Should run be complete shade or provide for some sunbathing?

My hens seem to enjoy both the sun and shade depending on the weather or temps. Im currently building a pergola type covered run on half of my run and growing roses and vines over to shade and minimize rain while providing sun on the other half which does have a tree overhead that gives both sun and shade depending on the time of day and year. In the southern heat I have to deal with, shade is important anyway.

HagenHens said:

Hello fellow BYCers,

Newb here. We have our chickies and are getting ready to start building our coop. The hubs and I have figured out how we want to build our coop, but can't decide whether or not to completely cover our run with roofing material (vs hardware cloth). We will be covering it with something because we have LOTS of predators to worry about. The question is completely shaded or not. We have 6 chickies right now and we are planning to build a run that is 12x6 ft. I was thinking of extending the roof from the coop an additional 4 ft and leaving the rest open for sunshine. Is this a good idea or bad? Our property is mostly shaded. The only direct sunlight would be through the top of the run. I know there is concern for the run to become sloppy, but we are also building on a slope. We live in Missouri so temps here can range from just below zero to just over 100 degrees F.

Any and all input is welcome and appreciated!!

Thank you!!!
Stacey

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I also live in Missouri and was in the same dilemma as yourself. We opted to have 75% of the run covered with tin and the remaining 25% covered in hardware cloth. Under the tin we have sand and under the cloth we have normal bedding materials for them to scratch around in. Most of their time is spent in the sun area of the run however i think that will change during the summer. I only kept the sand in the covered portion of the run as to keep it from getting wet. in the pic below the far left side is open. We have alot of shade as you can see so i wanted some sunlight.

Thanks for your input, Gsnake35. We have decided to cover 50% and leave 50% open with hardware cloth. We figure, we'll see how it goes and if we find we need to cover it, then we'll cover it. The spot in which our coop and run are located is surrounded by trees with very little sun except directly overhead. We started building the coop last weekend and will probably begin work on the run next weekend. I will post a pic when it's all complete. Where in MO are you?

Thanks again,
Stacey

Sounds lovely, HennyPenny2!!

HagenHens said:

Sounds lovely, HennyPenny2!!

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Thanks, here is the run still in progress.



The pergola will end at the pine tree. It's already provided quite a bit of shade. But they really love the open sunny areas too to bask in. They have their favorite sunny dirt pit to dust bathe in and fight over it lol.

Very, very nice!!! There is so much to love about your run!

Great job!

Thank you both very much. I pretty much finished it today so relieved about that. Can't wait for the roses to cover it now!

I built my run on the side of my house. It was already fenced on two sides, so I simply added a pig panel and timber fence with a swinging gate at the end.

My substrate is gravel: 3" of coarse rock covered with 2" of pea gravel. I live in Central California, which commonly sees summer temperatures in the 110 degree range for several days in a row. I definitely need shade and ventilation to keep my hens cool.

I added a dust bathing pen and a compost bin (which you can see in the photo). I planted 3 young fruit trees (fig, nectarine, pluot) in the run for future shade, but I'm using shade cloth in the meantime. I don't have my run enclosed on the top...the run is 10ft X 40ft so it isn't practical. I live in a suburban area, and we don't have raccoons or foxes here. I'm more worried about aerial predators.

I added lattice to the fence I share with my neighbors to add some height. I then ran strips of shade cloth from the fence to the rafter tails of my roofline (3 ft X 10 ft). This was not cool enough...so I added a second strip running parallel to my house, from end to end, attaching it to the top of the fence. This strip was 6ft X 40 ft. I now have overlapping shade patches, and my hens are safe on hot days. Also, there isn't much clear space for an aerial predator to get a clear shot at my birds, especially since I added lean-to hiding spaces in several places around the pen.