Newbie, What is Best Placement For Coop If you Do Not Have Full Shade?

[sunnynparadise]

[Hello, I am a newbie chicken person...in fact I do not have chickens at all yet but hope to have them shortly after Easter.
What do you recommend for placement of coop, directionally with reference to exposure. I have a house that faces West, and has a slight slope. The side yard runs parallel to the house and is in N/S exposure. The best place to put the coop in terms of space would be in the West side of the yard which is shaded in the AM, and then gets some shade from neighbor's tree. Wondering if I built over hang roof over run, and grew vines over run walls if this would provide enough shade. What are your thoughts and ideas? Thanks!

 

[hypnojessi]

Depending on where you live, the answer to your problem could vary. I live in Missouri and I get both VERY cold winters and VERY hot summers. I am also just starting out and have very little shade in my yard. My plan of action is to put the coop facing south so that it gets the most sun in the winter. If that's possible for you, that would be your best bet if you live in an area that gets really cold.

If you live in an area that gets really hot, having shade for them in the afternoon is the best idea as that is the time of day that is hottest. Look at your yard and see where the shade is between 2pm and 5pm. That's the hottest time of day and the time the chickens need shade the most. Concerning cold weather, heat lamps are the way to go, especially if you can't have the coop face south. With hot weather, along with what shade is in the yard, I might suggest that you make an elevated coop that sits about 1 foot off the ground. This doubles as pest and predator control because mice and things dont want to nest under there as they don't feel protected but the chickens can get under there and lay in the cool dirt during the heat of the day. And you could make sure that the door to the coop is open so they can go inside out of the sun and make sure there is always fresh clean water for them to drink.

Or you can make some man made shade, like build a small canopy frame off the side of the coop and buy some canvas material and staple it to the frame to make a kind of awning for them to have chicken tea parties under.

Hope this helps.

 

[momma-hen]

We have no shade for the chickies. so we built a run off the run, so to speak. Attached to the coop is a long but narrow run that we covered with fiberglass panels. Attached to that run is a nice big open run.
the covered run has served well in a couple of ways. It serves as shade in the summer, a place to hide from hawks(a big problem here) and a place to run and scratch when everywhere else is covered in snow.

 

[V Chic Chick]

Place the pophole facing south.

 

[sunnynparadise]

Thanks so much for the info. We are doing a master plan that will include the chicken coop. So the "pop out hole should face south?? This means where the chicks come in and out...T? hank you. Sunny