Need some ideas for shade bushes in a non roofed chicken pen. (Updated w/ pics pg 2)

[TheTexasChickenGirl]

My neighbors had a fig tree that reached over the fence, and my chickens LOVED the dropped figs. It was very shady too. Good luck!

 

[Krugerrand]

Aronia is super high in antioxidants. It makes a nice bush. Mine are about 8' high, but the varieties vary.

 

[BallsEleven]

Here are a few pics of the pen. Don’t hate on the coop, that bad boy has lasted a borderline Cat 5 hurricane and a Cat 2 with nothing more than some torn shingles. Haha

 

[3KillerBs]

How about covering the top of the enclosed portion in shade cloth for a start?

You might find some of the ideas in this thread helpful too: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-cluttered-run.1323792/

 

[21hens-incharge]

I see your in a subdivision. HOA?

That can limit things.

A lot of people use the 6' dog kennel panels for height.

 

[cmom]

I realize our situations are completely different. I have a couple of pens with some shade cloth. I also have rain/shade tables for the birds to get under in my outer coops and pens. Years ago I planted trees in all of the pens. Here is a before and after. I put netting covering all of the pens. As the trees grew I cut the netting around the trees and worked the branches above the netting.

 

[perkolator]

Seeing what you're dealing with, I would personally plant many fruit trees in that area. They'll provide the shade, some overhead protection and then you of course get the fruit for many decades.

Blackberries are a nuisance in my area, so I would personally never willingly plant them in my yard, even thornless ones.

 

[BallsEleven]

I realize our situations are completely different. I have a couple of pens with some shade cloth. I also have rain/shade tables for the birds to get under in my outer coops and pens. Years ago I planted trees in all of the pens. Here is a before and after. I put netting covering all of the pens. As the trees grew I cut the netting around the trees and worked the branches above the netting.

View attachment 2688774View attachment 2688786View attachment 2688781

I like that set up with the trees growing in the middle.

I already have the shade cloth. It was up last summer but took it down when Laura came through. Next thing I knew it was winter. I haven’t thought about putting it back up until today when I looked at my app and saw the heat index was 105 in the coop. Needless to say it’ll be going back up very soon.

I’m in a neighborhood but no HOA (one of the reasons I moved here).

Must be nice to have blackberries as a nuisance!

 

[21hens-incharge]

No HOA means you can potentially put a second section of that plastic fence up higher, add bird netting or whatever you like as long as it doesn't violate a code somewhere.

 

[BallsEleven]

No HOA means you can potentially put a second section of that plastic fence up higher, add bird netting or whatever you like as long as it doesn't violate a code somewhere.

When I swap out the plastic barrier for the metal fence I posted above, I plan on going from 4ft to 5ft and was thinking this would be enough to keep the girls in since they just barely get over the plastic now. I never thought to put bird netting over the whole thing which should be pretty easy.

Thanks!