Does your chicken coop need to be in the sun or in the shade?
When you’re new to chickens, you’ll find that one of the most surprising things about raising them is how dramatically they behave in both the hot and the cold weather.
From everything you’ve read, you probably think that your chickens will be happy in 80-90 degree temperatures, and that they’ll be toasty warm in the cold winters when temperatures drop to freezing and below. You’re wrong on both accounts.
Chickens are miserably hot in 80-90+ degree weather, and they are miserably cold in the winters, despite the popular myth to the contrary. Cold-hardy breeds can survive very cold winters, but they are cold.
With that in mind, then, which coop location is better for your chickens? A coop in direct sunlight that gets added heat in the winter months, but is incredibly hot in the summer months? Or a coop in the shade that is cooler in the summer months, but incredibly cold in the winter months?
Should you build your chicken coop in the sun or in the shade? For most climates, your chickens will prefer a coop that is built in the shade, because chickens generally suffer more from heat than cold. Additionally, hot coops are difficult to cool down, whereas cold coops can be warmed up. Regardless, insulation is necessary in almost all coops.
In this article, you will learn:
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Why most chicken coops need shade
Chickens get very uncomfortable in warm and hot weather
The reason most chicken coops should be built in the shade, if possible, is because chickens tend to really struggle with the heat. A cool coop in the summer is, in most cases, more important than a warm coop in the winter.
When I was a beginner with chickens, I was really surprised at how hot and miserable my chickens were that first summer. Temperatures in the 80s and 90s made them lethargic. They panted heavily, held their wings away from their bodies, and drooped their shoulders down. Some of my hens stretched out on their sides in weird positions on the floor (terrifying to see the first time), trying to expose a greater surface area on their bodies to the air.
These are all actions that chickens take to help them cool down when they are overheated. If your chickens are doing any of these actions, they are uncomfortably hot.
If you are using organic bedding in your coop (basically, any bedding other than sand), and your coop is in the sun, the temperature will be hotter inside your coop than it is outside your coop. Sand bedding can actually significantly lower the temperature in the coop.
If you live in an area that has not only hot days, but also hot nights, you really need to be concerned about the temperature in your coop. Thankfully, where I live, my chickens cool down a bit during the summer nights, but if this is not the case in your area, your chickens are at a much higher risk of getting too hot.
You may need to take extra measures to make sure your birds have ways to cool down (see the section, What should you do if you can’t put your chicken coop in the shade?).
Coops that are too cold can be warmed, but coops that are too warm are difficult to cool
If you live in any area that has both hot and cold weather, you’ll most likely want to build your coop in the shade.
Chicken coops can be warmed up some in very cold weather. Some chicken keepers claim the deep bedding method has warmed their coops significantly, for example.
You can also hang heavy material over windows to keep cool air from seeping in, and you can even use curtains to block in the roosting bar area, which helps body heat to collect and warm the area some. (Just don’t block off the ventilation because ventilation is very necessary in the winter to prevent ammonia and moisture buildup).
I help my chickens to be a little more comfortable in the cold with heaters. I hang Sweeter Heaters above the roosting bars ( I love these!), and I also provide them with radiant heaters. My chickens are still cold, but these additions do help. The Sweeter Heater, especially, may be necessary to prevent frostbite on combs, if you have chickens with large combs.
These heaters don’t raise the temperature in the coop, but they do keep chickens warm who are standing next to them or roosting under them. My chickens love roosting under their Sweeter Heaters during the cold winter nights.
Coops that are very hot, on the other hand, are incredibly difficult to cool down. I actually installed an air conditioner in my first chicken coop (who am I kidding? I had my husband do it!), but it made essentially no difference in the overall temperature.
The air conditioner did provide a little bit of cool air right next to it, which the chickens appreciated, but unfortunately, the coop had so much dust floating around, it often clogged the air conditioner. I found it nearly impossible to keep the air conditioner clean enough.
