Pre-fab Coop Ventilation 🥵 my chickens are hot!!

[2 Acres]

Would I be correct to think that removing the thick clear plastic, keeping the hardware cloth, and adding a longer overhang to prevent rain from getting in would result in a cooler coop.

Yes... because it would increase "flow through" airflow.

 

[2 Acres]

@ddago003 - As promised here are pictures of the chicken setup. The large run is 12'L x 9'H and covered with a heavy duty tarp. The canopy is 10' tall and encompasses the entire coop and smaller run which is 9' x 5'. We oriented it in an East / West direction to catch sea breezes which don't kick up until late afternoon / evening here. You can also see the front picture depicting the full East morning sun shining straight into the run so it is covered with tarps until it hits the trees.
The girls are up front in the shade, another is standing on the veranda in front of the small box fan that blows directly into the coop. There are two more smaller fans inside the coop running at all times pointing at the nests and from the front screened window pointing toward the back door which is ajar, fastened with industrial strength velcro in order to allow air movement throughout. We don't open this too far to prevent song birds and squirrels from getting in. We also have a large box fan on the back side pointing under the coop; air also blows into the back door and vents. Essentially, the fans are situated in all directions, keeping air moving about. The girls are not panting while on nest. It seems to be working thus far. We will see how things go once we hit triple digit temperatures, which doesn't seem to be far off. I hope this gives you some ideas for how to shade and ventilate your spaces. Let us know how it goes.

Unfortunately... those "camping" canopies wouldn't hold up where I live. One good severe thunderstorm.... and it would be a mangled mess.

 

[Bawkbok]

Unfortunately... those "camping" canopies wouldn't hold up where I live. One good severe thunderstorm.... and it would be a mangled mess.

Yes, we've seen that movie and have replaced it once already. This is why we put ours up in the morning and take it down at night and anytime there is a threat of rain. It's a lot of work and requires two people to manage it. I long for the day when we can replace it with a car port or something more permanent; just not in the budget currently. In the interim it does wonders to lower the temperature of the coop.