Well, it’s hotter than hot once again, with temps near 100 and the humidity thick enough to slice. Yuck. It’s important in this kind of weather to remember the animals in our care. I get the barn, coop and garden chores done as early as I can talk myself into on these hot summer days.
Chickens do not like extreme heat.
They do better in cold weather temps than they do
in high heat situations.
I can’t air condition their coop,
but I do make sure they have plenty of clean water and I dump ice cubes in
the water troughs during the day. I also make sure the coop is clean and there is
a small fan facing into their yard to give them some breeze relief.
(pardon the algae… ahem)
Chickens don’t sweat… if they are heat stressed you
will see them with beak open, panting.
I also let the girls out into the yard where they take shelter in the grove of cedar trees
next to their coop…relatively safe from predators and cool in the shade.
Up at the barn, we’ve just installed paddle fans over the stalls ,
high enough that the horses won’t clip themselves on the blades.
In extreme heat and humidity, to keep the air flowing and
the hay from molding, I also turn on a window fan for cross ventilation.
(pardon the cobwebs! Sheesh!)
The horses come and go from the barn to the pasture all day long.
When the bugs and heat drive them nuts, they come in for respite.
When you see horses out in pasture on a hot day where there is no protection like shade trees or a barn
from the sun and the bugs, oh.. they’ll survive, but they aren’t very uncomfortable.
My dogs go out to do their thing and come right back in, it’s just too darn hot.
I hate when I see dogs chained out in the heat with dirty water to top it off
– they are also plagued by bugs
and can die from heat stroke.
We would be miserable in those conditions,
so are the dogs.
I saw a situation that made me want to spit in the persons face recently.
Sometimes I don’t bother putting a sock in it and
I stand up for the animal being abused.
They can’t speak for themselves.
Here at This Old House, the animals are spoiled.
I know how lucky I am to have the resources to do so.
But it doesn’t take much to be kind to an animal. Not much at all.
If you make the decision to own them, treat them right..
or let someone else give them the home they deserve.
– just sayin.
