This summer is hot, hot hot!!

Tikka and Lacey are all fluffed out trying to air out their feathers.  This has been a real scorcher of a summer.  Even for the desert southwest it's hot.  We've been averaging 100 degrees most of the past week or so.  No real rain in sight for a bit of relief.  My poor little chickens spend most of the day hanging out under the trees with their bellies splayed out on the cool ground.  Their favorite time of the day is when I freshen up their water, and top it with black oil sunflower seeds.  It's the combination of the cool water and a salty treat that gets them all excited.  

The turkey hen, Kris, prefers to just stand in the water bowls.  

The coop is really not pleasant during the day with all this heat.  Egg production has slowed a little, and I'm wondering if they aren't just laying somewhere else.  If it were me, I would find a shady spot with some cool dirt.  But then, that's just me.  

Kris has taken to hopping into my potato bed to lay her eggs.  So far I haven't found any other eggs in random places, so, I'm not sure if they are just not laying due to the heat, or if they are really good at finding secret places.  

On the upside, I did some finishing work on the Super Coop.  Nothing crazy, just added a backdrop of wall paper attached to a tarp.  It's washable and will provide a bit of insulation, which is not necessarily a bad thing with all this heat.  I've felt a noticeable difference in the temps during the day since adding the backdrop, plus, the colors add a bit of softening to the sunlight.  

I just have about 8 inches of paper to attach and it'll be done.  

You can also see our egg box area is hidden by curtains.  It makes for a darker space and more privacy.  

Next addition will be an automatic pop door opener, which arrived in the mail this week.  I'm super excited that I won't need to worry about forgetting to close the coop at night or being late to open it up in the morning.  

It's a work in progress, but, it's almost finished.  Still need to get that run built, but, we've been way too busy to tackle that project.