Coop to Protect Chickens from Southern Heat.

[lillyrosesmum]

We are building a small coop for about 6 chickens and it gets HOT and humid here. What kind of features do you think are a must to protect chickens from the heat?
Is it a good idea to put vents at the bottom and top of the coop to get stacked ventilation?

 

[donrae]

Where are you located? How hot are we talking?

Consider making one or two wall of your coop of wire instead of wood. Sounds like you need air flow a lot more than you need protection from wind, etc.

I'm in southern Oregon and have wintered birds in wire coops with a tarp, and wire hoop coops with a metal roof but no sides, just tucked in against a fence and a small barn for protection. They did fine.

 

[lillyrosesmum]

Where are you located? How hot are we talking?

Consider making one or two wall of your coop of wire instead of wood. Sounds like you need air flow a lot more than you need protection from wind, etc. 

I'm in southern Oregon and have wintered birds in wire coops with a tarp, and wire hoop coops with a metal roof but no sides, just tucked in against a fence and a small barn for protection. They did fine. 

We live in East Texas. It's usually in the 90s most of the summer but there are a few weeks it gets well above 100.It's also very humid so shade helps only little.
Winter is so mild but occasionally drops below freezing but only in the early morning.
My husband is building a coop and I'm worried it won't have enough ventilation.

 

[Folly's place]

A three sided shed with a hardware cloth front, or a Wood's type coop, and plenty of shade. An insulated roof, and shade. Trees and shrubs. At least four or five sq. ft. of floor space per chicken in the coop, and a covered run. Good ventilation and air flow. Heat is a much bigger problem than cold! Mary

 

[donrae]

That's what I was thinking, a three sided with one side at least being wire or hardware cloth.

You need to think about the purpose of a coop. Why have one? For most folks, it's a combo of predator protection and weather protection. You need to do a predator risk assessment for your area and set up and plan accordingly. For weather, good on you for seeing heat is way more an issue than cold in your area. Your birds don't need to be closed in on all sides, they need air flow and roof overhangs to provide extra shade. And a predator proof run they can access, vs being confined to the coop.

 

[lillyrosesmum]

That's what I was thinking, a three sided with one side at least being wire or hardware cloth. 

You need to think about the purpose of a coop. Why have one? For most folks, it's a combo of predator protection and weather protection. You need to do a predator risk assessment for your area and set up and plan accordingly. For weather, good on you for seeing heat is way more an issue than cold in your area. Your birds don't need to be closed in on all sides, they need air flow and roof overhangs to provide extra shade. And a predator proof run they can access, vs being confined to the coop. 

We have half an acre of fenced yard that they will have access to during the day. Lots of trees and our covered porch for shade. They are literally in our backyard. Lol!
We are making the roof vented all around. We are thinking of making the front\door wire because of the heat. Will this be a problem during the winter?

 

[User395221]

My husband is building a coop and I'm worried it won't have enough ventilation.

I agree with everyone else, open the whole thing up.

I'm in a hot place too (we've had a week of over 40C temperatures), but it isn't (usually) humid. My new house is up under a large tree and it never really seems very hot there. Even if you think shade won't help against the humidity, it will help prevent radiated heat to keep the house cooler. My coop has an attached (roofed) run and I leave the door open. If they are hot and want to sleep outside in the run, they could. It has a missing weatherboard at the top of each side. That, and it being in the shade seems to keep it cool there.

 

[donrae]

As long as you face the open/wire side of the coop out of prevailing winds, you should be good. Birds are much more tolerant of cold than heat. As long as they're dry and out of direct wind, they can handle very cold temps handily.

 

[JackE]

We have half an acre of fenced yard that they will have access to during the day. Lots of trees and our covered porch for shade. They are literally in our backyard. Lol!
We are making the roof vented all around. We are thinking of making the front\door wire because of the heat. Will this be a problem during the winter?

Yes, you can have the front open throughout the winter, with ZERO problems. Check out the pic below. We get winter temps down to 0 F, sometimes maybe a few of degrees below, and that doesn't include any windchill. The front of the coop is wide open year round. It doesn't matter what way the winds blow, it doesn't make any difference. I've had 30mph+ winds, blow directly at the open front, and inside, it's as calm as in your living room, when you are watching TV. The wind does not have a path through the coop, so it doesn't blow through like a wind tunnel.

Now, being in TX, you could (Should) have an open front coop. But for your hot summers, you could (Again, should) have hinged (Hinged at the top) wall panels that would open, up and out. Underneath those, you would have hardware clothe, to provide security, for the opened walls. And the opened wall panels, will keep the rain out. But really, in a properly ventilated coop, some rain blowing in, is not a big deal. The coop will dry out in a day or so after the rain has stopped. You want your TX coop to have MAXIMUM ventilation/fresh air flow.

 

[HennyPenny2]

We are building a small coop for about 6 chickens and it gets HOT and humid here. What kind of features do you think are a must to protect chickens from the heat?
Is it a good idea to put vents at the bottom and top of the coop to get stacked ventilation?

I live in SC where heat and humidity that is thick enough to cut with a knife is the norm here. For starters find the shadiest area of your yard. Windows that can open and even draw a cross breeze through the coop if possible and maybe even build a simple awning over the window to block out some direct sun but still let light in would help. Add as much ventilation as possible up top as heat rises. I've even used a box fan inside the coop to keep air moving or draw heat out and I have a screen door made of hardware cloth that I use all summer long leaving the main door open unless it rains. I also have used sand in my coop for years and that really helps keeps things cool and dry.
For the run if yours is open and even if it's not you could use shade cloth that will greatly cut down on the temps depending on what shade cloth you go with. I have also used before the plants I planted in front of my coop grew enough to shade it, a misting hose. It's like using a shade cloth but I didn't particularly care for it as it did tend to make the ground wet. Hope this helps.