It’s a beautiful, warm afternoon. The birds are singing, the bees are humming, and your hens are cheerfully roaming the garden as they always do. Cuppa in hand, you watch from the window – Mabel is scratching for bugs, Petunia and Gladys are pecking from the feeder, and little Ethel is… wait, what the-?
She’s flopped flat on her side in the flowerbed, one wing outstretched limply and her right foot pointing skyward.
Panicked, you drop everything and run to her. But just as you get there, Ethel jumps to her feet and scampers across the garden.
Hurrah! Your hen wasn’t knocking on death’s door; she was simply enjoying a relaxing snooze in the sunshine.
While it looks incredibly dramatic, sunbathing is a natural, hardwired behaviour that keeps your flock healthy and content, both physically and mentally.
Why hens sunbathe (and look so awkward doing it):
Vitamin D3 💊
Chickens rely on Vitamin D3 to absorb calcium and lay strong, healthy eggs. When sunlight hits the natural oils on a hen’s feathers (courtesy of the preen gland at the base of the tail), it creates Vitamin D3 right on her plumage. The next time she preens and groom herself, she’ll ingest the D3 so that her body can put it to good use.
Pest control 🪰
Mites and lice love the dark, warm crevices close to a chicken’s skin. When a hen bakes herself in the sun, the intense heat and UV rays drive these parasites out from the base of her feathers to the surface, where they can then be easily be removed.
Egg moti-lay-tion 🪺
Sunlight stimulates a chicken’s pituitary gland, which regulates their reproductive cycle. The bright rays signal to her body that it is prime season to lay eggs, which is why your egg basket is likely a lot fuller during the summer months!
The “wing stretch” technique 🪽
When chickens lie down they purposefully expand their body surface area. By stretching out a single wing and raising their feathers, they expose the thin skin and sparse plumage along their flanks, letting the sun penetrate directly to the skin.
The glazed-eye trance 👁️
The sun’s warmth is like a sedative to hens. They enter a state of deep, muscle-melting relaxation where their heartrate slows, and they tune out the world – which is exactly why they look so lifeless to us!
Caring for hens in hot weather
Before looking at how to support your hens in a heatwave, it helps to understand how these birds are built to handle the weather on their own. Chickens have a few clever, built-in biological mechanisms to keep their temperature stable.
Combs and wattles 🐔
A chicken’s comb and wattle (the fleshy red parts on their head and neck) aren’t just for decoration, they’re packed with blood vessels and act like built-in air conditioners. When a chicken gets hot, warm blood flows into its comb and wattle, releasing heat into the surrounding air to cool the blood before it circulates back into the body.
Feather adjustments 🪶
Chickens use their feathers like an adjustable climate control suit. In the cold, they fluff them up to trap a layer of warm air against their skin. In the heat, they lift and hold their wings slightly away from their bodies, allowing air to circulate beneath their wings and cool the bare skin along their flanks.
Breathing techniques 😮💨
Because chickens don’t have sweat glands, they rely heavily on their respiratory system to cool down. When they pant with an open beak, they rapidly move air across the moist linings of their respiratory tract and air sacs. This evaporates moisture, drawing heat away from their core.
While these natural defence mechanisms can work wonders in warmer temperatures, summer heatwaves can still be a risk to a hen’s health.
A chicken’s normal body temperature sits between 40.5ºC to 41.7º C. Because their baseline temperature is already so high, and because their natural cooling methods (like panting) require a lot of physical effort, chickens are far more susceptible to heat exhaustion and heatstroke than humans are.
So, when the summer sun becomes extreme, your flock will be relying on you to keep them safe.
Top tips for keeping your hens cool
Ice-cold water stations 🧊
Chickens will refuse to drink warm water, which accelerates dehydration. Place multiple waterers in shaded areas and drop large ice blocks or frozen water bottles inside them to keep the water cool and refreshing. Check and keep them topped up regularly throughout the day.
Deep shade zones⛱️
Ensure your flock has access to areas completely blocked from the sun. If your garden or enclosure is particularly exposed, you’ll need to create shade yourself. Hang blankets or other coverings, set up a tent or gazebo, or prop open umbrellas over their favourite dust-bathing spots.
Frozen snacks 🍪
Keep your chickens cool from the inside out – freeze watermelon slices, cucumber chunks, or berries in bowls of water to make frozen “fruit blocks” for them to peck at during the hottest hours of the day.
Maximise coop ventilation 💨
Hot air traps easily inside a wooden coop. Ensure all soffit vents are open and replace solid windows with hardware cloth mesh to create a cross-breeze. And remember to never crowd too many birds into the same coop, especially if it has poor ventilation.
Warning signs to look out for
If you notice a hen showing any of the following symptoms during a heatwave, she could be suffering from heat stroke:
- Continuous, heavy panting with her wings held far away from her body.
- Pale and/or swollen comb and wattle.
- Lethargy, droopiness, or unresponsiveness (unlike the relaxed sunbathing trance, she won’t snap out of this when startled).
- Diarrhoea or a complete loss of appetite.
How to treat chicken heatstroke
Heatstroke is a medical emergency that requires a rapid response. Below are steps you can take to bring a hen’s core temperature down safely but bear in mind, you should always contact your vet and have your hen checked over as soon as possible.
- Remove from the heat
Gently pick up your chicken and take her to a cool spot, such as an air-conditioned room, or a shaded garage, and place her on a hard floor or a damp towel. Do not leave her outside if the ambient air is blistering.
- Bathe in lukewarm water
Lower your hens’ feet and lower abdomen into a tub filled with a few inches of lukewarm water – never cold or ice water, which can cause her to go into shock. Gently scoop water under her wings and onto her bare flanks where major blood vessels run close to the skin.
- Provide cool airflow
Keep your hen in the lukewarm water for 5 to 10 minutes. Once her breathing begins to slow down slightly, remove her and place her in front of a low-speed fan. The moving air crossing her wet feathers will act as artificial sweat and help quickly reduce her core temperature.
- Rehydrate
Once your hen is alert, holding her head up, and no longer panting, dip the tip of her beak into a bowl of cool water mixed with poultry electrolytes. If you don’t have poultry electrolytes, you can make your own solution by mixing 2 teaspoons of sugar, 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda (a small pinch), and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 300ml of water. Never force water down an unconscious or panting chicken’s throat, as they can easily inhale it into their lungs and drown.
- Let her rest
Keep your recovering hen isolated in a cool, quiet area for at least a few hours until she is completely stable and eating and drinking normally. Returning her to a hot garden or a crowded coop too early can put her at risk of a relapse.
