Oh dear! And I just posted a question about our own Buffies! My mother recommended this breed for we beginners and ours have been very loveable and loyal.

She also had a stock phrase she used often - "mad as a wet hen". True too - they hate water - so I doubt they'll appreciate the misting system as much as you would. (Here in the Pac NW, we get lots of rain and ours will sleep in 'till noon in hopes that the rain will let up).

This issue came up a couple of times during the heat wave many suffered last summer. As an avid reader of this post, I remember the discussions, and recommend searching the following subject headings: "Chickens and This Heat" posted Aug. 8, '06 and "Heat Killed My Hens, Advice" posted July 22, '06. There were some creative suggestions as I recall.

I lived in Arizona for 7 years long ago. Quite an experience! This summer we had a goose with a broken leg. We quarantined her in a 2' X 2' section of the goose paddock for 6 weeks, poor gal. During her convalescence we had a brief spell where temps soared around 100 degrees - very uncommon. To keep her cool, we draped her pen area with sheets and hosed down the cloth with water until soaked, similar to the swamp cooling system with which you're no doubt familiar. As an added treat, we fed her frozen corn. Don't know if it helped, but she liked it and we felt better about her situation. (She made a full recovery, by the way!)

Hope this helps and good luck!

LF/RJ

I have some buff orps as well and some other heavy breeds. None of them enjoy the heat and it does get into the 90's (supposed to today) w/humidity etc. I have not lost a chicken to the heat yet. I have read misting them is a good idea, I'm sure I did it a few times myself.

But just to bring a little anti-panic into the conversation, chickens pant when they are hot, it doesn't automatically say they are in "distress". They don't sweat like us, panting helps them regulate their body temperature. The shade and fresh water is great! and essential but if you see your girls laying down looking dead it could very well be they are sunbathing or having a dust bath! I have had several mini heart attacks by coming upon such a sight! They will dig holes in the dirt to keep cool they will not move around much and hang out in shady spots.

Also, my girls will go out regularly in the rain! I'm not so convinced they hate getting wet, I'm not saying they love it but mine don't seem to let it get them down or stop them from foraging for bugs etc.

I think if you keep a close eye on your girls they will do just fine, it sounds like you are very attentive to them and that is a wonderful thing :)

-Sheila

Thank you so much for the excellent suggestions - I'm feeling much happier now. Today was stormy, so everyone was quite comfortable, and I got to hang out with them a lot today, and obsess about how many of my pullets are actually roos.

As I identified one almost certain male, I heard one of the others crow for the first time. I rushed around the corner to see who it was, and there were two birds looking very innocent - that noise didn't come from us!

Many thanks once again for the tips.

I'm in southern California, where I have to combat heat problems as well. I use a mister system and have tons of bushes and trees in the yard for shade. I also will go out every 2 hours on really hot days, take the hose and spray down everything and everyone. The chickens hate it, but it beats dying from the heat, so they get hosed down. I don't soak them, but I do spritz them quite a bit. I also hose off the bushes and the ground beneath the bushes, which after the water soaks in provides nice cool muddy ground to lie in, which they love.

You can hang burlap sacks around and hose them down, that will provide evaporative cooling as has been mentioned. When it's really hot I'll set the oscillating sprinkler going for a few hours, it helps too.

Cold produce from the fridge is appreciated such as corn on the cob, grapes, lettuce, etc. Heck, I've tossed ice cubes out and had the chickens pecking at them and drinking from them as they melted. :) My pet rabbit appreciates old soda bottles that have been refilled with water and frozen as nice cool things to snuggle up to, it might work for chickens as well. You can wash the capped bottles off and refreeze them at the end of the day to reuse them, too. :)

Velvet ~:>

A number of years ago I had a small flock (5 chickens). In the summer I would take their small water bottle and put a few inches of water in it, then freeze it. I'd alternate a few bottles so I always had one with ice to put into the coop. My mother thought this was hysterical and drew a cartoon showing the hens playing cards and sending the dog to get more ice from me! I don't know how to post pictures in a message or I'd include one, it's pretty funny!

I do think keeping plenty of cool water is an important part of keeping the hens more comfortable. Shade, shade, shade, moving air, and misting if it gets really broiling. And of course reassure them that it won't be hot for too long. And I always make a point of telling mine that I don't make the weather, I just report it!

--Johanna

Thanks once again for the timely suggestions.....

This weekend, we have a heat advisory - >100 degrees F NOT counting the heat index....I'll be attaching the misting system, give them multiple frozen bottles of water, put up sheets, and hose everything down several times a day...Thanks so much for the suggestions. Then I'll have to see if we have enough extension cords to run fans as a second to last resort. the last resort, is to bring them inside and put them in a/c.....

The chickens are STILL plaguing my poor angora goat in the evening, although at night, they sleep somewhere safe, and more sensible. When I went to feed him, he had this huge hump back of poultry - quite alarming until I realized what it was....I guess it serves him right for being so lazy.

I'll send a separate message about him.

In the evening, it's 93 degrees F....why perch on the goat?

We're also having high heat here in Dallas. We have 2 Wyandottes and 3 little Auracanas, all hens. The suggestions here are all good and have worked well so far for us. I go out every morning and spray down the bushes where they like to hang out in hot weather so the mulch underneath is nice and damp, and I also put a few big dog bowls of ice water back in their favorite hiding spots. If I see them all with their wings out, I'll hose them down. They don't like the hose, but they all LOVE the rain. They'll even get out there when it's really storming hard to dig around in the mud. I have noticed lately that when I go to shut them in the coop at night, the Wyandottes are inside on the roost, but the Auracana gals have started flying up and roosting on the top of the door, at the highest point. Probably trying to catch a little evening breeze. So far I haven't used fans or misting systems, and they're just fine.

It looks like my little Buffies are going to do just fine....I read somewhere that the B. Orps don't do well in the south, and just panicked. Now we're at the end of August, and all did just fine, but I DID implement much of what was suggested, so I'm very grateful.

The misting system didn't work out - my goat ended up reaching through the chain-link, and severing the tubing - but that is just life with "Ernie".

Thanks once again for the excellent suggestions - I'm confident that my pullets will all live through the heat.