Air conditioning the coop?

[ojaichickadee]

I have air conditioning in my coop. It's awesome. My birds do fine with it. I only turn it on when the temps are way above normal and my birds are feeling the effects (basically, I turn it on when my Welsummer is making the noise she makes when she's too hot).

What kind of air conditioning system do you have? Is it solar? Can you share the brand/model? Thanks.

 

[ojaichickadee]

Has anyone tried this and if so, did it work for you? Or do you have a better cooling solution (after the electrolytes, excellent shadecloth, trees, ventilation, yada yada yada - I'm hoping someone out there has an excellent and economical solution for cold air blowing that is at least good as this:

 

[aart]

Unless the ice is sealed in a a bag, it's going to raise the humidity in the coop as well as cool it.....Which could be detrimental once the ice is gone.

 

[Rurumo]

There have been some great tips in this thread for ways to mitigate heat stress. I like this review because it goes over many additional alternatives for dealing with heat stress, such as wet feeding, restricting feed (during the hottest part of the day)/altering feed schedule, antioxidant vitamins and herbs, sodium bicarbonate/potassium chloride, etc. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/8/1266 Antioxidant herbs like cinnamon and turmeric have been studied many times for ameliorating the metabolic effects of heat stress. Of course, those are all things you should look into only after seeing to the basics of maximizing natural shade, ventilation, easy access to cool water, etc. Also, don't mist them, thinking it will help-the higher the humidity the more dangerous it gets for chickens when it's hot.

 

[ojaichickadee]

In a climate where there isn't a high humidity, like the desert or Southern California, in high temps misting actually lowers the area temperature and if you couple that misting with a fan, it moves that cooler air around. Misters usually are good "last resorts" on super hot days, as the heat actually burns up the moisture created by the misters and can lower the temp by 20 degrees. If you have the misters on outside and there is a good cross breeze, I'd think that would be fine, but I do understand how you wouldn't want to do that in a closed space like a coop.

 

[3KillerBs]

Has anyone tried this and if so, did it work for you? Or do you have a better cooling solution (after the electrolytes, excellent shadecloth, trees, ventilation, yada yada yada - I'm hoping someone out there has an excellent and economical solution for cold air blowing that is at least good as this:

Welcome to BYC.

You might be interested in my hot climate article: Hot Climate Chicken Housing and Care

 

[Shezadandy]

I left this thread feeling silly and needed to walk away from it. Yesterday it got to 101° in Minneapolis. I see a bird dragging wings on the ground and panting audibly (ragged breathing) she comes inside for 15 minutes and I hold feet in cool water. Grab another bird, repeat. Spraying down the grass they walk in, though it seems like it dries up in minutes. Water everywhere, I bought giant dog bowls that are short enough for them to accidentally walk into (to encourage them to do it and get evaporative cooling going), in every area the birds like to be on the property, so they don't need to go far for it, check the temp of the water and refresh all bowls and buckets (I have two 10 gallon nipple waterers too) several times a day. They do not like ice/frozen fruit or veggies, the temperature must be uncomfortable and when they can't peck anything off the ice they walk away. Frozen peas and watermelon isn't nutritious anyway and could potentially displace good nutrition from their crumble and forage so this doesn't upset me much.

They do not look good. I felt like an idiot wanting air conditioning after talking to others, but every website I've read says my birds are exhibiting major signs of heat stroke and I'm running out of things to try. I did research on evaporative cooling techniques but the humidity here hasn't dropped below wet bulb 55 in weeks and is often at 70 or more. Evaporative cooling works when the air is dry. The air is not dry, it's wet, gross and just shy of being a beverage you breathe.

Someone said something to the effect that AC would exit out the door. No it will not. There's a square 8" door the chickens come in and out of and the rest of the building is secure. It is built on a concrete foundation and designed to match my house, with matching windows, siding, roofing. It is ventilated and insulated and if I wanted to, I could put a couch and a TV in there. I'm not concerned about the cool air leaving the building and whatever does vent out that 8" door, oh well cost of living pets, I'll pay it.

I'm thinking my next plan is to buy a giant case freezer and fill it with 5 gallon buckets with water in them. At noon, pull the ice buckets and direct fans to blow across them. This was a method I read from someone else, who claimed it dropped their coop from 104 to 86. I love that this will cost me twice as much or more than the AC to pull off.

