Dark-colored coops?

[hd_darcy]

Does anyone have any dark-colored coops? Do they get extra-hot in there even if insulated well? I'm assuming yes...... I'm having a hard time deciding what color to do ours. We have some leftover dark brown paint, but I'm wondering if it would be too dark? Any thoughts would be appreciated - thanks!

 

[chicmom]

My coop is red barn red colored, and I don't think it makes a difference.

 

[rsimpson]

Ours in Wisconsin barn red and it's fine - plenty of cross-ventilation. And I think the color will help with passive solar heat in our cold Wis. winters.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have coops, sheds and tractors in all colors. I think the ones with the lightest colors do best but ventilation and position of shade trees also helps. My light colored shed still seems the hottest, even with a big screen door, a window on each side and under shade trees. Lack of air flow where it sits, I suppose.

 

[Whitewater]

Our coop is dark on the outside but has white interior walls for the hen house and also light colored nest boxes and a light colored roost. Research before I built the coop suggested that the chickens needed a distinct difference between night and day, also that they don't see well in the dark, so it seemed to me that the best design was one that included a light interior. The light colors will help with all of the above. Here are some pictures:

The exterior of the coop:

You can see that the exterior stain is quite a dark color, almost mahogany colored (well, except for the door, which is cherry, LOL!).

The interior of the hen house:

On the other hand, you can see that the interior walls are white, the linoleum is tan, sort of, and the roost is an odd pastel 'puce'-like color (it was an 'oops' can of paint!). The nest boxes are a very light tan color just about the exact shade of new pine shavings, they go well with the linoleum, LOL. Of course, now with actual pine shavings on the floor, you can hardly see the linoleum at all -- so much for trying to have any kind of color scheme!

Does that help? I figured having a dark outside but a light inside was the best compromise.


Whitewater

 

[Rennie]

Whitewater .. dont you get any problems with shavings getting kicked out of the hole ?


My coop is covered with Roof felt as you can see in the pic .. Inside is white with white Vynil on the floor, As I live in the uk where its mainly either cold or raining I thought a dark colour would be best.

It does get warm in there on hot days but we dont have many of those yet so its not really a problem ..

I am considering putting a window above the nest/egg box this week because the weather is getting hotter and it should also help with more light during the day