Summer Heat

My car, fifteen minutes ago: 

After two miles, it adjusted itself to 103, and stayed there. 

I have a fan running in both henhouses... I turned them off last night to give the motors a break, but turned both on early this morning. 

I did water in the old henhouse yards at 1:30... and am going out again in a few minutes. 

There is enough shade in there that the birds are not too badly off.  

You notice these little guys are hanging out in there too. 

They like chicken feed... so I just ran down to get them Purina Goat Chow.  I was trying to get them to eat an all stock feed, but I realize they really like the pellets. 

I want to encourage them to eat and stop nursing. 

Here is a trick I use for the waterers.  Those are water bottles we have used and refilled and frozen.  I put them in the waterers to make sure the water stays good and cold. 

I had just refilled the waterer with cold water and ice bottles, and the gallon you see on the floor 

is also frozen.  Once the hens realize there is cold air there, they'll get closer to it. 

This poor girl, Folly, will not come down from the rafters or the top of the nest box.  She was really hot, and panting.  I put cold bottles in their waterer, and there is a cold bottle on it's side up on the nest box.  If they stand near it, they will feel the colder air. 

I'm about to go out and put some bottles in the waterers in the big henhouse, but their side is considerably cooler because of the all the trees. 

When the henspa was roofed last fall, the vents were not put in. The roofer told us he would come back and do it, but never has.  We are trying to reach someone now to have the vents put in for relief in this henhouse, that was built very tightly.  I do have the side door propped wide open, to allow air flow through the house. 

I wish this hen in the picture above, a porcelain D'Uccle, would get with the program and come down with the others.  The rooster does, though he is up there today. 

A word of caution about using the frozen water bottles... be sure to clean them off thoroughly before putting them back in your freezer to re-freeze, so you don't introduce bacteria, especially the ones you use on the floors. 

Ditto. 

I have cut a little grass today, but summer is really, truly, here!