Using A Tarp To Lower Ground Temperature

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

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.

Great idea! I just went outside and measured:

I have a feeling if I kicked up a little sand, the part underneath would be even cooler. The chickens prefer to roll in the sand when they get hot. Sometimes I bend down to pet them and notice how cool the sand is.
At this time of year, 2/3 of the run is shaded, so the sand doesn't heat up as much thankfully.

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.

The run does smell a little when the sand gets wet unfortunately. When it is dry, I sift out all the droppings with different tools I have. My momma worked hard to get me lots of things to make cleaning easier! I also take fresh herbs out sometimes for them. It makes it smell nice too. My dad was purposely sniffing the air cause the run only smelled like basil and oregano.

We get a lot of rain sometimes, and the sand has done a good job at keeping the chickens dry when everything else is flooded.

Since it's an enclosed run on a concrete slab, it would be a bit harder for me to do compost in it.

So we just use sand for the 100 sq. ft. of run space, and the 300+ sq. ft. Aviary gets all the compost.

 

[gtaus]

The run does smell a little when the sand gets wet unfortunately. When it is dry, I sift out all the droppings with different tools I have. My momma worked hard to get me lots of things to make cleaning easier!

Yep, you need those tools to sift the sand and keep things clean. Sounds like your mom was on the right track.

I also take fresh herbs out sometimes for them. It makes it smell nice too. My dad was purposely sniffing the air cause the run only smelled like basil and oregano.

Oh, I would like that as well. Sometimes I chip up some pine tree branches with green needles on them and toss them into the chicken coop. Smells wonderful for a couple of weeks when green.

We get a lot of rain sometimes, and the sand has done a good job at keeping the chickens dry when everything else is flooded.

When my chickens ate and pulled up all the grass in the chicken run, leaving nothing but bare dirt to turn into mud everytime it rained, that's when I converted my chicken run into a composting system. Never had a mud problem after that no matter how much it rains. Even better, all that rain water just helps to break down the chicken run compost litter even faster.

So we just use sand for the 100 sq. ft. of run space, and the 300+ sq. ft. Aviary gets all the compost.

Sounds like the best of both worlds. Nice to have options and different setups to take advantage of your needs.

Interesting how everything under the shade was basically the same temp. I was theorizing that there might be a difference in heat between a compost run and a sandy run both in full sun. But, maybe not. I would not have thought that the full sun yard would be 40F higher than the shade. That is really a big difference. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[texsuze]

I also use suncloth in various locations around my barn. Recently attached a length of 5' x 20' to a fence panel separating two turnout pens. You can feel the difference in temperature when the sun shines through the suncloth --not huge but definitely cooler. Plus it breathes.

Farmtek (look online) has a large selection of shade/sun cloth panels of varying opacities, and sales on off-cuts and returns. Some pieces have grommets and/or finished edges. Worth looking at their selection.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

I also use suncloth in various locations around my barn. Recently attached a length of 5' x 20' to a fence panel separating two turnout pens. You can feel the difference in temperature when the sun shines through the suncloth --not huge but definitely cooler. Plus it breathes.

Farmtek (look online) has a large selection of shade/sun cloth panels of varying opacities, and sales on off-cuts and returns. Some pieces have grommets and/or finished edges. Worth looking at their selection.

Thank you so much for the information! I will definitely look at Farmtek! That sounds awesome.

 

[Kenya Mwangi]

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!
View attachment 3869628
View attachment 3869629

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.

View attachment 3869630
View attachment 3869631

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!

This gave me a good laugh. Shade is cooler than the sunlight. lol I like your humor.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

Oh, I would like that as well. Sometimes I chip up some pine tree branches with green needles on them and toss them into the chicken coop. Smells wonderful for a couple of weeks when green.

I bet that does smell really nice! I put pine needles in tea sometimes and it tastes and smells great!

When my chickens ate and pulled up all the grass in the chicken run, leaving nothing but bare dirt to turn into mud everytime it rained, that's when I converted my chicken run into a composting system. Never had a mud problem after that no matter how much it rains. Even better, all that rain water just helps to break down the chicken run compost litter even faster.

That's awesome! Sounds like you have a great system.

View attachment 3871823

Interesting how everything under the shade was basically the same temp. I was theorizing that there might be a difference in heat between a compost run and a sandy run both in full sun. But, maybe not. I would not have thought that the full sun yard would be 40F higher than the shade. That is really a big difference. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Oh, oops. I should have thought to take readings in the sun. There was only shade in the run at that point so it kinda just left my mind. I can try to get some readings from the sunny portions today.

 

[Carters Chick House]

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!
View attachment 3869628
View attachment 3869629

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.

View attachment 3869630
View attachment 3869631

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!

I put tarps up as well as a few sun shades. My question is..what is your ground? Is it dirt? My ground is still grassy but I know that will change as they scratch at it.

 

[Elspeth Dinsmore]

I put tarps up as well as a few sun shades. My question is..what is your ground? Is it dirt? My ground is still grassy but I know that will change as they scratch at it.

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

 

[Carters Chick House]

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

Thank you. I'll start adding these things to the run area. Right now it's grass,sand and pine shavings. I love what you did to your run.

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

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).

I buy shade cloth from Amazon in 3x6 90% filtered. I purchased a few cattle panels and I use zip ties to attach the cloth to the panels so I can move the “shade” for the chickens. Right now I have them leaning at a 45 degree angle against the coops so that underneath the coop is nice and cool.
I love reading about everyone else’s ideas for providing shade.