Chicken picking at feet

[txswanie]

Does anyone have a fan inside their coop. I am in Southern California and it is ridiculously hot here, the poor little souls were still panting at bedtime. I cant leave the door open as there is too much danger from raccoons. I put a couple of ice packs inside and sprayed the outside with water. I know that there is a bit of a heat wave in parts of the UK at the moment, what do you do when the nights are really hot? How would you install a fan inside a cube? Would the noise/air bother them at night? They were shouting before 7 this morning (thats unusual for my lazy girls) so I know they were hot.

Any ideas?

thanks

Colette.

[migsy]

I leave the coop door open but the chickens are secure as I keep the run door closed. Could you get an attached run?

[sophiemccoy]

I've never tried this as I'm in a not-too-hot part of the UK, but I read about someone lining their coop with plastic and putting down damp soil instead of shavings. NO idea whether it would work, and sounds very messy, but my only other suggestions would be fans and ice packs, which you're doing. My only other thought was covering the whole house with a dark tarpaulin in the day so it can't heat up but not sure whether that would have the opposite effect entirely

[Roobaloo]

I have a fan in my walk-in run, mounted above the Eglu so it's out of reach. I wouldn't be happy with having anything similar inside the Eglu itself...I think it would be far too risky and unsettle the hens.

 

I would try covering the coop with an insulating cover during the day when the girls are in their run, and leave frozen ice packs inside. Then as evening falls and the temp drops, uncover and remove the ice and the air should warm just enough that the girls aren't cold...

 

...worth a try at least!

[Jools]

I wouldn't risk a fan inside the cube either, there just isn't enough room to do it safely. If you can't leave the door open because of predators, then ice packs should help. Or maybe there's a way of fixing some very strong wire mesh over the door entrance so you can leave it open?

 

Heatwave in the UK? Yes the sun comes out occasionally but I doubt our reported heatwaves even register on the SoCal scale!

[jimnpaula]

Can't really help you with the fan idea but here's something I do with the ferrets: get as many 2 litre soda bottles as you want, freeze them solid and then wrap them in a ski sock (if you have them) or towels or some other fabric - they make great long lasting ice packs.

 

P

[Egluntyne]

I agree, there wouldn't be enough room in the cube for a fan to operate safely

 

How about several of those blue freezer blocks under the roosting bars.

 

I guess our so called heatwave is something like your winter.

[txswanie]

Thanks for all the suggestions. They do have an attached run and then another very large fenced off area. The problem is that raccoons are very smart, I dont trust them at all. I think they could get into the cube run as they can open bolts/pins etc but the plastic door would probably fool them. I could padlock the front of the run and leave the cube door open but honestly I wouldn't sleep for worrying.

I will probably just keep going with the ice pack and try to rig up some sort of sun barrier for the daytime.

My mum told me that you guys were in for a heatwave. In fact they were issuing warnings about the temperatures in some places. Now you know how I feel..yuk.

Colette.