The above chickens were starting to pant as early as 10AM... They really seemed to enjoy the fan once I got it into place...
These guys are able to leave this pen and go into the woods - a lot of times they don't. Perhaps it's because they have a nice dust bath area... The fan kind of scared them at first - after awhile though - more of them came over to be in front of it...
This group's coop is IN the woods-stays pretty nice where they like to hang out behind it... Never really see anyone from this coop panting...
Thermometer shows 95 degrees at the moment... I've been checking and refilling some of the waterers every 2-3 hours or so... Will be SO GLAD when this heat subsides! Hope all of you and your chicksters are staying cool! Well, at least comfortable... Take care! ~Mari
ETA - Is anyone doing this or anything just a little "out of the norm" while it's hot? Oh, I also give them oats in the morning and sprinkle them in their feeders right before they are due to go in and grab a bite before going to roost. According to "Storeys" it supposedly helps them during hot weather. I can't really tell if it helps or not - but I figure - Hey? What's it gonna hurt? And they sure do love them!
Last Edit: Jul 23, 2016 21:23:19 GMT by Mari-in-IN
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Yes. Ours free range so they're finding their shade in the green areas. However, locked in the coop at night - we have a box fan to keep air circulating.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
~Eleanor Roosevelt
I have a huge barn fan that we keep running during the day. Frozen fruit treats late afternoon. Today, we had strawberries. We seem to love them even more than watermelon!
I don't mind living in a man's world, as long as I can be a woman in it. ~Marilyn Monroe
Yes, frozen fruit treats. I also fill and freeze 1 liter seltzer bottles, which I put in strategic places in their pens. I also put them in the waterers to keep their water cooler, and I change the water every 5-6 hours. I put smaller frozen water bottles in the nest boxes to keep the girls comfy.
Wish I could do a fan, but there is no electric in the coop and the distance is too far from the barn to run extension cords. But most of their pen is shaded 24 hrs a day by the tree/hedge row, so they do pretty well. The heat isn't too bad for my chickens, but the humidity is a killer!
Great idea Mari. I did a similar thing the last year my Roman (Nubian herd buck) was alive....
Presently everything here runs freely all over the front 3 acres of this place. This includes the fowl. Also, I haven't locked my fowl (chickens, guineas, geese and now ducks) up at night for a very long time as nothing would dare come onto this place. My dogs see to that. Thus, all here can search out the places where they are most comfortable 24/7.
The waterers are strategically placed so half of them are always in some type of shade; and in the afternoons when it is the hottest here it is an easy thing to add some cold water from the well. Thus, cool water is ever available!
I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end! ~~~~
My chickens are free range and are out everywhere, so a fan is pointless for them. But I do have a big industrial grade one in the turkey house. The tom stands in front of it and sucks his caruncle (we call it his noodle) up to look like a unicorn horn.
It's hot out there, isn't it?
"And some, like me, are just beginning to guess at the powerful religion of ordinary life, a spirituality of freshly mopped floors and stacked dishes and clothes blowing on the line." ---Adair Lara
My chickens got together and voted to move to Mari-in-IN,'s house:-) They said she would treat them way better than I do, what with the fans and frozen fruit and all. I just give fresh, cold water daily and feed every other day (Huge feed containers hold enough to peck at for 2 days). So I offered to pack them all up and send them alone, they want to know your address:-)
LOL! Maybe I ought to put a fan out and see how they like it!
My chickens got together and voted to move to Mari-in-IN ,'s house:-) They said she would treat them way better than I do, what with the fans and frozen fruit and all. I just give fresh, cold water daily and feed every other day (Huge feed containers hold enough to peck at for 2 days). So I offered to pack them all up and send them alone, they want to know your address:-)
LOL! Maybe I ought to put a fan out and see how they like it!
You totally amuse me! I have yet to do the frozen fruit thing - but they are going to get some cut up cantaloupe and all of the innards and the rind once it cools off some...
Gosh, aoconnor , I don't know how people raise animals in areas where ALL summer is so hot and humid!
Yesterday I put the fan back on the pen in front of the large coop for the heck of it (3rd pic) - several of them migrated over towards it. Went back out later and a Black Australorp hen was right in front of it - her feathers were just totally flapping in the breeze - made me laugh so hard!
Yeah, they are spoiled. Girl-my seven year old in my avatar has me trained in the morning. She is now to the point she won't come out of the pop door when I open it. She waits for me to open/prop open the people door (which I place a ramp at) and jumps up on the threshold. Then momma carries her over to where she likes to hang out in the woods the majority of the day...
I am indeed a nut! ~Mari
ETA: Girl actually laid an egg yesterday!
Last Edit: Jul 25, 2016 19:28:27 GMT by Mari-in-IN
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
But I do put out frozen water jugs, for the bantams and young chickens, which they lay around. For the full sized free range ones, I have a number of water pans out for them which I refresh with cold Well water a couple times a day. The turkeys are smart enough to stand in the cool water to cool off.
