Help your chickens beat this crazy hot and humid weather!
As the temperatures and humidity soar, you’ll want to help your hens keep cool. A few tips for helping your hens beat the heat. When temperatures reach the mid-80s, your birds will probably start panting. In temperatures above 100, your birds may suffer heatstroke. Here are some tips, excerpted from my class on chickens and heat, to prevent that.
1) Provide fresh, clean water – and lots of it.
2) Freeze 2-liter bottles and put them in the coop to cool it down.
3) Remove excess bedding, which traps heat.
4) Feed a crumble feed, rather than a whole-grain food. Grains generate heat as they are metabolized.
5) Provide shade.
If you notice that the birds are listless and lethargic (signs of heat stress), consider bringing them into a cool basement or to an air-conditioned mudroom (in a dog crate or portable cage).
As always, keep an eye on your birds and know what’s normal for them. This will help you catch problems before they become life threatening.
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