The temperatures in Las Vegas blow in at over 115 during the middle of summer. Keeping a flock of chickens cool and comfortable during these heat spells is an important task. My A-Frame Coop is set up just right now. After the Cornish Rock disaster in May, I made my chicken shelter a top priority.
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| A-Frame Chicken Coop Interior - The Chickens are right at home in their Gypsy camp coop. |
I know my coop looks a little ghetto, but it works and below I have shared a few tips and techniques that seem to keep these birds comfortable. A rigid schedule has to be maintained or the hens will not lay eggs out of discomfort. In the summer time, the coop needs to be cool enough to help the birds keep their body temperatures down. It also needs to be roomy enough for their grazing and pecking needs.
Video: A Visit to the Coop
First: Chickens Need Lots of Shade
The best coops and chicken shelters cast a wide shadow across the space a chicken has to graze in. Combine this with adequate scratch room, the hens will stay where they belong and be cool and cozy during heat waves. The shade in our coop area is achieved with a plywood roof, a bamboo screen, and an old dust ruffle with a white center sheet placed over areas that would be sun exposed. In cooler weather, the sheet will be removed. The more shade the better. The coop I managed to build is a bit ghetto and a little gypsy, but it works for the girl's needs.
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| Ghetto Coop |
Ideally, a coop should be entirely secure and invasion proof. Where I live there are no animals that would threaten my chickens so they are able to roam in and out as they like. If you have predatory animals secure hardware mesh down at least a foot surrounding your coop.
In the first image, you can see the roosting bar, the water containers, and a plastic box containing the chicken's feed. The shaded area is large enough to give them room to wander without being right on top of each other. The plaid flannel blocks sun from the west end while the odd white sheet with the dust ruffle reflects the sun off of the top of the coop. Ideally, I would have painted the roof white for the same effect. I am developing this coop as I go and as I see the need to alter it for the health of the birds.
There is a chicken wire fence running around the exterior of the structure, but I leave it open as of late because the hens climb up to the top of the a-frame roof and leap off into the garden. The roof section is about four feet tall. I'd rather not have them testing their wing capabilities. They only float down so there is a possibility for them to get hurt. Chickens do not fly very well.
Second: Chickens Need a Lot of Water
Water is essential to any living creature's survival. This goes without saying. It is the best way to keep an animal cool during extreme heat. Looking around the internet for ideas on keeping chickens cool, I found a few forum threads that suggested large tubs of water be set around coop areas. They mentioned ice and even mud for allowing the hens a place to cool their feet.  |
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Ice Therapy
I save half gallon milk jugs and rinse them as I use up the contents. They are then filled with water to about two inches from the lid area, sealed, and dropped in the deep freezer. They will be solid after about 5 hours. I rotate five or more of these in and out of the compartment as needed. I use four in the outdoor coop and two more large jugs in the small hutch I also keep. I use three five gallon buckets altogether. The ones in the A-Frame are kept with a lid on them so that I can reuse the water. It is usually cool and chills quickly when I change out the jugs. The idea here is to drop the interior temps by a few degrees and make the space more livable. The one in the hutch area is left open so the hens there can have an additional water source.  |
| Honeywell CO30XE 63 Pt. Indoor/Outdoor Portable Evaporative Air Cooler with Remote Control, Grey [Amazon Affiliate Link] |
Opt for An Air Cooler
I have been told that there are chicken folks that have a real shed for their birds complete with a swamp cooler or an A/C wall unit built right into the shed. I just love that idea, but at this time I cannot build something like that. That is one of those someday projects. I have looked around at different solutions and will invest in a unit such as this Honeywell Evaporative Air Cooler. This is an affordable piece of equipment and can be brought camping or to a beach area. It is something I am considering investing in.
The cooler will have to be placed in a box of some kind so that it does not collect bird droppings. It will be just the thing we need to deliver a cool area to these precious birds. The more comfortable a hen is the more likely they will produce eggs, even in the wretched months of summer.