One of the reasons the coop was so dusty was because I was using pine shavings at the time, which are an incredibly dusty bedding. I did not realize at the time that pine shavings are toxic for chickens (see my article, Pine Shavings in the coop: The secret chicken killer?, for more information). Had I used sand in the coop then, as I do now, the dust problem wouldn’t have been as bad.
The best of both worlds: Shade in the summer and sun in the winter
If you have deciduous trees in your yard, you’re in luck. Build your coop so it’s shaded by these trees in the summer months. When they lose their leaves in the winter, your coop should be exposed to at least some sunlight.
Another solution is to use a mobile coop. You can move the coop to shade in the summer and into the sunlight in the winter.
What should you do if you can’t put your chicken coop in the shade?
Some yards don’t have shade. I have one of these yards. I’ve, unfortunately, had to build all of my chicken coops in the sun.
There are a several things you can do to help your chickens stay cool, despite having to live in a coop in direct sunlight:
Make sure your chickens have plenty of shade in their run (see below for more information on how to do this).
Use sand bedding in your coop, rather than organic bedding. To learn what type of sand to use (hint: not play sand) and how to use it, check out my article, Using sand in the chicken coop.
Add windows to your coop that you can keep open for increased airflow during the warm months. (Be sure to cover the windows with sturdy hardware cloth to keep predators out).
Consider using an air conditioner. Your biggest challenge will be keeping the unit clean. I used this air conditioner from Amazon in my first coop, and it provided my chickens relief when they stood next to it (the rest of the coop was still warm).
Consider using a fan. Fire is a small concern with a fan if it gets clogged with debris, although the chance of this is greatly reduced with sand bedding. Regardless, I wouldn’t run a fan or air conditioner at night, just in case, because chickens can’t get out of the coop. (Free-range chickens could escape the coop during the day, if necessary.) To help avoid fire, consider using a heavy-duty fan meant for the outdoors, like this fan. I will be testing a fan out next year, and will let you know how it goes.
Some chicken keepers have tried using small fans, like this fan from Amazon, blowing onto a hanging frozen water bottle to help create cool drafts in the coop. If you hang your water bottle by a coop window, you can even leave the fan outside of the coop and have it blowing in across the bottle.
My first year raising chickens, I filled several large Tupperware-type containers with water, froze them, and then spread them around the coops. The chickens loved to lay against them. Unfortunately, with 30 chickens, I was unable to provide enough containers for everyone.
You may want to try a child’s wading pool, like this pool on Amazon, in the run with paving stones in it. This allows chickens to step on the paving stones and just get their feet wet with cool water. They won’t go in the wading pool otherwise. Some keepers have had great success with this, but when I tried it, my chickens had no interest.
This should go without saying, but it’s absolutely necessary you keep cold water available all the time for your chickens in hot weather. They won’t drink warm water, and they can die from dehydration and heat stroke. Put ice in your drinkers if you need to. Put them in the shade (I put mine under my truck) and refill them as necessary.
If your run is also in direct sunlight, you have several options to add shade. I recommend doing several of the following:
Build a roof on the run.
Put a tarp over the run. You can find many low-cost tarps on Amazon.
Put a shade cloth over the run and even down one or two sides of the run. Shade cloths are better than tarps because they allow more airflow. You can see shade cloths here on Amazon.
If you have wood pallets, you can lean them against the side of your run. They don’t provide as much shade as a shade cloth or tarp, but they will do in a pinch.
Put tables or benches in your run.
Grow vines up the sides and top of your run (and even on the outside of your coop).
Hang large hanging plants off the side of your run.
Use a shower curtain on a side (or sides) of the run, preferably one that is a breathable material to promote airflow.
If you have any other structures in your yard, build your run adjacent to them. For example, I have an old storage shed that is adjacent to one of my runs, and it provides shade for the run for much of the day.
Build your coop on legs, like my red coop pictured below, so that your chickens have shade underneath it for part of the day. (You should never use a cheap wooden coop like the one next to the red coop - find out why in my article, Why you should NEVER buy a chicken coop from Amazon or Walmart). If you need help building a coop on legs, check out my detailed plans and video course.
Do chicken coops need at least some sun?
