Using A Tarp To Lower Ground Temperature

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

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. We have been given them frozen treats as well. 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!

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.

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!

Edit to add: A shade cloth, or privacy screen fencing, has worked better than the tarp. The tarp was a wonderful quick fix, but it is heavier and gets hotter than shade cloth or privacy screen fencing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for sharing this!
Very helpful along with the photos.

While my runs are covered, the sun still blares in the front during the summer. I hang shade cloth to help block a good part of it and it really makes a difference. I buy the cloth from Amazon. If you need custom sizes (which do cost a little more) look for "privacy screen fencing", you can have it made to fit whatever you want (most of the time).

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Thank you for sharing this!
Very helpful along with the photos.

While my runs are covered, the sun still blares in the front during the summer. I hang shade cloth to help block a good part of it and it really makes a difference. I buy the cloth from Amazon. If you need custom sizes (which do cost a little more) look for "privacy screen fencing", you can have it made to fit whatever you want (most of the time).

What a wonderful idea! We are thinking about switching out the tarp over the aviary for shade cloth. It was so hot outside, the tarp overheated and actually warped the pvc pipe frame for the netting.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

What a wonderful idea! We are thinking about switching out the tarp over the aviary for shade cloth. It was so hot outside, the tarp overheated and actually warped the pvc pipe frame for the netting.

Just a note, since shade cloth lets some light through, it won't be quite as effective as the tarp. It will still help, just not as much.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What a wonderful idea! We are thinking about switching out the tarp over the aviary for shade cloth. It was so hot outside, the tarp overheated and actually warped the pvc pipe frame for the netting.

WoW, it got really hot didn't it!

Shade cloth comes in different filtering properties. I usually get 95% filtering, but it can still let quite a bit of light in.

Of course, it's not waterproof, so rain/water will filter through too, not sure if that's a problem or not for you.

 

[gtaus]

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

Well, I live in northern Minnesota, so hot weather is not something I typically worry about. However, I do have one section of my chicken run that I have allowed "junk" trees to sprout up. I cut them off at about 6 feet high because I have bird netting on top of my chicken run fence. But those junk trees provide a lot of shade for my chickens on those days where it does get hot outside - even in Minnesota.

It was very interesting to see how much difference there was in your exposed ground heat temps compared to the ground temps under the tarp. I have one of those heat guns myself, so I think I might take some readings on a really hot day in the open chicken run versus the temps under my junk trees. Thanks for the idea.

 

[gtaus]

An additional thought... I converted my chicken run into a chicken run composting system. There is about 12 inches deep of compost litter in my chicken run. My chickens love to dig deep holes in the compost and just sit in them on a hot day. I suspect that the temps of the compost in that hole are much cooler than the surface layer. Kind of like how dogs will dig a hole in the dirt to lay in to cool themselves.

Not my chicken, but here is Google picture of a hen sitting in a hole to cool down which is what I see all the time in my chicken run...

Anyways, my chickens dig holes in the compost for both dust bathing and to cool down. It's much easier for them to dig into the compost litter than it would be to dig up actual ground dirt.

They love digging in the compost and it just makes more finished compost for my gardens. Everybody wins in that system.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

WoW, it got really hot didn't it!

Shade cloth comes in different filtering properties. I usually get 95% filtering, but it can still let quite a bit of light in.

Of course, it's not waterproof, so rain/water will filter through too, not sure if that's a problem or not for you.

That really helps to know that it is 95%. I have 40% shade cloth for my garden, but I knew the one for the chickens would have to have more coverage. I just didn't know how much. Thanks!
It'll actually work pretty well for us if rain and wind could go through. The roof can't support any water if the tarp were to catch it. It also wouldn't be able to support if we got strong gusts of wind. The tarp was our quick solution to helping them through this sudden heat wave. Shade cloth will be a great way to help it last longer!
I might even get some shade cloth to go over the front of their run as well!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

An additional thought... I converted my chicken run into a chicken run composting system. There is about 12 inches deep of compost litter in my chicken run. My chickens love to dig deep holes in the compost and just sit in them on a hot day. I suspect that the temps of the compost in that hole are much cooler than the surface layer. Kind of like how dogs will dig a hole in the dirt to lay in to cool themselves.

Not my chicken, but here is Google picture of a hen sitting in a hole to cool down which is what I see all the time in my chicken run...

View attachment 3871132


Anyways, my chickens dig holes in the compost for both dust bathing and to cool down. It's much easier for them to dig into the compost litter than it would be to dig up actual ground dirt.

They love digging in the compost and it just makes more finished compost for my gardens. Everybody wins in that system.

Our chickens love to dig holes too! We collected all the leaves in our yard last fall to put in the Aviary. It was about a foot deep in some places, but it has broken down smaller now. Since it is summer, now they get grass clippings. We bring out the scraps we know will compost well, and throw it on the ground for them to have fun finding.
The regular run is filled with sand, so that is their favorite place to cool down.
Here's some photos of them resting in the sand when they were little (They have over 400 square feet of space, they just like being close to each other. We also don't have the grey sand anymore cause it was too coarse. I just really liked the photo.):

 

[gtaus]

Our chickens love to dig holes too! We collected all the leaves in our yard last fall to put in the Aviary. It was about a foot deep in some places, but it has broken down smaller now. Since it is summer, now they get grass clippings. We bring out the scraps we know will compost well, and throw it on the ground for them to have fun finding.

Yep, it's in their chicken nature to scratch and peck, and dig holes.

Sounds like you have a nice composting system set up for your aviary. The bulk of my compost run litter is indeed leaves, then grass clippings. All our kitchen scraps and leftovers get tossed into the run as well. What the chickens chose not to eat gets mixed in with the other compost litter and the worms eat it. Then the chickens dig out the worms and eat them. Good system that breaks down my compost much faster than what I could do with compost bins back a few years ago.

Have you measured the ground temp in your sand only run compared to the composted litter area? I suspect that the sand would heat up faster and retain more heat than a compost ground cover. But I don't know for sure.

Well, another advantage that I found with compost in the run is that it never smells. I used to have a sandy run (I live on a lake) but I found it too much work to keep clean. The sand always seemed to smell bad despite how often I cleaned it. My compost run smells like the forest floor. Very nice.

But as I always say, we all live in different environments and what works for me might not work as well for someone else. So, if your sandy run works for you, that's great.