How much shade do my chickens need?

[crazychick26201]

We are building a coop and all the places we can put the coop have morning shade and afternoon sun. It is getting in the high 80's here and will get hotter in July. My husband says the coop will shade the run. Right now we have them in a chicken tractor with a shade cloth over the run, but it is several degrees cooler under the shade of a nearby tree. Should we site the chicken coop under the tree? This would mean digging through roots to fence the run which we do not want to do if we don't have to.

 

[wayne hulgan]

we put ours under a oak tree for shade. From the way our chicks act, they just love shade. when they are out in the yard, they just run from one shade to another. we also planted several plants inside the run for them to get under also. Chicks use shade for several reasons, hiding from hawks and other varmints, keeping cool and just lounging around. we planted butterfly bushes,(grow fast and are very hardy and bushy), knock out roses bushes, (3 of these in a triangle, they will grow together and be pretty and shady. one evergreen for the winter. our girls seem to love all and use them often.

 

[JanetS]

I think shade is very important! We live in the south so it gets very hot and humid here. Our heat index hits over 100 in the summer. We have shade, fans and sometimes a mister for our chickens to help them with the heat. We must be doing it right because we had 5 eggs out of 5 chickens yesterday. Good luck.