What do you all think of these ideas.

IdeaCoop · **Joined:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:28 am **Posts:** 5

What do you all think of these ideas.

Roof sprinklers - If you have a generous supply of water on hand, and do not mind an excessive water bill, this method is extremely effective. It works by spraying water on the coop roofs and walls, and evaporation carries away the heat with the moisture.

or

Evaporative coolers - These are very effective, but only when the buildings are completely enclosed. If you're coop has several windows, or open sides, these type of coolers will not work well.

Are there any pitfalls using sprinklers or the coolers?

http://poultryone.com/articles/heat.html

purefeather · **Joined:** Wed Sep 29, 2010 6:36 pm **Posts:** 736

I find that shady trees are very effective.

redacd · **Posted:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 6:57 pm

Evaporative coolers are only suitable in dry heat. Anywhere much north of Sydney and the humidity becomes too high, then they are useless.

Pen design, providing plenty of ventilation & deep litter does a good job IMO. Along with a good supply of cool fresh drinking water.

IdeaCoop · **Joined:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:28 am **Posts:** 5

thanks for you opinions its great I was not a fan of the cooler idea but was thinking of the sprinklers but with wet ground and the heat would that make it idea for mould and maybe some health troubles?

goldbird · **Joined:** Sat Sep 10, 2011 2:18 pm **Posts:** 15

This idea would not be helpful to those breeds which are prone to Respiratory disease. I think trees and shade is a much better option.

Perhaps portable cages which can be moved into the sun during winter and the shade during summer would be more effective?

IdeaCoop · **Joined:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:28 am **Posts:** 5

Thanks goldbird good point you have there

David Geering · **Joined:** Fri Dec 23, 2011 9:01 pm **Posts:** 2

As has been pointed out, ventilation is very important - air moving over the birds will help cool them down.

Wetting the roof will cool the, presumably, iron roof thus decreasing the potential for increasing the temperature within the pen. This is particularly important if your pens are low, the hot roof being closer to the birds. One way to further decrease this is to insulate. I've done this very simply by putting old carpet underfelt on the top of the pens. It not only keeps direct sun off the iron but when wet it stays so for some time thus reducing the need to keep running water onto the roof. Water directly onto a hot iron roof very quickly dries out and heats up again.

I don't hesitate to damp down the litter in my pens during hot weather (here in Dubbo we can expect weeks of 35 plus degrees, pushing regularly over 40). It allows the birds to dig down into the cooler deep litter. I've never had issues with respiratory disease. If push comes to shove the birds are likely to suffer from heat stress first.

I've positioned most of my pens under trees such as Peppercorns which is a real plus but I've two banks of pens that are out in the sun (at least until the trees I've planted get a bit larger). Since moving to this property four years ago I've not lost a fowl to heat stress despite some very severe, and prolonged, bouts of hot weather.

With care and planning you can manage most things.

David

Dine-a-Chook · **Joined:** Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:13 pm **Posts:** 11

Good ideas and keeping them cool is especially important hot climates like here in Townsville at the moment. Our birds sometimes pant like dogs. You can hardly blame them though!

I notice in commercial operations they utilize misting systems. Basically similar to the idea you have except it does get rather technical and expensive. To do it correctly would not be viable for a domestic situation. Unless of course money was not an issue.

Shade cloth is a quite cheap and a great way to provide a extra area of shade.

Though you should first make sure that their Hydration needs are catered for well. At Biggin Pty Ltd we became very passionate about developing the best possible poultry drinker solutions for our birds and yours. We manufacture several types of drinkers which ensure that your birds have a constant supply of fresh, uncontaminated water.

Please contact me if I can help you out at all.

Ryan

IdeaCoop · **Joined:** Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:28 am **Posts:** 5

Thank you all for the great ideas I think its an important subject and affects all our fowl

NIGHTROOSTER · **Joined:** Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:50 am **Posts:** 1

I am in Perth and I use the mistsprays for cooling all my birds inc the chickens and I have never had any health troubles mine are at the front and only wet the sand and I swear by the sprays

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