Here in Texas it gets very hot. The poor chickens pant all day and egg production is low. We have had to try and be creative with ways to keep them cooler.
The Legbar pen is in the sun and the only shade is in the coop itself. So we ended up purchasing a mister and a timer to go with it. I have set the timer to start at 10 am and run for 10 minutes. Then it is to run every two hours for 10 minutes misting the coop and lowering the temp a bit. In the evening when I lock everybody up I pull the mister out of the coop and turn the water off.
In addition to the mister in the Legbar pen we are also putting 2 liter bottles of frozen water in several places on the ground. The chickens will lay on them and up against them. I also find them standing on them to cool off.
In the main run with our laying hens we water down the ground every night. We make sure to really soak under the coop as the chickens spend the heat of the day dug down into the cool damp soil. This coop and run is in the shade of a large Mesquite tree, but it does get some intense afternoon sun. I am trying to establish some vines to shade the front and top and expect over the years for them to provide some nice shade.
In the breeding pens we have a fan blowing across two of the pens. I don't like having to run an extension cord across the yard, but at least it is keeping the air moving in their coop. During the early morning and evening hours the chickens get out in the run to scratch around and will dig down into the dirt. We hose these areas down as well so the dirt is damp and cool for them.
For the littles growing out before heading to the bigger pens, I have been adding a frozen water bottle to their water dish. As you can see, they do like to stand on the bottle to cool down as well. This young cockerel decided to stand on his bottle while I was cleaning out the water pan and getting it refilled.
Even with all the work we are putting into keeping the chickens cool, the heat has taken its toll. I found my Silver Laced Wynadott dead in the coop just inside the door. She was fine in the morning before we left for work and just did not make it through the day. She is the first one I have lost and I hope the last. Though I love summer, by this time of year I am ready to see some cooler temps.
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