My chickens got together and voted to move to Mari-in-IN ,'s house:-) They said she would treat them way better than I do, what with the fans and frozen fruit and all. I just give fresh, cold water daily and feed every other day (Huge feed containers hold enough to peck at for 2 days). So I offered to pack them all up and send them alone, they want to know your address:-)
LOL! Maybe I ought to put a fan out and see how they like it!
You totally amuse me! I have yet to do the frozen fruit thing - but they are going to get some cut up cantaloupe and all of the innards and the rind once it cools off some...
Gosh, aoconnor , I don't know how people raise animals in areas where ALL summer is so hot and humid!
Yesterday I put the fan back on the pen in front of the large coop for the heck of it (3rd pic) - several of them migrated over towards it. Went back out later and a Black Australorp hen was right in front of it - her feathers were just totally flapping in the breeze - made me laugh so hard!
Yeah, they are spoiled. Girl-my seven year old in my avatar has me trained in the morning. She is now to the point she won't come out of the pop door when I open it. She waits for me to open/prop open the people door (which I place a ramp at) and jumps up on the threshold. Then momma carries her over to where she likes to hang out in the woods the majority of the day...
I am indeed a nut! ~Mari
ETA: Girl actually laid an egg yesterday!
Thankfully we aren't as humid as some areas, but it is definitely hot!!!
My chickens got together and voted to move to Mari-in-IN ,'s house:-) They said she would treat them way better than I do, what with the fans and frozen fruit and all. I just give fresh, cold water daily and feed every other day (Huge feed containers hold enough to peck at for 2 days). So I offered to pack them all up and send them alone, they want to know your address:-)
LOL! Maybe I ought to put a fan out and see how they like it!
I am not even going to show or tell my girls how well Mari-in-IN , chickens are treated as they may go on strike They look great girl, you have some nice looking chickens and great set up for them.
Not AS bad here today - but far from pleasant... Took these short videos of them a couple of days ago... At the moment I have the fan on these guys-they enjoy it so!
So far today-this group seems ok without theirs...
Ahhh they amuse me so! Hope the heat has lessened for ya'll as well. It's supposed to get nasty again for us mid next week. I guess we ARE getting close to August. Soooo looking forward to Fall... Take care and try to keep cool! ~Mari
ETA - Now, if I could only learn how to get better resolution on my camera when filming videos. Sorry the quality is not the greatest...
Last Edit: Jul 29, 2016 17:55:47 GMT by Mari-in-IN
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Thanks for your kind words, Woodpecker ! Sometimes I think I spend too much time tending them and spoiling them - but I want to try to do my best so they have good lives...
And I figure-a happy chicken is a productive chicken! You know, I was just looking back at my calendar (I write down the number of eggs that I collect from each coop) and realized their lay rates haven't fallen off through this awful weather... I must be doing something right! ~Mari
Last Edit: Jul 29, 2016 22:55:18 GMT by Mari-in-IN
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
In theory, fans would do little for cooling chickens in hot weather. Fans are effective mainly on animals which sweat. Fans cause the sweat to evaporate and cool the animal. I don't think that chickens sweat but will pant in humid stagnate air. That is also the best condition for release of ammonia (NH3) in their manure. Fans push that out and pull in fresh air. That's why they are usually mounted in the wall to exhaust the air rather than blow on the birds. We didn't have one on the original farm since the chickens were never in there except at night most of the year. Later farm had a small one on 24/7/365.
You're right paquebot , chickens cannot sweat to keep cool. Instead they hold their wings away from their bodies and often pant. When they hold their wings away from their body it exposes more skin surface under the wings. A chickens body temp is 103 degrees. Fortunately for us the highs have been anywhere from 85-95 lately. So I figure-especially on those stagnate days, having the fans on them will cool off the air that is trapped between wing and body therefore helping to cool them off. Seems to be working-haven't seen much panting since the first day before I got the fans on them.
Most of the chickens sit relatively close together so I think drawing the cooler air from the woods also helps to replace all of the warm air they are generating around their bodies.
AND-if it is something they enjoy anyway-why not do it? I wish more things in life were as simple as plugging a fan in!
~Mari
Last Edit: Jul 30, 2016 15:27:24 GMT by Mari-in-IN
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Aw, those are sweet videos. We have the box fan that hangs at the top of their coop and blows across the top of the roosts. We typically run this at night to circulate the air while they sleep. Hottest part of the day last week, I put another fan on the floor of the barn. Funny to see our big old black australorp roo stand in front of the fan holding his wings out cooling himself.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
~Eleanor Roosevelt
Well, it's gotten pretty nasty hot again with little to no air movement - well except for the fans thank goodness! Fella was so funny yesterday - Fan hog!