Chicken Popsicles
There was a meme going around Facebook that showed a confetti of fruits and veggies frozen in ice. It looks like a nice snack for keeping chickens cool and entertained. The mix looked like about two cups of goodies to about four cups of water then frozen in a large bowl and removed for pecking. I have not made one of those, yet, but I do offer the hens watermelon occasionally. They are skeptical at first but once they taste it - it disappears fairly quickly. posted from Bloggeroid
Tuesday, May 31, 2016Chickens in the BackyardThe Cost Of Fresh EggsPlease, check with your local ordinances before purchasing your chicks. The neighborhood I live in allows up to three in the yard without a rooster.
Raising these birds were challenging, but rewarding. They needed me to feed them twice a day, provide fresh water, and clean cage droppings on a regular basis. You must be ready to spend a few minutes several times a day to keep your flock healthy. The times I check the prices on a dozen eggs at the store tells me I am doing the right thing. Free range, brown eggs are up to $4.62 a dozen. That is pricey protein and ridiculous when you realize you have space and dedication for raising your own egg laying birds. When you figure the cost of eggs, it becomes clear that homegrown eggs are cost effective if you account for the cost of the eggs, the cost of storing them, the time it takes to shop, and the unknown factor of how these birds were raised. The initial price of the chicks is under $3 for a basic laying hen. The feed runs around $17 and will last about a month. They take a twice a day routine to feed, water, and maintain. I feed mine when I wake and when I get home from work. Generally, 5 pm and 5 am are good times to tend the coop. |
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| Chicken Embryo Educational Poster - Amazon |
I do not think that constructing a coop on my patio would be welcomed by the property manager but it is always a thought! I will have to wait until I am in a home of my own with a yard that will allow room for a coop large enough for roosting and nesting.
My 3 Hens
I had 3 hens in Florida when I lived there and I enjoyed watching them grow from fuzzy little chicks into the beautiful hens they became. Two of the chickens were pullet chicks and the other was a Rhode Island Red. I brought them home as these tiny, little peepers and let them nest in a large, clear, plastic storage box in my living room.
They had a clay pot with a light bulb fixture run through it for a heat source and a feeder. I believe I had a jar feeder for their water, too. I need to dig out the old images and see what this cage set up was so I can share it with you. In time I will diagram the cage and the set up. It had a thermometer in it and shredded pine in the bottom for soft nesting. When their feathers filled in and they were no longer babies but full hens, I placed them in the cage in the yard.
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Life Cycle Of A Chicken Chart - Amazon |
Keeping chickens in an area that has predators is always a challenge. *
Around my yard then, there were raccoons, foxes, and stray cats that were a sure threat to my birds. I lost them one by one because I couldn't watch them every second and I did not have a screened in yard for them to roam in. I let them wander the garden during the day and they were picked off one by one.
I left them out over night after a month of putting them outside and heard this squabbling noise. I ran screaming out the house. "LET HER GOOOOOOOO!!!" I did rescue that chicken but looked down to see that I was running almost in the buff. What a sight I must have been tearing out the door and off the porch in to the woods in my underwear!
The next time I set up a chicken dedicated home there will be some changes. I live in Southern Nevada now,
so the raccoons and foxes won't be an issue but keeping them cool will be. I am thinking about adding a misting system to the outside of the coop where they can stay cool in the summer heat. A/C would be a little extreme but I do love my critters!
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| Fancy Chicken Coop - Image: MorgueFile.com This coop looks more like a condo for chickens than a coop! |
I still have a chicken feeder that sits on one of my book shelves. It silently reminds me of the first three birds I kept and the long term goal of keeping chickens for eggs and meat again.
If you keep chickens, do you plan for their 72 hours of emergency supplies? For chickens their kit would require a bulk stock of chicken scratch feed and water for drinking.
Chickens won't need much. Leave them behind if you have to bug out unless you are prepared to drop them into a soft bag or a pet carrier of some kind. It depends on your crisis. They probably won't be very happy with you sticking them into a pillow case...
Chickens won't need much. Leave them behind if you have to bug out unless you are prepared to drop them into a soft bag or a pet carrier of some kind. It depends on your crisis. They probably won't be very happy with you sticking them into a pillow case...
Related links and topics:
How To Build Your Own Coop: Chicken Coops On Skruben
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