It is that time of year when the weather is starting to get really hot. This may also make you begin to worry about how to keep your chickens cool. So here are some ways how chickens keep cool naturally and how you can help them!
Ways they keep cool naturally
- Dust bathing keeps your chickens cool naturally! I catch my chickens dust bathing a lot especially in hot weather. I mean if you think about it, the ground is always cooler and the more you dig down the cooler it gets so when your chickens dig down it helps cool themselves down! To learn more about why your chickens need to dust bathe read about that here.
- Altering their digestive system is another way they keep themselves cool. If your chickens eat less, than they don’t have to disgust as much food, which will keep their body from heating up. The only problem is that your chickens might not eat less so you may have to control the amount they eat by only feeding them in the morning and at night.
Ways you can help them stay cool
- Providing them cool water to drink at all times will help your flock! You can even add frozen berries to their water which will encourage them to drink it.
- You can offer your flock hydrating treats such as melons or berries. My flock absolutely loves both of these treats! Make sure you just don’t feed your flock any treats that are high in protein or carbohydrates because it will cause them to heat up more.
- The last way that we help keep our chickens cool is by putting a small mister in an area for them. Then they can walk over when they get hot and leave once they cool down!
Let me know in the comments below how you keep your chickens cool!
The 1912 Homestead 