Using A Tarp To Lower Ground Temperature

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

96 degrees here, at 5pm. The girls are in the shady corner of the yard digging up bugs, but they do spend time under the shade of various bushes.

82 degrees is Spring here

Wow! That's hot!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

OK, got some temp readings just for fun.

Outside temp: 79F
Gravel road, full sun: 106.7F
Green grass, full sun: 89.7F
Green grass, shaded: 71.7F
Chicken run compost, full sun: 93.7F
Chicken run compost, shade under trees: 71.7F

Note: the chicken run compost in the full sun is mainly brown, dried grass clippings at this time. Evidently, green grass in full sun is cooler than brown dried grass clippings in full sun.

I was noticing the same thing about the brown grass clippings vs. the green grass clippings! I enjoyed seeing the readings you got! Thanks!

Not the full 40F difference you saw in your setup with full sun versus shade, but still a nice cooling effect under my shade trees. There was a 35F difference between the gravel road temp in full sun and the chicken run compost under the shade trees. I suspect that if I had sand in my chicken run, it would be about as hot as a gravel road.

I wonder what the asphalt roads near us get to! I'm gonna check that along with the sand next time too.

And yes, I realized that some people might consider our current outside temp of 79F in northern Minnesota to be mid-winter for them. However, as I mentioned, when you combine 82F outside temps with 79% humidity, you feel it. Well, at least I do. I have lived in southern states and had no problem with dry heat. But the humidity here is what gets to me. You break out into a sweat just walking out to your car!

I agree! 79% humidity can make lower temps feel so hot! It sometimes feels like I'm swimming when I step outside!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

Good idea, @Elspeth Dinsmore! Thanks for sharing; congrats on achieving featured content!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Good idea, @Elspeth Dinsmore! Thanks for sharing; congrats on achieving featured content!

It made it to featured?!

 

[The Welch Chickens]

It made it to featured?!

Yes!!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Yes!!

I wasn't even sure what featured meant, but my sister was like, "It's on the front page!" Now I'm really excited.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Wow, congrats!!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It made it to featured?!

Congratulations!

 

[paintedChix]

Congratulations on your front page feature!!

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Hello, all!
Today I discovered something that I wanted to share with everyone. With the sudden increase of temperature, my family was trying to figure out how to keep the chickens from overheating.

We have been taking frozen, sealed water bottles out to keep their water cold. We have been giving them little pools of water to stand in. And we have been given them frozen treats as well. But today my dad suggested throwing a tarp over the top of the chicken aviary. The run and coop have regular roofs. The aviary has netting and is under a tree.
I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me sooner, but it was a brilliant idea. It seems like such a small thing to do, yet it made a massive difference.

As we were setting it up, we kept commenting on how much cooler the shaded areas were. I thought maybe it had lowered the temperature by about 10 degrees or so.

Well, I took our soaping thermometer out and couldn't believe the numbers I was reading. Just 30 minutes after we set the tarp up, the ground had cooled by 40-50 degrees! Can you believe it?
It is 94 degrees right now. The ground outside was 130-140 degrees. I knew that ground would be hotter than air, but still, it shocked me how hot it was. The area under the tarp was 95-99 degrees. You can see in the photos that I had barely moved the thermometer. I checked all around to make sure these numbers were consistent. They sure were!
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The chickens came back into the aviary and immediately seemed very pleased with the new setup and the cooler temperatures. Plus we had a breeze coming through, so it was actually quite nice.

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I figured I would share this with everyone out there that is looking for a way to help their chickens handle the heat. I hope everyone has a nice day.

You are welcome to also share here the things that you have learned about keeping chickens cool in hot weather!

Your chicken yard is a wonderful place. I would like it if I were a chicken! Thanks for sharing! This morning i guess I am raking out the entire chicken run!! Didn't realize it until half their furniture was tossed in the lawn and I'm sweating from raking!!