Heat, in the right order

You watered the roof and added a drinker. And the flock is still panting. It’s not for lack of effort.

It’s the order. But first, let’s see how a chicken gets rid of its heat.

Without sweating, it loses a little through its skin and feet. Most of it goes out through breathing.

When the air heats up, the difference from its body temperature becomes smaller. The skin sheds less heat, so it pants.

Panting cools it down by drying, like a piece of laundry. And laundry doesn’t dry when the air is already wet.

That’s why our humid afternoons are the hardest. Heat alone is harsh. When it’s humid, it becomes dangerous.

By panting so much, it loses too much carbon dioxide. Its blood becomes unbalanced, its appetite drops, and so does its growth.

Where should you start? With what brings relief fastest. Here are five measures, from most effective to least effective.

One, fresh water, replenished. Colder than the chicken, each drink takes heat away from it.

At eighteen to twenty-one degrees, it drinks readily. Above twenty-seven degrees, it shuns the drinker.

Flush the lines two to three times a day. And walk slowly through the flock. Those that get up will go to drink.

Two, moving air. It removes the heat around the body, and the humid air it has just breathed out.

Open both sides to the same height, as wide as possible. The air must pass through, from one side to the other.

Three, stocking density. Each chicken is a little stove. When crowded, they heat each other.

Above twenty-eight kilos of chickens per square metre, the heat trapped between them rises very quickly.

Stocking density is decided on the day you order your chicks. In the hot season, stock according to the space you have.

Four, shifting feeding times. Digestion produces heat. Digesting during the hottest part of the day means adding more heat.

The breeder advises removing the feed six hours before the hottest part of the day, and putting it back in the evening.

Five, the roof. It reflects heat onto the birds. A roof lining helps, but can’t be installed in a day.

And watering the roof increases the humidity in the air. In muggy weather, that makes panting even more difficult.

The day before a hot day, everything is prepared. The tank in the shade, the lines flushed, extra drinkers.

Curtains free to move, the time the feed is brought in, who does what. On the day itself, there’s no more improvising.

And at your place, on a muggy afternoon, which measure do you take first?

Send us the flock’s age and the water temperature at midday on WhatsApp at 05 44 83 27 79. Farm record book offered.

For your chicks, call 07 07 72 78 67. Subscribe. Next, the litter, and the chain that starts with a leak.

Our hatchery is in Agnibilékrou, and our poultry farmers are supported, not abandoned. With Nextekci, every customer is a satisfied poultry farmer.