It’s officially HOT in our part of the country. You may remember that last summer was one of the hottest . . probably THE hottest, in the 7 summers we had been here. The summer we moved here, we had 100 days in a row over 100 degrees. Last summer, we didn’t have over 100 days in a row of over 100 degrees but we had a good many days when the temp, without the heat index were over 112 degrees. We did our best to keep the chickens cool. We use well water (for everything) and it comes from deep enough that it’s cold coming out of the ground so I would empty their water containers several times during the heat of the day and give them fresh, cool water. We put all our berries/fruit/veggies that is about to go bad into zipper bags and stick in in the freezer. I had zucchini that would get too big in the garden. I spiralize them and freeze them and then give them the frozen zucchini.
They still almost completely stopped laying in about August and didn’t get going again til probably January. We were having to buy eggs!
This year, since we haven’t been buying a lot of fruit since January (keto), and don’t have a garden, I haven’t had many chicken treats in the freezer. With the talk of a move coming up, I figured I’d just start using some of the canned goods I have on hand that are nearing the expiration date.
A couple of years ago, Aldi had canned corn for something like 25 cents a can and I stocked up. One can of corn will fill 24 mini muffin cups. I put these in the freezer. By the time I take the tins out of the freezer, walk to the chicken yard, they have melted enough to come loose. We have 24 chickens so ideally, one muffin per chicken. Once I dump these out, chaos begins. Either all 24 chickens will want the same muffin or they will peck at one, then run to another to make sure they aren’t missing something. It’s quite funny to watch.
Dried corn actually produces a bit of extra heat so they say don’t give them much dried corn during hot months. Their scratch, which a treat, has a good bit of dried corn in it so I limit that during this time of year. I just happened to see the corn yesterday but I do the same thing with green beans, canned carrots . . most any good veggie is good for them and I’ll do anything I can to keep them cool.
Any yogurt, cottage cheese, whey . . anything that’s cold is great for helping keep them from overheating.
dezertsuz says
It makes them easier when they will eat anything that is put in front of them, pretty much!