Coop in full sun, heat issues

[BarnyardChaos]

Some ideas of mine:
* Move the whole setup closer to the afternoon shade.
* Add a shade tarp over the coop.
* Paint the roof white.
* Increase ventilation (I see you're already planning to do that).
* Add a small fan (solar powered?) to help pull cooler air in and force hotter air out.
* Add a roof vent.
* Freeze water in soda bottles or milk jugs, and throw those inside during the heat of the day. They last a surprisingly long time, and my birds huddle next to them when they're too hot. On 100-degree days, they'll last pretty well from 12noon to 5pm.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Some ideas of mine:
* Move the whole setup closer to the afternoon shade.
* Add a shade tarp over the coop.
* Paint the roof white.
* Increase ventilation (I see you're already planning to do that).
* Add a small fan (solar powered?) to help pull cooler air in and force hotter air out.
* Add a roof vent.
* Freeze water in soda bottles or milk jugs, and throw those inside during the heat of the day. They last a surprisingly long time, and my birds huddle next to them when they're too hot. On 100-degree days, they'll last pretty well from 12noon to 5pm.

I have seen people put the frozen water bottles in with their chickens on hot days at our state fair. If you are always home that would probably work but if you should happen to not be that could be a disaster if it got really hot and the setup is hot.

 

[K0k0shka]

Letting them sleep outside is a good idea in general, but not with this setup - the run isn't predator-proof as is, it would need denser hardware cloth over the current wire. Also, once they get used to sleeping outside, it might be harder to get them to go back to the coop once summer is over. Though winters are probably not too bad in Virginia, they might be fine just living in the run permanently, if you can give them enough shelter from rain and wind somewhere (once the run is predator-proof).

 

[Rockydoodle]

Some ideas of mine:
* Move the whole setup closer to the afternoon shade.
* Add a shade tarp over the coop.
* Paint the roof white.
* Increase ventilation (I see you're already planning to do that).
* Add a small fan (solar powered?) to help pull cooler air in and force hotter air out.
* Add a roof vent.
* Freeze water in soda bottles or milk jugs, and throw those inside during the heat of the day. They last a surprisingly long time, and my birds huddle next to them when they're too hot. On 100-degree days, they'll last pretty well from 12noon to 5pm.

Thanks, these are great suggestions!! I think I'm gonna plant a well-established shade tree in front of its East side ASAP, as moving it might not be a possibility after all. I'll install fans, as well as adding the big ventilation door this week. And then on extra hot days I have a water pan I can fill with cool water and a frozen water bottle, and I can put that in the run.

 

[Brooks_]

I'll install fans,

Be sure to look for "barn rated" or at least have the fan blow in. The dust and dander from the coop is hazardous with fans.

 

[aart]

It's in full sun from 9am-3pm, but after that it starts to get some shade

Here's a good mod to that type of coop to open more ventilation:
Back
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/post-25543595

Front
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/post-25543828

Here's some tips about extreme temps:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

Here's some tips about my fan install:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/window-fan-mount.75608/

 

[Rockydoodle]

Here's a good mod to that type of coop to open more ventilation:
Back
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/post-25543595

Front
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/coop-modification-recommendations.1517556/post-25543828

Here's some tips about extreme temps:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/aarts-extreme-weather-spiel.75893/

Here's some tips about my fan install:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/window-fan-mount.75608/

Yooo this is super helpful ty!!

 

[chx]

I'm in west central Florida, 90's is the temperature in the SHADE during our summers and the heat index can be 100 or more. The important question here is what breeds do you have? You can Google your breeds and see how heat-tolerant they are.

For ventilation just create openings everywhere you can in your coop, or build one that has an "open" design. For example my current coop is 4x12 but most of it is wide open, with hardware cloth for the first 4 feet above ground and chicken wire for the remaining 2 feet. The actual hen house is at one end but is more or less open on one side and also has no floor. The birds just hop up to the first roost bar and jump to higher bars from there. There's plenty of air flow with even the slightest breeze.

Provide some shade for them, and another thing you can do if you're home during the day is give them frozen treats or ice water. This helps cools them down from the inside out

 

[GCrumb]

Paint it white from top to bottom. It has quite a noticable effect.

Awnings over windows that drop a sunbeam inside the coop would help.

You can probably do without fans if you create a cool-air intake underneath and add more roof-level ventilation or a roof vent.

 

[Rockydoodle]

I'm in west central Florida, 90's is the temperature in the SHADE during our summers and the heat index can be 100 or more. The important question here is what breeds do you have? You can Google your breeds and see how heat-tolerant they are.

For ventilation just create openings everywhere you can in your coop, or build one that has an "open" design. For example my current coop is 4x12 but most of it is wide open, with hardware cloth for the first 4 feet above ground and chicken wire for the remaining 2 feet. The actual hen house is at one end but is more or less open on one side and also has no floor. The birds just hop up to the first roost bar and jump to higher bars from there. There's plenty of air flow with even the slightest breeze.

Provide some shade for them, and another thing you can do if you're home during the day is give them frozen treats or ice water. This helps cools them down from the inside out

Dang that is HOT temperature! 100 in the shade, wow! I have two buff Orpingtons (American variety, so not as fluffy as the English ones) and two Easter Eggers, which are essentially just Ameraucana mixes. Probably not the most heat-hearty, in retrospect.

So I installed the new ventilation door and it fixed most issues, woohoo! Much cooler inside. And if I need to, I'll blow through some extra ventilation holes on the back.