Direct sun problem

[Mariah2257]

Hello! Here is a photo of my chicken coop. My problem is, it is facing east, and for 2-3 hours in the morning the sun shines
directly at it, it's usually between 7-9 am. In the winter this might be a good thing to warm it up, but right now its summer, in north Florida, and gets pretty warm in the sun. I can put a temp board in front of it until the sun passes, but the problem is, when I go to work, I am not home to remove it. Should I even bother? Will 3 hours of sunlight do harm? I could plant something shady in front of the coop, but not sure what. Any ideas?

 

[Judy]

I think you're wise to worry about sun in this climate. I think I would probably put up something to provide a little more shade. I run a box fan all summer in my very open air coop, myself, just to be sure they have some breeze at all times.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I agree that shade is important, particularly where you live in the summer. Most chickens can tollerate cold much better than they can tollerate heat. Every year I've seen posts on this forum of people who have lost or are loosing their chickens due to heat.

 

[grullablue]

I'm in southern WI, but that sun gets HOT here in the summer too. I planted hops outside my west facing run fence. They are coming up like mad this year. The perfect natural shade, and they grow fast! The hops vining up the run fence sure looks nicer than when I zip tied a tarp to it.

 

[Mariah2257]

This is my solution, I put the shade cloth so it can be moved up and down when needed. Since the 3 hours they are
getting the direct sun is in the morning, it's not the hottest part of the day, the shade keeps it cool enough, then I just raise it and lower it in the morning. Since this was a trial, it looks a little messy, I'll make it look nice and neat and more permanent later.
Thanks for the suggestions, and help.

 

[RonP]

Funny, my concerns are just the opposite.
With summer approaching, my run has a full canopy of leaves.
The only sun they receive is early morning.
Debating whether or not this is enough.

 

[Mariah2257]

I guess it depends on the temperature of where you live. It's really hot here so no sun is a good thing. It will be a problem in the winter but I can just remove the sun shade over the top.

 

[RonP]

Your solution looks ideal.

 

[bucky52]

I planted grape vines and I planted some hops.all my hops. died but one.my grape vines ar in their third year.and they do a good job for shading.plus my hens love eating the grapes.and I have planted a assortment.of trees.around their coops and runs.