Keeping Your Chickens Cool

Dolly is mad that I have not fixed the weatherWith this summer's record high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere (although many regions are having a record cold summer!), keeping the chickens cool has been a popular topic of discussion. 

Unfortunately, modern chicken breeds' lovely thick downy feathers are more suited to keeping chickens warm in cold weather.  Unlike toucans, chickens can only cool down by panting like dogs.  Chickens suffer badly in hot weather, and can easily die of heat exhaustion.

The first factor in hot weather planning is providing shade.  The run should definitely be shaded, and the coop should be under shade as well.  Depending on the type of roofing you have on your coop, heat can build up quickly inside.  It could be cool outside at night, but if your chickens are roosting inside a coop that's 120 degrees, they may not make it until morning.

You can buy shade cloth at the hardware store, rated by the percentage of shade it provides.  Buy the most amount of shade that you can afford - the higher the shade, the more expensive the shade cloth.  If you're really on a budget, big sheets of cardboard will work well for shading an enclosed run.  Just be sure to weigh it down with rocks, so that it doesn't blow off while you're away at work!  Check the recycling bins behind stores, or ask store clerks if they have appliance or furniture boxes you can haul away. 

Shading a coop can be more difficult.  Your only option may be to rig a tarp like a big shade umbrella.  Tarps don't provide the best shade, and the heat can build up in the plastic, so try to leave an air space between the tarp and the coop.  (In other words, don't just drape the tarp over the coop and call it a day.)

The next factor is air movement.  This is a bigger concern for the coop than for the run.  Your goal with air movement is to move away a build-up of heat, which presumably won't be a concern for your run.  Since heat rises, it will tend to build up near the roof of your coop.  If you have ventilation near the top of the walls, this will help a lot.  If not, you can point a fan so that it circulates air through the top portion of the coop. 

A word of caution: chickens have an almost uncanny ability to wreck or knock over things in their coop.  If a fan gets knocked over or blocked, it could easily start a fire.  Be sure to secure your fans well, whether they are box fans or smaller clip-on models.  The ideal set-up is a box fan secured outside a meshed window, so that the chickens cannot access the fan from inside the coop. 

The final factor is actually cooling down the air.  A misting system is a fast and efficient way to cool down your run.  (It can also be used in a coop, although you may not want the extra moisture sopping up the bedding.)  Misting systems work through the evaporative principle, which means that they are most effective in dry climates. 

You can buy and install an expensive misting system, or make one yourself!  A DIY misting system can be as easy as customizing a fan and a spray bottle hooked up to a garden hose.  Why not make one for yourself, while you're at it?  Surely you deserve to stay cool as much as your chickens do!