Hello Chicken Keepers!
Hot chooks aren’t cool. When the Aussie sun is high in the sky and the air becomes a bowl of soup your chickens are usually the first in the family to suffer. Dehydration and humidity are the hot weather enemies of your feathered friends, but fret not! Keeping your hens comfortable, healthy and happy when the mercury soars to WHAT THE CLUCK levels is possible with these 5 tips!
Hydrated Hens = Happy Hens
Keeping your backyard chickens hydrated is essential when the temp turns up. Make sure your chooks have access to multiple fresh and cool sources of water. Add an electrolyte boost to their tipple if the heatwave is particularly gruelling or if your ladies are looking lethargic.
Frozen Feast
High water content fruits and vegetables like strawberries, watermelon, cucumbers and zucchini make the perfect frozen treat for your backyard hens. Chop, freeze and serve their favourites as is or add them to a container of water and freeze for a fun and foraging way to cool those cluckers down.
Shady Chooks
Shady chooks are cool chooks. We don’t mean the hens that are always up to something… you know the ones. We mean the kind of chook that whiles away the balmy day in the comfort of a shaded chicken run or beneath the cool dappled light of a gum tree. Give your girls a selection of shaded spots to choose from, keep their chicken run shaded and give them access to sheltered dust bath spots to get down and dirty in the cool dry earth.
Hemp and Vent
Heat and moisture is great if you are a steamed pudding, but a hen likes to stay cool and dry, thank you very much. The best way to keep humidity down in your chicken coop and chook run is with a fresh layer of ridiculously absorbent Hemp Bedding. This stuff soaks up any droppings and absorbs air moisture too. Unlike the rest of us, chooks don’t follow Scandinavian trends, so make sure your chicken coop is well ventilated to prevent a Swedish Sauna Eggs-perience.
Cluck and Dip
If you don’t have a faded clamshell paddle pool in your backyard are you even Australian? Put that dusty ‘ol thing to use and give your chooks a little poultry paddle in a shady spot. Chickens aren’t adverse to a cheeky dip and in severely hot weather a keeper-assisted, shoulder-depth dunk will help cool ‘em down. Safety first! Be sure to keep any baby chicks high and dry as they struggle with water deeper than a few millimetres.
Whether you need to keep your chooks cool, or help them stay warm in winter,something we’ll never be able to control is the weather! Each season comes with its own challenges for chicken keepers and there are many things to consider and prepare. It can be a worry and concern when thinking about the safety and comfort of your backyard friends.
Cluckily, you can prepare for all seasons thanks to our friends over at Chickenpedia. I recommend their brilliant Weatherproof Chickens course to all my readers! They have compiled a guide of everything you need to keep healthy chickens through the seasons (which is more than you think!) with a great set of checklists and downloads to keep. Dangerous conditions including dehydration and frostbite can be avoided with the correct information and actions. Whatever the weather, this course will help you keep your chickens happy and healthy all year round.
As chicken keepers, we want to do an eggcellent job when caring for our feathered friends. Many chicken keepers struggle to handle chicken health or behaviour issues, especially in the first few years of having a flock. Chickenpedia have comprehensive online courses on everything you didn’t know you need to know and then some more! From healthcare to raising baby chicks to feeding and behavior, you’ll find beginner-friendly courses that’ll give you the knowledge and confidence to successfully look after your chickens.
As a member, you will get access to ALL their fantastic courses. No need to wing it, become the ultimate chicken eggspert! Check out Chickenpedia and their amazing courses today!
Now that your ladies are lounging comfortably, perhaps a peck at these summertime treats is in order? After some more cheeky chook action? Of course you are! Join the flock on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest!
Feathers Forever,
Kassandra
