Shade without trees

[petlove]

Any suggestions on supplying shade in a chicken run if no trees are near. I have shade cloth but is it enough?

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

When I needed to shade my chickies and to protect the run from flooding I used a normal tarp. How big is the run?

 

[Moonwalker]

Hey, PetLove: Like your new avatar. Looks kinda familiar!

 

[FarmGirl01]

I have my birds in an acre pasture that they free range on. I have no natural shade for them. My husband built small "tables" for them to get under. They use them often to get out of the sun. The "tables" also provide shelter to get away from hawks and the goats love to sit on top. We have about three of them place at random around the pasture.

 

[jimnjay]

I make TeePees out of pieces of plywood. Anywhere between 3x3 to 4x4' work well. I just lay two pieces flat on the ground and put hinges on the seam. Then set them in the run with the opening facing south and north. I also put a tarp on the west side of the fencing to cast some shade on the area just to the east of the tarp. I find the birds lined up along the tarp in the afternoon sun. Shade Cloth is great for the mid day but when the sun starts to go lower in the sky it get really hot and the shade if harder to find.

 

[petlove]

Thanks farmgirl01 and jimnjay for your ideas. I will utilize both.

I think it is fun to change avatars. Avatars and posting pics are new to me.

 

[Moselle]

I'm not sure how permanent you want to go, but you could try putting up a trellis with a climbing plant/vine to cover it.

 

[shadetree]

we took a 2x4 and ripped it into strips and then nailed the strips to the posts sort of like making a permanent blind.

 

[petlove]

Shadetree, nice chicken run. I might be able to do something with slats.