Chicken coops don’t need to have sun, but chickens do need exposure to sunlight to remain healthy and happy. They can get this exposure in their runs.
Under what circumstances should chicken coops be built in the sun?
If you live in a place with very mild summers and brutally cold winters, consider building your chicken coop in the sun. Your chickens will appreciate any added warmth.
I also recommend providing your chickens with some additional heat in these cases, such as the heaters I mentioned above. In particular, I recommend Sweeter Heaters and radiant heaters, which I have purchased from Amazon and use in all of my coops. You can sometimes find these at your local farm supply store as well.
In what orientation should your coop be built for more or less sun?
If you live in a very cold place (or you have deciduous trees that provide shade in the warm months), you may want to consider building your chicken coop in an orientation where it gets the most sun. Typically, you will want to build your coop with your largest window on the south side.
Some say that east- and west-facing windows will also help to get more early morning and evening sun in the coop. However, having extra windows like this will also likely let more cold air in, so you may end up having to cover them with heavy curtains in the winter anyway.
If you want to keep your coop cool, orientation is less important. You may want to avoid a large window on the south side, but in general, you will just want to make sure that you do have windows. Opening two or more windows at night will help keep the coop slightly cooler as it allows for more airflow.
If a hot coop is a concern in your area, you will also want to avoid building the nesting boxes on the south wall. I’ve come across many anecdotes where people have done this, and they warn that their nesting boxes feel like ovens.
Why you need to insulate your chicken coop
I can’t stress this enough. Whether you build your coop in the sun or in the shade, you absolutely need to insulate your chicken coop. A non-insulated coop will fry your chickens in the summer, and freeze them in the winter. Even if your chickens are able to survive such conditions, they will live a much-reduced quality of life.
When I first got started with chickens, everything I read said that insulation was optional, and I came away with the idea that it wasn’t that important. My first chicken coop was a large, non-insulated shed. It was at least 10 degrees hotter inside the coop than it was outside.
Think about that. Even when it was 70 degrees outside, the chicken coop was in the 80s, and my chickens were miserable. My husband and I scrambled to get the coop insulated as quickly as possible.
Similarly, chickens get cold in the winter. There is a terrible myth that chickens are comfortable in very cold temperatures. They’re not. Cold-hardy breeds can survive very cold temperatures, but they aren’t comfortable.
I was shocked and distraught my first winter with chickens when I realized how cold they were (and I have cold-hardy breeds). They puff up their feathers and huddle down to keep warm, but many of them are constantly shivering, and most of them don’t have the energy to do anything but try to maintain as much body heat as possible. They are constantly trying to keep their feet warm against their feathers and body, but if you touch their feet, they feel like ice.
If you ever let one of your chickens come inside for a short time on a winter day, she will not want to go back out. Similarly, I had chickens who would crawl on my lap when I sat outside with them, where they would burrow underneath my unzipped down winter jacket, sandwiched between the coat and my warm body. Even when they eventually stopped shivering, they didn’t want to come back out into the cold.
Chickens want to be warm. The very least we can do for them is insulate their coops. Even a few degrees can make a big difference to them.
The one exception to this is if you live in a really hot and humid climate, like the American South. You may get bugs living in your insulation in that type of climate. Consider adding fans to your coop to help with the heat instead, and always place your coop in the shade.
What else must you know about chicken coops?
Check out my free training video, Chicken Coops 101: Designing Your Chickens’ Dream Home, for everything you need to know about your first chicken coop. I’ve designed this training to answer that long list of questions you have, but can’t find good answers for. Building or buying your first chicken coop is a challenge, and you definitely want to get it right. I’ve made it easy for you in this video.
And if you’re interested in simply purchasing a high-quality prebuilt coop, I highly recommend Rita Marie’s Chicken Coops.
Check out my review of my Rita Marie’s chicken coop, The BEST luxury coop you’ll ever buy: Spoil your chickens with Rita Marie’s.
You may also be interested in:
Why you should never buy a chicken coop from Amazon or Walmart
Sand for chicken coop bedding: Pros, cons, and how to do it right
