Frozen yogurt fruit treats for chickens

I was browsing Pinterest a few months back and saw a 'recipe' for Summer frozen yogurt treats for kids. I was intrigued so I read the whole post and it sounded exactly like something my chickens would love! They act like little kids most of the time so I'm pretty sure they'll like kid snacks!

After all, they do like yogurt & fruit, plus it's mighty warm here in the summer....so I decided to make some for my chickens and I was right, they loved it!

Identify and treat heat stress in chickens

Obviously in summer the temperatures get hot and we all get uncomfortably warm, especially outside animals like chickens. There is a big difference between hot and too hot though. Chickens can suffer heat stress just like people can, but unfortunately they can't come in from the heat and chill in the AC like we can! 

So it's super important to watch for signs of heat stress in your chickens, plus take preventative measures to keep them cool enough to avoid overheating in the first place!

What is heat stress in chickens? 

Just like in people, heat stress is the condition when your body cannot cool itself enough to maintain a healthy temperature. Heat stress is caused by high temperatures coupled with low air speed. 

Usually it's a ridiculously hot, still day but it can be caused by them being stuck in a direct sun location for an extended period of time on a warm day. 

I'm going to touch really briefly on preventing heat stress, since I've already talked about the 14 ways I help my chickens to stay cool in summer. Then lets get straight into identifying and treating heat stress in chickens!

Which chicken books are you reading?

What better way to spend the lazy days of summer than reading up on chicken keeping? I have several chicken keeping books on my reading list and today I want to share them with you. I'm really big on learning new things and there are so many amazing chicken books out there written by fellow bloggers and other authors. It also helps that some of these are free...cause you know how much I love free stuff...especially when it comes to chickens! 

All of these books are available on Kindle but for those of you that prefer books, many can be ordered in paperback also! For us older folks who grew up with a paperback in hand, vacation reading just needs a 'real' book! Of course you might want to take a peek in your local retail or discount bookstore for secondhand books, cause why pay more? 

Even though I've been raising chickens for 10 years, I still learn from reading about chickens. I'm currently learning more about genetics and how certain disorders can run in family lines. My experience with Wry Neck in Chicks and wry tail in ducks is what started that interest. Not gonna lie, it's kinda boring. lol I promise you none of these chicken keeping books will be boring though!

How to grow sunflowers for chicken feed

Feeding chickens can get really expensive! Many chicken keepers like to cut their feed costs by growing some feed or treats for their chickens. Sunflowers are an easy to grow feed source for chickens that blend in perfectly in any yard or garden. Since black oil sunflower seeds are a favorite treat of most chickens it just makes sense to grow your own!

There are several types of sunflowers you can grow for chicken feed. I've grown everything from the black oil sunflower seeds that you commonly buy for chicken treats and the common mammoth sunflower, to ornamental Teddy Bear sunflowers. 

The larger sunflowers obviously produce more sunflower seeds. They also produce larger seeds. Each sunflower head produces between 1000-2000 seeds!

Smaller ornamental varieties don't produce as many seeds but the seeds they do produce are still edible. Many of the sunflower varieties have been developed more for the flower than the seeds, so you might have to try a few varieties and see what produces the most seed for the type you want to grow. 

Ornamental varieties are usually small enough to fit into flower gardens or even containers. Which is great because no matter what the size of the garden spot you have you can find a sunflower to fit! Even most ornamental varieties it will still produce feed for your chickens. Every bit of feed that you can grow makes the feed bill cheaper!

Now that the days are longer and temperatures just keep going up, it's time to get the chickens ready for summer. Summer sounds like such a lovely, fun and easy time to be a chicken but in reality it can be deadly! Heat stress and dehydration are very real dangers but can easily be avoided by taking a few precautions. This is how we get ready for summer...

Check out these 14 brilliant ideas for keeping chickens cool in summer.

