Shade for coop runs

I don't know of any vine that the chickens aren't going to tear up and eat. I would use shade cloth or a bamboo shade maybe.

 

We are growing grapes (Cayuga) and thornless blackberries (Arapaho) up the sides of my bantam pen. They are fast-growing - - and delicious, LOL! I have trained them up the outside of the pen, and even allowed a couple of shoots to train up the inside so the girls can jump for a few berries and grapes. They provide nice shade in the heat of summer, and allow the sun through in the winter.

I also have some herbs and other edible plants outside the pen, some of which provide shade. Fennel is one that grows large here - - 6 feet! Cilantro gets pretty big, too. We do use a shade tarp over the pen roof in summer, however, as what I am growing does not really cover the top (yet).

Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

I'm in North Florida with the heat and high humidity as well. Mine is built under an arbor but the vines are not reliable enough for shade nor rain coverage so I nailed a tarp over the top and will just replace it every year or so. The vines that do grow up there help hide it so it is not ugly!