How Do Chickens Handle Hot Weather?

How do chickens handle the summer heat? Besides drinking a significant amount of water, they also pant. I guess there are a few similarities between chickens and dogs, such as panting, and digging holes! Since chickens (birds in general) don't sweat, panting serves the purpose for cooling the bird off. 

Being in Idaho, where the climate generally isn't humid, chickens fare a bit better than if they were to be in a humid climate. The reason being is because every-time the chicken breathes out, invisible water drops come out of their mouth, which carries the heat away. However, if the air outside is both hot and humid, panting accomplishes nothing for them. Think of it as like pouring water out of one bucket into another, then pouring that water back into the same bucket. In each exchange, the volume of water (or heat in the chicken's instance) does not really change. While there may be a few drops left in the empty bucket, the volume remains relatively unchanged. In the case of the chicken, they would be getting rid of hot, humid air, just so they can re-breathe hot, humid air. 

How does summer heat affect egg production? 

While egg production isn't affected as much in the summer as it is during the winter, there still can be a "summer-slump" when it gets really hot. Heat causes chickens to drink more water, but eat less feed. You might say that hot weather forces chickens to get lazy when it comes to production! I'm hoping you can draw your own conclusion as to why eating less feed translates into less eggs (notice less=less:)

It's for that reason why a higher protein feed is beneficial during the summer. 

Other than the fact that egg quality would suffer, keeping chickens in big temperature controlled barns is not a bad idea. As with any model of farming, whether it be confinement farming, or pastured farming, each has it's drawbacks. Confinement farming often focuses on keeping the animals extremely comfortable (hence the perfect temperatures) to obtain the best production, whereas pastured farming gives the animals a natural approach to life while sacrificing some production (about 8-10% in my experience at certain times of the year, like summer). In my opinion, the compromise between the two would be to have climate-controlled housing for the animals, and bring them fresh cut grass every day in order to raise quality, while minimizing production loss. The only problem with it comes down to whether it is worthwhile/efficient to spend time gathering the grass to give the animals, versus letting them gathering it themselves. That's a question I've been thinking about when trying to think of how I would like to design my farm later on.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you would do if you were given the task of designing a farm and it's systems; who knows, you might spark some great ideas!