Keep chickens cool in summer

[Henergy]

Well we have been spoilt in the SW lately & since the girls came home 2 weeks ago we have had lovely dry weather - even glorious sunshine the last couple of days. As a result I've been letting them out of the coop everyday for whole days of free ranging.

 

Now it is pouring down & they look so sad in the coop (which apparently houses 4 !) - should I just let them free range in the rain ?

 

DH says of course as they had to at the farm, but I wanted to check

[jill the potter]

I would let them FR as long as they have somewhere to shelter if they want to. It seems that some chicks don't mind the rain where other do

[fluffy chick]

I still open the door and give them a choice, I have a pair of silkies which aren't meant to get wet. One seems to have missed them memo on this and will still go out, while the other shouts at her from her dry spot. Very funny!

 

As you say, mine came from a FR farm and were out in all weathers so as long as they can find shelter I wouldn't worry.

[Henergy]

Well its stopped now so have gone & opened up, but the floor of their coop run is a mudbath !!! Wasn't expecting that !

[BocBoc]

Ah yes, the mudbath - welcome to the wonderful world of chicken ownership

[Henergy]

Anything I can do to help it or just put up with the mud ?

[fluffy chick]

You can put wood chip down, that helps. You'll need to change it every so often though.

[BocBoc]

Yep - we use wood chip (NOT Bark) in our run and replace it every couple of months. We have a winter shade over the run too to keep the rain off.

 

[txswanie]

Hi,

occasionally we get really heavy rain here in Southern California. This weekend has been a nightmare. My cube and run is at the bottom of a small hill which gets very muddy, very fast and dumps loads of sludge into the run. It doesn't help that the chickens seem to be too silly to stay in out of the rain. Ever seen a Polish with a plastered down pouf..not the most attractive sight. Anyway, long story short, loads of mud and poo in the run. Tried shavings, still gross. Tried straw, dont like it. I was beginning to feel like a pig farmer, mucking out the run every few days.

Eventually bought a square of fake grass. I was a bit worried that they may try to eat it but they didn't seem to notice. I put it in the run when I know rain is coming and take it out when it is over and just hose it down and hang it over the fence. Seems to work.

Good luck with your mudbath..summer will be here soon and we will all be complaining that its too hot and dry. Cant win.

 

Colette.

[Henergy]

What a fantastic idea !!!

[Chortle Chook]

I know that some people use shower curtains over their runs (leaving the bottom open to the elements for the sake of ventilation) and that seems to work quite well. I have a hen house in my garden which is up on little mushroom stone things, and my Silkies go underneath that when it rains. Oddly they don't choose to go inside no matter how wet it is. If they get too wet I just pat their heads and backs with a sheet of kitchen towel. That seems to work a lot better than normal towels and saves a lot of time with the hair dryer.

[fluffy chick]

Good tip for the silkies I'll remember that!

[jill the potter]

Works on silly cats who don't know how to shelter too!!!