Summer rolls in, and with it the merciless heat of the noonday sun. This is a big concern for farmers conscious of the welfare of their animals. As the summer heat gets hotter and hotter, you begin to wonder how well your flock is handling it. They may not die, but the problems arising from heat-induced stress can be potentially catastrophic if not dealt with quickly. I remember one summer when the temperature was so high that my chickens completely stopped laying. I was inexperienced and thought they had some sort of strange disease, especially when they started strutting around with their beaks wide open and panting like a dog. Stress and dehydration like this is serious, and can have lasting consequences. Because I did nothing to alleviate their increasing stress, my chickens didn't lay for a whole year after that fateful month!
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Thankfully, I now know better. I've devised several rules and tips to keep my poultry flock cool during the summer, and would love to share them with you. Here are a few of them...but first, lets talk a bit about the chicken itself.
Most living animals, us included, are better adapted for keeping warm than for keeping cool. That's obvious at a glance when one sees the abundance of fur cats and dogs have (or in this case, feathers on your chickens). Although the domestic chicken is a descendant of the Red Asian Jungle Fowl (note the word "jungle", as in "hot, steamy, humid conditions"), even it is better able to keep warm than cool.
Have you ever stuck your fingers into a chicken's feathers and felt its skin? You might be surprised. The body temperature of the bird is about 106.5 degrees Fahrenheit. It keeps this temperature steady by converting energy found in its chicken feed into heat. The less heat the chicken needs, the less feed it must eat. To get rid of excess body heat, the chicken doesn't perspire (since it has no sweat glands), but instead it pants like a dog.
The effect of reduced feed consumption, combined with the direct influence of strong heat on the metabolism of the chicken, produces several things.
First, a quick drop in production and efficiency as the heat rises. In meat birds, they'll stop gaining weight. In layer hens, the feed-to-egg ratio is reduced and they often completely stop laying altogether.
Second, heat stress. This is a quite obvious deduction.
Third, the chicken's system grinds to a halt. An observer will notice that the birds are just lying around like a bunch of limp socks...no clucking or preening at all.
And finally, death. This is when the owner begins frantically leaving messages on our poultry message boards in the hopes of finding some way to resurrect the poor creatures.
Please note that the chicken, thanks to God's wonderful creativity, will become acclimatized after a while. Experiments done by a panel of expert scientists have shown that, in layers, the body temperature returns to normal or stabilizes at a slightly higher temperature 3 to 5 days after the initial exposure to constant, extreme temperatures. Thus, if a chickens goes through varying high temperatures repeatedly, it will adapt and be able to survive at an ambient temperature 5 (F) degrees higher than before acclimatization.
The higher the relative humidity of the air, the less heat the mature birds can tolerate and the more stress it causes. However, high humidity has not been proven to affect the growth rate of young chickens.
Another interesting thing to take note of is that White Leghorns seem to have a far greater heat tolerance than other breeds. Understandably, thin birds fare much better than heavier, fatter ones. In a heat wave, it is often the biggest broilers of the flock that are lost first. Also, non-producers are better off than layers, and males better able to cope than females. And for those of you who practice the illegal, inhumane, and cruel sport of fighting cocks, birds that have had their combs and wattles removed will suffer far more from extreme heat than those with their head-pieces intact.
WAYS TO HELP YOUR CHICKENS AVOID THE SUMMER HEAT:
If possible, you should try to build your chicken coop on a hilltop. Place open sided building to run east to west so that the sun never shines directly into the house. Use wide overhangs at the eaves and solid end walls. Also, the roof angle will reflect MORE heat at the hottest time of the day if the face of the slope is not directly facing the sun.
CHICKEN FLOCK COOLING DEVICES:
Evaporative coolers - These are very effective, but only when the buildings are completely enclosed. If you're coop has several windows, or open sides, these type of coolers will not work well.
Air movement - Fans that will turn to blow directly into the chicken flock are an advantage in ANY type of coop. Fans that cause air turbulence in the pen, combined with slatted floors that give them free air flow from below, can do a lot for a suffering chicken. Fans work especially well in open-sided coops situated in areas that have high-humidity.
Roof sprinklers - If you have a generous supply of water on hand, and do not mind an excessive water bill, this method is extremely effective. It works by spraying water on the coop roofs and walls, and evaporation carries away the heat with the moisture.
Foggers - These are similar to evaporative coolers and only work in buildings that are completely enclosed. They are also not as practical as other cooling methods due to the fact that they have a tendency to wet the ground and create a mess.
CHICKEN HEAT STRESS PREVENTION MEASURES:
1. Before it starts to get hot, take preventative measures! Spare waterers should be ready and on hand. When the weather starts to warm up, act QUICKLY to bring relief to the chickens BEFORE the heat causes excessive stress. After a couple days in higher temperatures, the flock will slowly become accustomed to the hot conditions and will not need as much help. However, if you do not react rapidly, your flock could suffer dire consequences.
2. Your coop's litter can act as an insulator and may trap heat. To prevent this, decrease the litter volume and hight to no more than two (2) inches above the floor.
3. For waterers, a fast, cost-effective and simple way to supply more birds with more water is to use pans (and buckets, pales, pitchers, etc) and fill them with water. Placed strategically around the chicken house, it can cool down the environment and provide refreshment to your birds.
4. If the humidity becomes too high for evaporative coolers and foggers to work effectively, use fans! Place them so that they blow directly into the flock, thereby helping displace heat.
5. Keep the water cool! Plan ahead and bury water supply poles deep enough in the ground so that they are not warmed by the sun's rays. Also note that warm water is better than no water.
6. If you have artificial lighting fixtures installed in the coop, turn them on very early in the morning (around 2 o'clock A.M.). This will allow your chickens to feed and drink while it is still cool. Remember that, due to the day's extended length, it can not be rapidly reduced again or else the layers' egg cycle will be disrupted.Only use this measure as an emergency option.
7. A supplementary vitamin pack, mixed in with the flock's water, can do much to alleviate the flock's stress and keep up the chickens' vitality.
8. As a last relief method, spray the birds directly with water. If you find a chicken who has collapsed due to stress, dip it in a bucket of cold water.
9. If you need additional waterers, and don't have any pans or buckets available, use the feed troughs!
10. Plan ahead by not letting your chickens become obese (since larger birds are affected by the heat sooner).
11. If you are raising layers, remember to gather eggs more frequently in hot weather. Spoilage occurs rapidly in high heat.
12. If you are using fans and other cooling equipment, make sure they are all working properly BEFORE the heat strikes!
13. Finally, did I mention that water is crucial? Water water water! I cannot emphasize this more. Water is essential at all times, but even more so during hot weather. Get prepared and be ready to have water on hand for your chickens. Your animals depend on you!
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Now that you know how to help keep your chickens cool in the heat and protect your chickens from heat stress, talk to other poultry farmers and learn how they battle the summer heat on our free poultry message boards.
