does a chicken coop/run need direct sun light

[aart]

A little sun is good but shade is more important especially in summer.

Not sure that matters in SF...never gets real hot there, does it @Zwillingsmama ?

 

[Zwillingsmama]

I live on the SF peninsula, we have maybe 10-15 days in the high 90 and above but lots of days in the 80ies.

 

[yickenscarf23]

I think the shade is great. Mine would like to sunbathe occasionally but I think not overheating is more important than having sun.

 

[aart]

I live on the SF peninsula, we have maybe 10-15 days in the high 90 and above but lots of days in the 80ies.

Sounds about like here......you, and your birds, will be glad of the shade.
What are winters like?

 

[Zwillingsmama]

Winters are mild. We may have a week of temperatures just around 32 at night with day time temperatures in the 50ies if it is cold. Normal winter nights are high 30 to mid 40 and day time high 50 to mid 60.

 

[merrymutts]

My coop has two separate runs...one facing East that has a pretty much equal time of sunlight and shade.

The West facing run was a swelterhouse in the summer...to the point where I had to shut it off.

So, last year when we had a machine shed built for our farm equipment, we had several sheets of metal roofing material left over.

This past week, we had a handyman come out, frame the top of the west facing run and roof it with the leftover metal material from the shed. We were ( figures ) short one piece of metal so he had to bring out another one.

The juveniles in this side love their roof and it will really make a difference once the heat of the summer commences.