Adventures in Organic Gardening

We are having record breaking heat here in North Texas. Technically, a massive blob of high pressure called a “heat dome” has settled in over us and isn’t moving. We’ve broken records in place for almost 100 years within the last week.

High summer temperatures are hard on our girls. They can get heat stress just like you and I would if we were covered in feathers and forced to be outside all day. They can slow down or stop laying, or they can even die from it. The heat is no joke, so what can we do for our chickens?

Here are the things I have done with the girls this week. I’m not sure if I needed to do all of it, but I’m going to keep it up until at least we are down in the 90s.

 

Ice Water: When I was preparing to get chickens, I bought a five gallon poultry waterer. I did this thinking it would reduce the amount of work I would have to do on a daily basis. Then when the girls stopped laying, I did some research and found that chickens don’t drink as much water when the water is warm, and when they don’t drink enough water, they don’t make eggs.

So, I bought two one gallon waterers. Every day, I fill one of them about 3/4 full with water and put it upside down in the freezer. Then, the

next day I top it off with water and and put it out. It stays cooler at least most of the day so they drink more water and lay more eggs. Everyone is happy.

Electrolytes: On really hot days, I add this electrolyte and vitamin mixture to their water. It helps keep them hydrated. It seems to help.

Shade: My coop is an Omlet Eglu Cube. It is a chicken tractor that easily moves around the pasture. There is a row of trees on the west side of the pasture and I try to keep the coop parked in the shady area. If you don’t have trees around you can put a tarp on one side of your run to create some shade.

Ventilation: The Omlet Eglu Cube has a coop door, and also a run door. I have been allowing the girls to free range all day in the pasture, then when they come in at sunset, I close the run door behind them, but I leave the coop door open. I just think the more ventilation the better.

Frozen Food: Frozen melon chunks or freezing corn in water in muffin tins are two examples of ideas you’ll find online for treats you can give the chickens that they will love and that will cool them down.

No Scratch Grains: It is generally accepted that corn and scratch grains in general raise the body temperature of the chicken. Some people dispute this belief, and I don’t really understand the science behind it, but they don’t need scratch grains anyway, so it won’t hurt anything to leave them out of the girls diet during the summer on the off chance it does heat them up.

Baby Pool With Ice: This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve been doing for my chickens in the heat. I bought a baby pool and I’ve been filling it with ice every day. I realize that I have gone completely ’round the bend. The first day I bought 60 pounds of ice at the 7-11 across the street from my pasture. The next day I found an ice vending machine attached to a car wash nearby where a 16 pound bag is only $2.50. I also noticed that if you bring an ice chest, that same 16 pounds is $2.00. So, my ice expense that first day was $16.00, and now I have it down to $4.00. I am also freezing two large mixing bowls full of water each night. The larger chunks of ice last longer into the day. Yesterday on Sunday I was at the pasture about 5:00pm and the water in the pool was still quite cool even though there was no visible ice.

I think the pool filled with ice does a couple of things. For one thing, I think it creates somewhat of a small microclimate that is somewhat cooler than it would be without the ice pool. The other thing is that the chickens drink out of the pool. I think they drink more than they would if it weren’t there. The bees also like the ice pool, but that’s the subject of a completely different post.

With the exception of one day last week when I got only three eggs, I have gotten four eggs from four chickens every single day for a few

weeks now. This during a time when I’m told that many people who routinely sell eggs at farmer’s markets aren’t selling right now because their hens aren’t laying.

I realize that some of these tips aren’t scalable to a large flock and that it doesn’t make financial sense…but when you’re a new chicken person like me and you just want to do things as well as possible (not to mention that you feel bad for the girls out in the heat) these suggestions may help you out!

Hello from the pasture.

I am writing this post from my bright blue chair while wearing my chicken boots and watching my chickens who I have let free range today.

My coop is located in a fenced pasture. if you read my review of my Omlet Eglu Cube chicken coop you might remember that I have a three meter run. According to the Omlet website, I have about 50 square feet of run space which is generous for four chickens. However, you might also remember that I have been averaging one egg per day from four chickens.

I’ve been researching why that might be. The most likely cause seems to be heat. The theory is that chickens don’t drink as much water when the water is too warm. Of course here we are in the hottest time of the year. Days are at or near 100 degrees here in North Texas every day. I had originally bought a five gallon waterer so I wouldn’t have to mess with it every day. So, with this new information in mind, I bought two five quart poultry waterers. Now I swap them out every day, and the one I have with me I fill halfway up with water and put it in the freezer over night.

Then, the next morning I top it off with water and bring it to the coop. That way they have a big block of ice in the waterer that should be keeping the waterer at least somewhat cool(er).

Maybe it’s working because today I had two eggs. Or maybe that was a fluke. I guess we’ll see.

But back to my free ranging chickens.

Inadequate nutrition is another thing that keeps chickens from laying. Now, they certainly have all of the feed they can eat and I think I’m pretty careful with the treats. But, I notice that some of my chickens kind of chase others of them away from food. So, I thought that if I let them out of the run all day there would be so much space that everyone could get their fill of grass and bugs.

I haven’t been here all day, but I have been here most of the day. It’s been so interesting watching their behavior. For one thing, I thought they would be ALL OVER the pasture, or at least all over the shaded side. But, no. They are tending to hang pretty close to the coop and run. One fun thing happened. When I first let them out then went to my car to run to the bee store, they followed me out! Like puppies! I got them back in and put a log in front of the opening from which they came.

From watching them all day I am convinced that they are for sure struggling with the heat. At this moment they are all sitting in the run (even though the door is open) panting and trying to stay cool. Other than the ice water I’m not sure what more to do for them. There isn’t electricity out in this pasture, so I can’t run misters. I just don’t know what else to do except pray for an early fall. Do any of you have any suggestions?

Here are some of my photos from sitting out in the pasture with the chickens all day today: