make sure your coop and at least half of the run have shade during the summer: If possible put the coop near a shade tree, if that is not an option use a shade screen or build one.
- Give your chickens a chicken spa day
- Take chickens indoors in a place with air conditioning during extended extreme heat days or when showing any signs of heat stress.