As usual, inspecting the coop is always first on my list. We are in the coop every single day, but how much do we really look around? Take this chance to stop and look carefully at everything. Pull on boards, try to reach through ventilation holes, yank on hardware cloth. I like to do this every season so I can catch small problems before they become big ones. 

Preparing your chickens for Summer

Check the coop. Give the coop a quick once over and check for holes or loose boards that may let predators in. Check the roof for new leaks and make sure windows and doors can open fully to let cool breezes in. Make sure ventilation holes are unblocked as it's essential that the hot summer air be able to escape at roof level.

Check the ventilation holes for wild bird nests and spider webs that are blocking the air flow. Spider webs might not seem like a problem, but once they get thick with chicken dander and catch a few leaves or feathers, they can completely block air flow.

Provide shade. One of the best ways to cool off in the summer is by lounging in the shade, so make sure your chickens have plenty of it! Hang tarps across the run, or on the side of it to provide shade. Make sure there are shady spots all day long. As the sun moves across the sky morning shade areas can quickly become full sun.

Chickens owners can vacation! (printable instruction sheet!)

When I first got my chickens, I didn't go away at all! I was just too worried to trust someone else with the chicken care for a week. I didn't know where to find a farm sitter and wasn't sure how all that worked anyway. It was about 6 years before I took my first vacation away from my chickens. 

It took me another year to come up with a system I'm happy with, and now I go away for a few days whenever I'd like.

Taking a vacation while you own chickens is not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. It does take a little pre planning to make sure the chickens needs are met while I'm gone though.

Many people like to hire chicken sitters, or have a neighbor come check on them. I only do this if I'm going to be leaving my chickens for a week or more.

When taking a short trip of just a few days, I've found that the chickens are fine left in their coop and run with enough feed and water.

There are a few things that make it easier like automatic doors and special treats in case they get bored. 

Keep your chickens cool in summer, 14 genius ideas

In the hottest days of summer I often worry about my chickens and how they are handling the heat. Chickens can die of heat stress so of course I want to do everything in my power to help keep my chickens cool. Luckily, it's pretty easy to tell when chickens are getting overheated.

When chickens get too hot they pant and hold their wings away from their body. Chickens do this to try to cool themselves down. They tend to seek out cool spots to rest and don't bunch up together as much. 

Once you see these symptoms you know it's time to go into emergency cooling mode! However, the best results are in preventing chickens from overheating to begin with. 

These are the 14 things I do to prevent overheating in chickens.

How to keep chickens cool in summer

1) Extra water bowls: in summer I fill all their normal watering stations plus leave large dog bowls full of cool, clean water absolutely everywhere. Try to keep waterers in the shade so the water stays cool longer. I like using dog bowls since they are deep enough for the chickens to drop their wattles in to help cool themselves. Providing lots of cool, clean water is the number one way to prevent heat stress in chickens!

2) Bobbing for berries: If the chickens don't seem to be drinking enough, float some ice and berries in a bowl of water and let them at it. Some berries float and some sink, but the chickens eat them all and afterwards they seemed a whole lot cooler. I also tried this with frozen peas and the chickens gobbled them up just the same. Plus I used up all the fruit that has been going bad way too fast in this heat!

Frozen chicken treat for a hot day (super easy!)

It's been ridiculously hot this summer. The unreal kind of hot that makes you want to just lay in the air conditioning and not move. Unfortunately for chickens, that's not an option. Since summer is here to stay, I had to figure out a way to keep the chickens cool in this extreme heat. 

I decided to make them a frozen treat that used up some of the excess produce in my kitchen and garden. 

Before giving chickens treat you might want to check this list of foods they can't have. Most everything humans eat is ok for chickens with just a few things you'll want to leave out including one that can normally eat, AKA corn!

You should absolutely NOT feed chickens frozen corn in summer. More info down below!

Helping the chickens stay cool

One of the biggest problems in summer is dehydration which makes the heat so much more unbearable! People can remember to drink extra water, but animals usually don't drink more than they immediately need.

Sometimes, animals have to be tricked into drinking enough water to stay properly hydrated.