Using A Tarp To Lower Ground Temperature

[Snow Lady]

I live in TN. Summers are very hot. We use old white sheets for shade and let the tall weeds grow in the chicken run for more shade and cover.. The purple Strife flowers are so pretty in the fall..
I have bailing string in an umbrella like set up from a long pole in the middle running it to the fence around the the run to keep out hawks. It works.

White is better than black be cause it reflects heat not absorb the it like black does. .White roof on the hen house.
Paint the horse trailer roof white so you don't cook the horses.
We drive white or light colored vehicles too.
Farmers are using white bulls so they have more light colored cattle because the black angus suffer so in the heat.
I read an article about cities that require white or neutral color roofs on homes cut global warming .If only they would come up with neutral colored asphalt just think what a difference it would make. White chickens anyone ?

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

I also use sand in my chicken run. My run is shaded with a tin roof, but open on all four sides, and there is a hedge of lilacs growing behind that are taller than the roof and shade the whole area. But it can still get hot. The chickens have a dirt (not sand) and fireplace ash dust bathing area as well. By accident I found that if one portion of the chicken run sand gets wetted/watered it can keep that area of sand cooler and they enjoy digging and laying in that portion on hot days. We have very low humidity, so shade and wet sand help here, where in other places it may not be as helpful. My girls also enjoy frozen apples or melon hanging from a chain as entertainment and treats.

That hedge of Lilacs sound amazing! I bet it is super pretty too.

Our sand tends to stay moist just beneath the surface from heavy rains we get. You are right! I do think it lowers the temperature!

I have been wanting to try hanging treats from the roof. I feel like it looks like a good way to give them activities! I'm gonna have to try this. Thanks!

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

The purple Strife flowers are so pretty in the fall..

I just looked up Purple Strife flowers. They are gorgeous!

White is better than black be cause it reflects heat not absorb the it like black does. White roof on the hen house.
Paint the horse trailer roof white so you don't cook the horses.
We drive white or light colored vehicles too.

We just ordered a beige cloth for this very reason!

Farmers are using white bulls so they have more light colored cattle because the black angus suffer so in the heat.

Wow, I had no idea people were specifically breeding white cattle to help with heat issues. That sounds pretty cool.

White chickens anyone ?

I don't have any white chickens, but my Buff Orpingtons are a little lighter in color. Their feathers are less hot than my Speckled Sussex.

 

[Ov4thinkr]

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!

A white tarp would be even better!

 

[tlcmurphy]

What’s the surface temp of various colors of chickens? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[gtaus]

What’s the surface temp of various colors of chickens? Inquiring minds want to know!

A chicken's normal body temperature is 105F. They evolved from tropical jungles. Where I live in northern Minnesota, we don't see temps over 100F except maybe a few times in the summer. It might be interesting to see if different colored chickens in hot areas have higher, or lower, surface temps. I think you would have to live in a place with hot temps (and full sun) to see any potential body surface temperature difference.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

What’s the surface temp of various colors of chickens? Inquiring minds want to know!

I can check with my thermometer next time it's a hot day and they are in the sun! They are in the shade right now so their feather temps didn't vary by color. The feathers are just 85° (85° weather too) right now. I know my Speckled Sussex rooster's feathers got up to 106° the other day in the sun.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

A white tarp would be even better!

I totally agree! We actually took down the blue tarp (it was brown on the bottom side) and replaced it with beige Privacy Screen Fencing.
The new cover ended up providing shade for the majority of the Aviary. It is so cool and pleasant in there!

 

[Luv Ducks]

The area with those readings is covered with several inches of leaves, grass clippings, and selected items for composting.

Where I live in Ohio it gets pretty wet at times and humid. How do you keep your leaves from getting mold in them? I have tried to use them before but when the pen turns very wet in the spring, they just all turned black and I was worried they would make the ducks sick so I removed them. Thanks for the info. Maybe because you have chickens and I have ducks it would make a big difference. Ducks are water hogs and make a bigger mess I believe than chickens do.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Where I live in Ohio it gets pretty wet at times and humid. How do you keep your leaves from getting mold in them? I have tried to use them before but when the pen turns very wet in the spring, they just all turned black and I was worried they would make the ducks sick so I removed them. Thanks for the info. Maybe because you have chickens and I have ducks it would make a big difference. Ducks are water hogs and make a bigger mess I believe than chickens do.

At least where we live, we haven't noticed any problems with mold yet thankfully. We get heavy rains and high humidity, but we also get dry spells and high heat. The Aviary is also on a slope, so the water rushes down and out and doesn't sit in pools. The chickens also turn over the leaves so much that they all get exposed to the sun and dry out.
I bet you are right that it is probably different with ducks since the leaves probably stay more consistently wet.
Maybe someone with ducks could come along and offer advice?