Hot weather procedures

telmor · **Joined:** Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:41 pm **Posts:** 3

We are expecting a really hot day today 42c do you have any advice on keeping the chooks cool. They have an outdoor run with shade and a shed to roost in. Do chooks like water to bathe or stand in when it is hot.

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

If you can hose them or set up a misting system over the coop that will help.
Also you can freeze large ice cubes/ice blocks and periodically place them into their water dishes during the day.
I've even seen people use fans on their birds.

oozcorpse · **Joined:** Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:15 am **Posts:** 2715

I don’t wet my birds or their areas
I use cordial bottles with frozen water in them in their water containers to chill the water to reduce their core temps that way.
And shade and if needed a large fan to circulate the air around the pens

All my pens are set up to keep the temp a bit lower in their area anyway with double roofing with a 10cm gap between each roof to cause a cool barrier with the top roofing having a verandah all around and lots of shade trees and shade cloth for the non treed areas.

AND a lot of running around to keep checking that their water is cold, changing the cordial bottle iceblocks as needed

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

A nice cold watermelon or any other cold melon and either spinach, silverbeet or lettuce leaves which have high water contents also helps keep the chookies hydrated.

As soozorps has already advised a frozen cordial or soft drink bottle of water or even clean yoghurt containers to make large ice cubes will also keep the chooks and their water cool.

My girls are really spoilt and get plain yoghurt on a hot day to keep [smilie=a_cool.gif]

Even a damp shade cloth over the coop/run creating a tent and therefore a cool air flow will also help.

NEVER feed your chookies corn or craked corn or maize on a HOT day, they will only make your chookies even HOTTER!

ILoveMyChickies · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2013 1:18 pm

Like Soozorps and PP said, freezing coidial bottles or 1.25L soft drink bottles with water in them and placing them in their water is very helpful. Frozen treats and water based fruits like melons are also helpful like PP said. We freeze things like tomatos, nectarines and grapes to give to the chooks. Providing lots of water sources is good and letting them out to free range can help as they often find cool and/or shady places to sit. Our girls go under the house as it is cool under there or to the shade next doors trees provide.

Having coops that are built so air can flow through and putting shallow dishes of water in there can cool the coop area when the wind blows through. Going out there to check on them and water levels and to deliver cool treats or frozen water, it all adds up to keeping them cool. :-D

parvo · **Joined:** Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:39 pm **Posts:** 735

Petite Poulet wrote:

NEVER feed your chookies corn or craked corn or maize on a HOT day, they will only make your chookies even HOTTER!

Sorry PP but I can't agree with this statement.
There is no food that makes the birds hotter except for hot (heated) food.
Corn and maize are just sources of carbohydrates, nothing more.
I think this is just one of those myths that has been passed on over the years.

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

Hi, parvo

,

I read about the corn in a previous thread on the same topic.

soozorps wrote:

Petite Poulet wrote:

Wouldn't "the half rotten throw aways" be detrimental for the chookie's health, with all that mould and bacteria?

it isnt good for them thats for sure - imagine how sick we would be if all we had was wrotten food to eat

Brownie = I give only very small amounts of pellets from now thru till end Summer with a bit of wheat and NO Molasses - many feeds have Molasses in then and people don’t realise that it is sugar - designed to sweeten the food to get them eating more to fatten them up

Remember that grains take longer to work thru a chooks system and that the grinding of them in the stomach creates heat in itself – especially corn - hence the grains are so good thru Winter

fats/oils in the grains/seeds can’t be avoided as they are a part of them but reducing the amount the birds get reduces the risk of heat stroke - I don’t ever give my birds grains in the afternoons/evenings in Summer as that is adding to their body heat - after a long hot day they need a bit of a break from that at night

They won’t starve to death on mainly greens and Autumn isn’t that far away when you can start feeding them up big again if you want to

FYI = glad to hear you too a a grumpy [smilie=a_chuckle.gif]

doggo · **Posted:** Fri Jan 04, 2013 7:10 pm

I agree with Parvo. and think that the situation is more complex than the simple energy percentage of the feedstuff.

Petite Poulet · **Joined:** Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:17 pm **Posts:** 5219

We all have our own opinions, but is soozorps is very wise and eggsperienced and I believe she truly knows what she is talking about.

People feed there chooks corn to fatten them up and keep them warm in winter, they don't need the extra fat in summer.

Winter foods such as corn in any form should be avoided especially on extremely hot days, does a poor chookie need any extra carbs on a hot day of over 40?

doggo · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:56 pm

I always respect the opinions of you and Soozorps Petit Poulet but would hope that they are open to debate in an impartial, objective manner.
I know that the assertion as feeding energy dense food is longstanding and don't claim to have any definite answers. I do however have a lot of questions which I think are at least worthy of consideration such as;
Is the common assertion that fowls only eat to satisfy their energy requirements true? If so would not they simply reduce their total consumption of energy dense feed in hot weather for the same given energy intake? Does the gizzard of a fowl keep grinding regardless of energy requirements? If not wouldn't it be a good thing to feed fowls whole grain on a hot day? Is my observation that my fowls simply stop eating the grain available to them on a hot day accurate?
There are more but I would love to be proved either right or wrong in my assumptions. Either way it will mean I have learned something.

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