This is my makeshift air cooler. The gallon milk jug is solid ice, and I've placed it in a bucket (red, of course) of water. It's up on blocks which will absorb a bit of condensation as it melts. I have two more jugs of ice in the freezer to rotate as necessary.
We also have a fan in the coop. The girls don't appreciate the air blowing directly at them, so the fan is wired up at shoulder height and aimed into the hen house. Sorry that the photo is foggy, but the dew point is so high that I couldn't get the camera lens to clear.
In addition, I'll be hosing down the chicken yard every few hours and providing plenty of fresh water. To be honest, I worry more about the girls in the heat than I do in the sub-zero temperatures of January!
My coop is pretty shaded so I haven't used a fan. That ice bucket is a cool idea, except that I have a nervous hen that might not be able to handle something scary and new in the coop like that, ha. My lazy approach during this heat wave was to let them just free-range a lot, they find lots of shady spots to hang out and take dust baths. Had to remember to put extra water tubs around so they never had to go too far to find it.
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