How to Prevent Heat Stroke in Chickens
Is hotter weather approaching and you’re worried about your chickens - or are you perhaps planning ahead for next year?
Thankfully, you can take a few steps to help your chickens stay cool and avoid heat stroke.
Chickens can overheat quickly if they are not given proper accommodations in the summer. Since their body temperature runs warmer due to their natural inclination to sustain themselves in colder weather, the summer months aren’t comfortable for them.
In this article, we invite you to read on about the signs of heat stroke in chickens and steps to take to keep them cool.
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What Happens When a Chicken Gets Too Hot?
Are your chickens panting, fanning their wings, and perhaps even losing their appetite? These are just a couple of the signs chickens show when they are too hot. Let’s look at some more signs to keep an eye out for when the temperature increases.
Chickens will start panting when they get too hot. Panting consists of an open beak, rapid breathing, and the tongue flicking up and down in the chickens’ beaks.
Spread wings are also a sign of chickens entering into heat stress. In other words, they will hold their wings out from their body to try and get more ventilation to their bodies.
Chickens suffering from heat stress will also exhibit electrolyte imbalance. This sign starts out invisible, it’s hard to determine the initial signs of a loss of electrolytes. However, look out for a loss of appetite, low energy, and diarrhea.
Loss of appetite occurs when chickens lose out on proper electrolytes due to overheating. They won’t be enthusiastic about feeding time.
Chickens will also exhibit droopy and uninterested behavior when they are too hot. They’ll be mopey around the yard and not be as energetic. Their normal personalities will be muted.
Dehydration occurs primarily because the chickens are panting excessively. Because chickens don’t sweat, they will try and cool off by panting. Panting expels water from the body causing a severe dip in hydration.
Egg-laying chickens experiencing heat stress will also show signs in their egg production. Hatchability, the number of eggs produced, and the egg shell’s quality will all be affected if the chicken is too hot.
Chickens are more susceptible to infection and disease because excessive heat lowers their immunity. Lowered immunity comes from dehydration and an electrolyte imbalance.
If you would like more information about the signs of heat stress in chickens, check out this video:
At What Temperature Do Chickens Get Heat Stroke?
There are some breeds of chicken that are hardier than others when it comes to tolerating hotter and colder temperatures. For example, Easter Egger chickens are hardier than meat chickens because of their smaller bodies. Meat chickens are much heavier and reach heat stroke rapidly.
However, the general temperatures for heat stroke in chickens remain relatively similar. For more humid heat (anything about 50% humidity), chickens will begin to experience heat stroke at around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. However, it will take them longer to get to heat stress.
For drier heats, chickens will begin to show signs of heat stroke starting at 75 degrees Fahrenheit if they aren’t given the proper accommodations. 75 degrees Fahrenheit and above are not ideal temperatures for chickens, but they can survive up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Again, chickens must be given the proper accommodations if your area experiences weather that reaches 75 degrees and above.
A chicken’s natural temperature is between 104 degrees Fahrenheit and 107 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the size and breed of the bird. Because chickens are built to tolerate colder weather better, they are at a large risk for heat stroke.
Another factor to keep in mind for evaluating ideal or too-hot temperatures is the chicken’s Thermoneutral Zone (TNZ). TNZ is the temperature where animals can comfortably live. A chicken’s TNZ is typically around 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Any prolonged exposure to anything above their TNZ will result in the signs of heat stroke we will cover in the next section and even death if not given the proper care.
How Do You Tell if a Chicken is Overheated?
Here are a few ways to tell if your chicken is just too hot to handle.
Panting
Chickens don’t sweat like humans. Instead, they go through different stages of cooling off. The stages of cooling are the following: radiation, conduction, convection, and evaporation.
Radiation is when a physical body loses heat in an attempt to cool down, also known as a transfer of heat.
Conduction is the process in which heat is transmitted through a substance where a difference in temperature is present.
Convection is the final transfer of heat or energy to the surface. In other words, there is a dense movement of molecules in a fluid that carries that energy transfer to the surface.
Evaporation is the transition of a liquid to the gas phase. Therefore, the liquid that chickens retain ends up evaporating when they pant excessively, causing dehydration.
When a chicken pants, its beak will remain open. From there, you’ll be able to notice rapid breathing and its tongue flicking up and down.
Fanning of the Wings
Usually paired with panting, your chicken will extend its wings away from its body in an attempt to cool down and get proper air ventilation.
Diarrhea
Much like every other animal, including humans, chickens will want to drink more when they are dehydrated or need more of the minerals provided by water. When chickens drink much more than normal, their feces will naturally be runnier.
Usually, this means they need more electrolytes that have been thrown off balance due to dehydration.
When chickens are given proper conditions for the heat, including enough cool water, you don’t have to worry so much about electrolyte imbalances and excessive water consumption.
Loss of Appetite
Because the chickens are extremely uncomfortable with the heat and don’t have enough water to stay hydrated. You may start to notice that more feed is left over or they may even refuse treats.
Droopy or Uninterested Behavior
Most of a chicken’s energy when suffering from heat stress goes into its body’s desperate attempt to cool down. Because of this, they will be extremely low energy and not as lively as usual.
Their normal personalities will be muted and replaced with “droopy” or uninterested behaviors. They might even isolate from you or other chickens.