~Mari
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Mari-in-IN, you might try this, take a cup cake pan and fill each space up with store bought corn (human edible kind) and add water to each cup area, freeze and pop out and give to chickens for a treat in the heat, they will love to peck at the frozen treat trying to get to the corn, really helps cool them from the inside out
Thanks mzgarden for your kind words. I can just imagine your Black Australorp roo doing that! And thanks shellymay for the idea for frozen corn treats-I'm going to make some today. AND-what gorgeous roosters-and what an awesome find! Thanks for sharing... shellymay, I know you buy tons of chicks and sell them around laying age-but what do you have year round? Do you have pets as I do or do you butcher every so often? Clue me in! ~Mari
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Yes, I keep my own chickens for egg purposes here at the home site, The chickens I sell live and are sold at our other farm, here well I just took them to a sale two weeks ago, I had (3)Easter Eggers, (3)Speckled Sussex, (1) Black Australorp, (1) Barred Rock......I have (3) French Black Copper Marans HENS here, two of them are real young and one is a year old, So I bought the boys for these girls......As I said two weeks ago I took my older girls to a sale as I DON'T slaughter or eat my own birds, all the birds at this sale where really nasty, mine where nice and healthy and just so filled out and not missing any feathers. Mine sold for $10.50 EACH, yep thats a good price for older girls (who didn't look old)
Yes I keep some of my birds that I sell and that is how I got the above birds, you know when it gets down to one Barred rock left or something like that I will be keeping around 6 of my Golden Comets this year to replace my older girls, but my goal is to raise the Black Copper Marans here at home and run a nice size flock of them here, Those two boys I purchased here in this state (KY) but the people have only lived here for 4 1/2 months they are from Michigan and they brought these boys with them as chicks, they brought a total of 46 birds with them and alpacas and dogs So these boys are truly from Michigan!
The boys are doing great today they are NOT aggressive at all, I did go ahead and clip one wing so they won't fly up and get on wrong side of fence (killer dog on the other side) Once the feathers grow back I am sure they will have learned where their own pasture is for free ranging! I was truly blessed to find and obtain these boys
Love reading these stories although they make me look like a horrible chicken mommy! Mine free range & get watered fresh water once a day. I haven't lost any to this heat so I guess they are faring just fine.
Yes, I keep my own chickens for egg purposes here at the home site, The chickens I sell live and are sold at our other farm, here well I just took them to a sale two weeks ago, I had (3)Easter Eggers, (3)Speckled Sussex, (1) Black Australorp, (1) Barred Rock......I have (3) French Black Copper Marans HENS here, two of them are real young and one is a year old, So I bought the boys for these girls......As I said two weeks ago I took my older girls to a sale as I DON'T slaughter or eat my own birds, all the birds at this sale where really nasty, mine where nice and healthy and just so filled out and not missing any feathers. Mine sold for $10.50 EACH, yep thats a good price for older girls (who didn't look old)
Yes I keep some of my birds that I sell and that is how I got the above birds, you know when it gets down to one Barred rock left or something like that I will be keeping around 6 of my Golden Comets this year to replace my older girls, but my goal is to raise the Black Copper Marans here at home and run a nice size flock of them here, Those two boys I purchased here in this state (KY) but the people have only lived here for 4 1/2 months they are from Michigan and they brought these boys with them as chicks, they brought a total of 46 birds with them and alpacas and dogs So these boys are truly from Michigan!
The boys are doing great today they are NOT aggressive at all, I did go ahead and clip one wing so they won't fly up and get on wrong side of fence (killer dog on the other side) Once the feathers grow back I am sure they will have learned where their own pasture is for free ranging! I was truly blessed to find and obtain these boys
Can't wait to see your pure bred Marans chicks next year!!
Love reading these stories although they make me look like a horrible chicken mommy! Mine free range & get watered fresh water once a day. I haven't lost any to this heat so I guess they are faring just fine.
Oh Wendy, You aren't a horrible chicken mommy! I didn't have kids so I figure a lot of that time not devoted to raising children I can spend with my chicksters, cats and dog. By the way you sound like a great mom... I do think that if I had indeed decided to have kids we would be raising them VERY similar to the way you are raising yours! ~Mari P.S. Got your name on my calendar on the 19th. Will be thinking of/praying for you!
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Just for fun-I've still been putting the fans out for my chicksters to see what they would do... Today the high was just 82F but the humidity was...well...disgusting... That crazy Black Australorp couldn't have gotten much closer-silly girl!
Now I'm wondering if I'm gonna have to create some kind of a 12 step program this Fall to wean them all off of "the fans"... ~Mari
Last Edit: Aug 14, 2016 23:02:44 GMT by Mari-in-IN
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Now we have a girl that's gone broody, decided to nest inside a plastic dish pan. That has to be hot. So, we moved her into the coop to a safe place with the fan.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
~Eleanor Roosevelt
Now we have a girl that's gone broody, decided to nest inside a plastic dish pan. That has to be hot. So, we moved her into the coop to a safe place with the fan.
Oh boy-good thing you can put a fan on her! Just this last week Girl has decided to go broody as well as the Black Sex-Link that hatched out chicks for me last year... I've been going out there several times a day and getting them out of their nest boxes as I really don't want to deal with it this year...
I've also put a fan on in the two most active (in terms of laying) coops during the day - didn't like seeing them in their nest boxes panting while they work for us! It helps so much...
~Mari
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”