Exterior Coop Color-Is dark really that bad in VT?

[Vermont]

Hi Everyone!
I bought a large quantity of "Oops" stain at Home Depot for our newly built chicken coop. We live in the Mountains of VT, and have mostly cool weather--with some high temps in July and August.

My question is, just how important is it to paint the exterior of a coop a "light color"....

The color I purchased is a chocolate brown stain...I thought it would be fine, but my MIL seems to think it will create an oven for the chickens this summer...
The coop is 10'X9'.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

 

[scratch'n'peck]

The color of the coop is less important than having enough ventilation in the design of the coop. Of course if you coop were in a fairly shady spot it would not matter either.

 

[aart]

It might be a problem, depends on other factors....is coop in the shade, does it have a lot of ventilation, what kind of roof is on it, etc.

Got a pic of the coop and surrounding area?

 

[popsicle]

I think go ahead and use the stain, you can always put up some shade screens if it ends up too hot.

My coop is "barn red" and I'm in the process of building shade panels to cover the windows and most of the walls, which will be a vast improvement over pinning empty feed bags over the windows! The coop got blazing hot in the summer, but most of that was because of sun coming in the windows--not through the wood walls.

 

[Vermont]

Will post a pic of the coop in the a.m., thanks!

 

[akbeliever]

Our coop, in Southeast Alaska is painted in Lowe's "mis-mixed" dark brown. We get cold winters; mostly the teens and 20's. The summers are 60 to 70, but daylight and sunshine for 18-20 hours which can keep things warmed up. Ventilation is the key and a shaded outdoor pen.
Your stain should be fine.

 

[Vermont]

Hi All-
Here is the "mostly finished" coop....not a ton of shade, but 2 windows... The roof is metal...maybe we should paint it white? THANKS for any and all of your input...we're new at this! It'a a very rainy day today, sorry for the not so great images-Also, I should add that my husband wants to paint over this first coat of dark stain with a very light stain rather than another dark coat, but that is based on some info we heard about this dark color being a detriment to the chickens... Thanks!
Kimberly

 

[popsicle]

Looks nice!

You could wait a couple days or weeks before deciding to paint over the dark stain with light. Wait till there have been a few warmer days and see how hot it gets inside. Maybe also cover the windows for one of the warm days.

 

[aart]

No shade at all there!! Nice coop!

I would be more concerned with the heat generated by that metal roof than the color of the walls. Not sure you can cover dark stain with light stain anyway.

Which direction does the tallest wall of coop face?
Any reflective foam insulation under that metal, (especially if it faces south)?
Is the highest point of the roof soffit open for ventilation?
I can't really see in the pics, but if both high and low soffits are open (and protected with hardware cloth against predation) it should vent hot air well.

Might just want to hold off on obsessing with trying to get the wall color 'right' for now, wood should be adequately protected for a year anyway, and see how the building functions.
Prevailing winds, snow and draft infiltration, might make a difference in which walls you want to add some windows for winter ventilation.

Great article here on ventilation

and LOTS here ...advanced search>titles only> ventilation

Nice Coop, Good Luck!

 

[salt and pepper]

My coop is black, and I'm in GA. lol, They have plenty have ventilation, and it is in the shade, and I don't notice a difference in temp.