Pale or Discolored Combs
Again, this is another symptom of dehydration and a lack of electrolytes. When under heat stress, a chicken’s immunity is weakened causing this discoloration and other symptoms listed here.
Thin Shells
A laying chicken’s eggs will also be affected when she is under heat stress. When she lays eggs, they will not be of strong quality. In other words, the shells might be extremely thin.
Abnormal Egg Production
Normal egg production may slow or stop completely when a chicken is under heat stress. The reason heat affects egg production is that it will affect the calcium levels the eggs need for shell durability and overall production.
Food Digestion
Similar to their dehydration and lack of appetite, heat stress influences how chickens digest food. Problems with food digestion can lead to bacteria, illness, and even death in extreme cases.
How to Prevent Heat Stress and Heat Stroke in Chickens
Here are some ways to help make sure your chickens stay cool all summer long.
24/7 Access to Clean and Cool Water
Cool (not freezing) water is absolutely essential to helping your chickens stay hydrated and cool during the hot months. You will want to keep monitoring the water level and temperature throughout the day to ensure it stays clean and cool.
Warm water can harbor bacteria, mold, and other nasty particles that will affect your chicken’s health.
To prevent water from getting to that warm state and potentially harboring fungi and bacteria, freeze some water bottles and let them float in your chicken’s water fount. Additionally, you may have to change out the water a couple of times a day to keep it clean.
Frozen Treats
Frozen treats, specifically fruits and vegetables, are a fun way to keep your chickens cool in the summer. Cold and frozen treats are high in moisture and will give your chickens the hydration and vitamins they need to keep up with hot weather.
It’s important to avoid giving out frozen treats constantly as this can mess up the chicken’s diet and appetite. On especially hot days, it is okay to give out these frozen treats.
An alternative to frozen fruits and veggies is to cool their feed in the freezer or fridge.
Provide Enough Shade
Shade is essential in the summer. The shade your coop provides will not be enough to cool down your chickens.
You can purchase a black shade cloth to position over the area your chickens roam or build another shade structure. If you have trees in your backyard that are near the chicken coop, this is a good shade provider as well.
Reduce Bedding
You still want to provide the chickens with some bedding, but not as much as you normally would in the cooler months.
Bedding traps heat and will warm up the area rapidly. Try reducing the amount of bedding in the summer months to about an inch.
Clean Litter
Much like maintaining clean water for the chickens, consistent cleaning of their litter is a necessity too.
Litter, when left unclean, traps moisture and increases the humidity in the coop. This provides an even more uncomfortable environment for the chickens.
Provide a Mud Puddle or Kiddie Pool
Chickens are huge fans of dirt baths so a mud puddle will sometimes encourage them to cool off more!
You can soak a small area of dirt near their coop that they can turn too when they get too hot. If they don’t take a dirt bath in it, at the very least it will give them a cool place to step.
Additionally, you can even give them a kiddie pool. Make sure the pool isn’t filled all the way and to place items in the pool for them to step on so they can easily get in and out.
Well-Ventilated Coop
Ventilation is another necessity for the chickens. Natural air flow does wonders for preventing bacteria build up and for cooling down a space.
For the coop, make sure you instal predator-proof screens for opening of the coop to encourage air flow while keeping the chickens safe.
You can even install an electrical or solar-powered fan in the coop as long as it is safe for the chickens.
Avoid Overcrowding
Body heat is a serious deal, especially when it comes to hot weather. Keep your chickens as spread out as possible and do not buy too many chickens for the coop.
Place Grass Around the Coop
Grass will be comfortable for your chickens’ feet since dirt absorbs all that heat while grass reflects it. If you don’t want to put down grass, you can keep the dirt around the coop moist or place mats out that won’t absorb heat around the coop.
Reflective Roof
A reflective roof works similar to grass in that it won’t absorb the heat and warm the inside of the coop.
Having a reflective roof will cool off the inside of the coop a couple of degrees and will not cultivate a suffocating environment for the chickens.
Misters or Sprinklers
If it is especially hot outside, you might want to turn on your sprinklers or misters for your chickens to have access to a cooled ground to walk on and to keep their body temperatures down.
You don’t have to keep the sprinklers or misters on constantly, but it will be beneficial to have them on for a certain amount of time during the day.
Bring Inside
If it is uncharacteristically hot outside and your chickens are showing signs of heat stroke despite your efforts to cool them down, it may be time to bring your chickens inside.
Create a pen within an open space in your home and lay newspaper or other mats down in the pen. Make sure the chickens have a decent amount of room to walk around. Of course, they won’t have as much room as outside, but they still need to have space.
Provide them with clean and cool water, some treats, some feed, and perhaps even some toys to keep them entertained.
Final Thoughts
Chickens are naturally built to tolerate colder weather better than hotter weather. Therefore, heat stroke in chickens is incredibly common and can happen rapidly if you don’t pay attention.
Start by noticing the signs of heat stress. Is your chicken fanning its wings and panting? Is it droopy in behavior and losing its appetite? Are their combs healthy in color or pale? If you answered yes to any of these questions, your chicken may be close to heat stroke.
Luckily, there are steps you can take to cool down your chickens. One of the most important is to provide a constant stream of cool, clean water. Next, ensure that the coop is well-ventilated and the litter is cleaned. Lastly, make use of your water supply in misters or sprinklers.
By taking these steps, you can keep your chickens cool all summer long.
Want to learn more about raising chickens? Be sure to check out these articles!
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