I know I'm super late to the 'party' on this- but I have been air conditioning my coop for a couple of years now. It is not a cost-effective thing to do, but it can be done and I can sleep at night when it's hot now. Before I was looking for the worst off birds and bringing them into the basement in crates, which necessitated letting them out every morning and so on- but I noticed that even with all my fans the hens in the laying boxes looked like they would pass out through the day. Fans be damned.

I got a window unit that would handle at least twice the square footage of my coop (also a shed with windows, lots of fans and even a poultry exhaust fan built into the wall across from my metal security door)

Because my windows aren't "window unit" friendly, I put it on a table. Every side gets covered with furnace air filters, which I cut down to size. The intake in front gets covered (not where the cold air comes out- lower). An easy test for this is just use your hand to feel where the machine is drawing air into itself- must have a filter. The sides and top vents also get covered with furnace air filters, and then I use a bungee to hold them on. These must be changed every day the air conditioner is used. That's where most of the expense comes in.

To manage the moisture that inevitably comes off, I have a water heater pan (plastic, easy to find at Home Depot) and I made a little ramp to direct water out of the coop.

I've managed to make the same unit work for at least 2 years- might be three now. And I also bought a replacement that's sitting in my basement, ready to go for when the first a/c dies... Because you will NEVER EVER find the replacement when you need it. EVER. =) Just the truth of any heat wave in areas that are usually mild ... every unit in the city will disappear.

My 130 or so birds are much happier and I don't have to worry about finding one dead from heat stroke. Yes- fire danger is always a thing. It's a calculated risk.

 

[ojaichickadee]

Have you considered misters? For those that argue it creates humidity - I disagree. It depends on the area of the country. In Southern California and other desert climates, many chicken people love misters for those horrible days.

I have lined up three solutions for upcoming heatwaves where I live: 1) misters; 2) battery operated fans in front of frozen ice blocks; 3) mexican tiles in trays full of water, that the tiles absorb the water, then chickens can stand on wet tiles as needed; 4) an evaporative cooler, like one of these:

https://www.homedepot.com/b/PORTACO...matchpartialmax&NCNI-5&visNavSearch=Portacool

Hoping you find the perfect solution for you!

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I know I'm super late to the 'party' on this- but I have been air conditioning my coop for a couple of years now. It is not a cost-effective thing to do, but it can be done and I can sleep at night when it's hot now. Before I was looking for the worst off birds and bringing them into the basement in crates, which necessitated letting them out every morning and so on- but I noticed that even with all my fans the hens in the laying boxes looked like they would pass out through the day. Fans be damned.

I got a window unit that would handle at least twice the square footage of my coop (also a shed with windows, lots of fans and even a poultry exhaust fan built into the wall across from my metal security door)

Because my windows aren't "window unit" friendly, I put it on a table. Every side gets covered with furnace air filters, which I cut down to size. The intake in front gets covered (not where the cold air comes out- lower). An easy test for this is just use your hand to feel where the machine is drawing air into itself- must have a filter. The sides and top vents also get covered with furnace air filters, and then I use a bungee to hold them on. These must be changed every day the air conditioner is used. That's where most of the expense comes in.

To manage the moisture that inevitably comes off, I have a water heater pan (plastic, easy to find at Home Depot) and I made a little ramp to direct water out of the coop.

I've managed to make the same unit work for at least 2 years- might be three now. And I also bought a replacement that's sitting in my basement, ready to go for when the first a/c dies... Because you will NEVER EVER find the replacement when you need it. EVER. =) Just the truth of any heat wave in areas that are usually mild ... every unit in the city will disappear.

My 130 or so birds are much happier and I don't have to worry about finding one dead from heat stroke. Yes- fire danger is always a thing. It's a calculated risk.

You put the "outside" portion in such a way that it can vent to the outside air to facilitate transfer of heat from inside the coop to the outdoors right?

 

[Shezadandy]

You put the "outside" portion in such a way that it can vent to the outside air to facilitate transfer of heat from inside the coop to the outdoors right?

Yes, the hot air outlet is right up against the metal security door. Checked with temperature gun, vents right out.