CLUCK ALERT: How You Can Help Hot Chicks!

With a heatwave gripping most of the southeast, and temperatures predicted to be in the 90's all week in most of Florida, it is worth reviewing the risk posed to your flock by high heat. Chickens are descended from Jungle Fowl, but they do have their limits. And high humidity (our speciality) aggravates the situation. Many of us can remember heatwave stories that featured high mortality in commercial chicken production facilities, but if you are waiting until you hear those stories to develop a cooling strategy for your birds, it may be too late. Read on to learn why.

Image from Intellicast.com

Here's why: Production houses have, of necessity, developed better, higher-tech cooling strategies -- ones that may be better than whatever you can dream up on short notice. Secondly, White Leghorns (commonly used for egg production) seem to have higher heat tolerance. And finally, backyard poultry keepers are sometimes drawn to the heavier, more fully-feathered breeds and these have more trouble with heat than lighter breeds.

Image from RaisingBackyardChickens.org

According to the Southern States website:

A chicken’s normal body temperature hovers near 104 to 107 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s not difficult for them to maintain a healthy body temperature when the air is at least 10 to 15 degrees below that.

During times of extreme temperatures, producers must dissipate the excess body heat of their flock quickly. When a chicken’s body temperature reaches 113 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit, it is in danger.

Without sweat glands to cool their skin, birds rely on their respiratory system. Chickens pant to cool themselves, as the panting evaporates water from the throat to lower body temperature.

Lowering the humidity and increasing evaporation are not easily achieved in the backyard, so consider some of these strategies:

• Maximize ventilation. You may have a coop designed for temperate (not subtropical) areas and these can easily overheat. Do what you can to increase airflow, even to the point of a small fan.

• Make sure they have shade. If your coop is movable (as it should be in the City of Sarasota), get it to the shadiest part of your yard. Morning sun is more tolerable than the afternoon sun when things really heat up.

• Provide lots of water. Water demand increases dramatically as the temperature rises. It wouldn't hurt to add a second, back-up water source in case they deplete their normal waterer or one develops a leak. Even a small air hole in many designs will cause all the water to leak out. That could be fatal in this heat. And cool water is better than hot.

• Feed birds during the coolest part of the day. Digestion increases internal heat. Complete foods like pellets or crumbles are easier to digest than scratch.

• Consider removing any deep litter, which both insulates and produces its own heat of decomposition.

• The pros use electrolytes and vitamins, but CLUCK does not have enough expertise to recommend a particular product.

• If your coop roof is not elaborate, you might want to think about adding a radiant heat barrier to stop radiant heat transfer through the roof.

• One creative idea is to freeze plastic soda bottles full of water and put them in the coop.

If you want to start with a breed with high heat tolerance, consider the unusual Transylvanian naked neck chicken (AKA Turken), which, as the name suggests, has no feathers on its neck and it therefore better at shedding heat.

Heat Stoke (from VetsWeb) Symptoms of heat stroke

Chickens suffering from heat stroke may exhibit the following symptoms:

• Gasping and panting
• Dipping their beak, wattle and comb in water
• Sprawling in deep litter, fluffing their feathers and moving toward incoming air
• Wings will be drooped, half extended
• Increased thirst and loss of appetite
• Severely affected birds have difficulty in breathing, and convulsions and death may result from respiratory alkalosis.

Heat Exhaustion from Farm Animal Shelters:  Heat exhaustion is common in large breed chickens; watch them closely in hot weather. Signs of heat exhaustion include excessive panting, open mouth breathing, drooping head, and collapse. At the first sign of heat exhaustion, get the chicken inside immediately and put a fan on low, as birds can go into shock and die quickly. Mist the chicken lightly with cool water and contact your veterinarian. Keep your bird quiet and calm and do not handle any more than necessary.