Clear corrugated roofing material, or tin?

[corrabelle]

Im building a new coop. I thought about making the roof, or part of the roof, clear corrugated plastic, to allow for some more daylight during our long winter months. The coop will be in a shady area in the summer.
Any thoughts? Bad idea or good idea?

 

[Urban Flock]

We have a metal roof on our coop. Our chickens are not in the coop once it gets daylight and go back to roost at dusk, so in our case a plastic roof that lets the daylight through would not make any difference.
You would want to make sure if you went with the plastic roof that your coop is in 100% total shade or it would heat up like a greenhouse.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I had wanted to do the same thing BUT ......
When looking at matching the pieces up the plastic has different ridges then the metal so would need a ton of caulk.
I also thought about how HOT it could get in there in the spring and summer.

I opted instead to do a LOT of windows using lexan for when they have to be closed in the winter. It lets a lot of light in without building heat since the sun does not directly hit the windows much. I can also open all the windows in the spring and summer for lots of fresh air.

 

[corrabelle]

Thanks!! I'll figure something else out. I don't intend to keep them in their coop all day in the winter, so maybe it isn't necessary.
I always hear about chickens not getting enough sun in the winter but maybe those are the chickens who are forced to stay inside?

 

[aart]

Thanks!! I'll figure something else out. I don't intend to keep them in their coop all day in the winter, so maybe it isn't necessary.
I always hear about chickens not getting enough sun in the winter but maybe those are the chickens who are forced to stay inside?

No, its about the length of the daylight hours......
....no matter how clear your roof or how many windows in the coop, the days don't give the 14 hours of light they need to lay.

Depending on your location(helps to put that in your profile) clear roofing might be a good thing for you.
Do you have snow load to deal with? That might make the whole idea moot unless you plan to keep the snow cleared off.

 

[corrabelle]

I'm in southern Ontario, Niagara falls area. And yes, I would keep the roof cleared if we did clear.
I wouldn't make the whole thing clear, just part of it.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The hard part is getting corrugated that matches the ridges of the metal. Make sure to try before you buy to make sure it will line up like you need it to. My chickens have a huge run and large coop but in the winter many of them refuse to go out due to the snow or the wind.
Door gets opened they just choose to stay in.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We put some in our animal shed, than the next year we put in more, they let in a lot of light, my shed was so dark in the winter with the big door closed. I would recommend them. As 21hens said, make sure they line up with your other tin. We also put some on the walls to let in light, I can see in the shed without the lights on.

 

[aart]

I have a small shed with a couple clear panels, it really does give some nice light.

Unfortunately they were very old when I neglected to remove a large snow load one year and they were destroyed along with bending of tin parts of roof and supports.
Now it's covered with a tarp and propped up with a couple of pieces of lumber.

So buy or make a snow rake

 

[Spartan22]

I use those clear corrugated panels on half of our run but I pitched it pretty stiff I guess they call it 10/12 gable pitch. Snow slides down so no weight on the roof. I love it, protects the chicken from getting wet nor direct snow file up in the run. Your about 4 hours north east of my location so I kind of understand the grayish lack of light winter from lake effects.