coop help for desert climate

[BekahBear]

i posted about my rescue guys earlier. we are planning on building a coop for them in the next few days since our days off are monday and tuesday. i did a bunch of sifting through posts looking for a good coop but there are so many i don't know where to start and i'm looking for something in particular. i live in Az where it gets really hot in the summer. i think an enclosed coop would be too hot and stuffy in the summer for my new girls. i'm looking for ideas for a coop that is more open with lots of shade for our weather here. we have a lot of know how when it comes to building things(we just finished building a 40' long 8' high x 10' deep horse shade/shelter for our 2 horses.) but we dont have a huge budget right now for a coop. i'm hoping to find ideas that are fairly cheap and simple to set up(plywood, 2x4's, and chicken wire are my friend lol). descriptions and dementions would be great but what i'm really looking for are pics. so please post pics of coops that you think would work for us. thanks

 

[RocketDad]

I put an 18" overhang on the south side of the roof for my coop. The entire south wall is shaded at noon at the height of summer. I also used rafter venting

to keep the hot roof from heating the coop. On hot days my chickens took refuge in the coop if they weren't out free-ranging in the yard hiding under the rose bush. The coop stayed really cool with those two things.

Oh, and I insulated the crap out of it, with foil-faced foam and regular bead-foam. Helps both in hot and cold weather. But very expensive....

 

[crazyforfeatheredfriends]

Totally agree with Rocketdad.
I'm in AZ also, in the east valley, where are you? We got our chickens over this past summer and keeping them shaded was the key. We also installed a cheap mister system that sprayed the air outside the coop (so the bedding wouldn't get wet).
Good luck getting it started, we're having some great weather for coop building!

 

[teach1rusl]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3353555

This is a link to a different thread w/similar concerns to yours...has a pic of what they built. Also, if you do end up with an open air coop, I would strongly suggest spending a little more on wire. Chicken wire is fine for keeping chickens in, but is not really built to keep predators out, so go for a more substantial wire. Welded wire, chain link, hardware cloth, etc. are much stronger. If you don't have a "house" that can be secured, then you'll need to make sure their run is very secure.

 

[gsim]

A coop of lattice walls would both look nice and breathe well too. Could have hooks added so as to line up with gromets on tarp to hold it in place in cold weather to stop cold drafts. Make it tall enough to walk into. You will not regret it. Ditto for run.

 

[Elwar]

I have a small hot weather coop & run...I built it myself so it isn't too hard. Check out my page https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=33375

The key is shade and open air.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Shade, misters (preferably on a timer) and automatic waterers are musts for Arizona desert summers.

Of my coops, the ones that seems to stay coolest have wire on the corners and siding in the middle. Here is a diagram of an 8x8 coop. Each side has 2' of wire on each side at the corner and soldi siding in the middle 4'.

wire siding wire
xxxx________xxxx
x x
x x
| |
| |
x x
x x
xxxx________xxxx

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

The best shade cloth is Aluminet. It not only shades, but it has a radiant barrier component to it, as well.

Search for that word; I've posted about it before, and some people who have tried it have really thought it made a difference, compared to black or green shade cloth.

 

[LarryPQ]

Here is my coop- it gets pretty good sun in the winter, and the house helps cut some of the direct sun in the summer. I also attached drapes (garage sale finds) for extra shade in the summer. I can also hose the drapes down for swamp-cooler effect. Right now I have clear shower curtains (also sale items) to cut the wind, hold in the warm, and let in the daylight sun. I bought a tree, for future shade, but have to get direct water out there....