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Chicken run roofing

post #1 of 7
5/3/12 at 8:33am
Thread Starter 

Hi everyone

 

I have read the internet for many hours and cannot find an answer to my question. I am hoping someone on this brilliant forum could help me out.

 

My father and I are planning on building an outdoor chicken run to cover my coop. It will have translucent roofing sheets over the area, my question is the two types I'm faced with, ordinary or UV resistant/ protection. Is there any concerns or problems with the chickens not having UV light through the roof? It's the last of the materials I need to buy to begin the build but my concerns are holding me back, does it matter?

 

Thank you very much in advance!

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post #2 of 7
5/3/12 at 8:53am

I don't think it matters... no worry of skin cancerbig_smile.png
 

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post #3 of 7
5/3/12 at 8:55am

I would not use either one.  I would use solid, non transluscent so that they have shade on warm sunny days.  Transluscent will let sun in and heat will build up.   This might be nice on cold days, but if it is 80 it will get warm in there in a hurry.  Just my opinion. 

Just another victim of chicken math.
Nothing is idiot proof, given a sufficiently talented idiot.
Busy filling the empty nest with fuzzy butts...and their grown-up counterparts...

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Just another victim of chicken math.
Nothing is idiot proof, given a sufficiently talented idiot.
Busy filling the empty nest with fuzzy butts...and their grown-up counterparts...

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post #4 of 7
5/3/12 at 8:57am

That's a VERY good point
 

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post #5 of 7
5/3/12 at 8:59am
We use corrugated steel panels for the roof and currently on the side. We will remove the side panels once the trees grow and provide enough shading. Our run does not touch the house in case we decide to move and take it down.

600262c2-aae5-eea9.jpg

Access door for free ranging
600262c2-ab02-d2dd.jpg

Our coop is actually inside our garage. We did this since most the weather is cold/snowy and predator safe once the steel door is shut.
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post #6 of 7
5/4/12 at 2:09am
Thread Starter 

Thank you all for your comments, I am most grateful. From the images I've seen above my coop will be very similar, mesh on the front for viewing/ ventilation, the sides and back will be solid wood as it is very windy in our area and also because mesh is so expensive! The roof as I said will be to obviously keep out the rain as everyone knows the United Kingdom is known for it... With regards to the UV light coming through or not, my concern was for their health, I've read they can become sick and also need the UV light for egg laying, social interactions etc etc. If the clear roof (which will be needed as it's very dark in our area because of trees, is UV light proctected, will they get sick or? Or am I being a silly worrier because now that I think of it, people have shaded roofing with no light coming through... I apologise for my confusing post(s) I'm not very good at getting my thoughts across heh

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post #7 of 7
5/4/12 at 4:27am
We were going to use wood in place of the steel, but then the wood would need to be protected from the elements. We were going to shingle the top and paint the side panel.

We ended up buying 25 feet of extra corrugated steel, which we used some for the side paneling) due to the store screwing up our order and selling it to us for 1/2 the price. The siding is intended for shading. Once the trees grow that we planted, we will take the side panels off. Currently the roof works well to keep the rain and snow out. We cover the entire run in plastic for the winter, so snow doesn't get inside. This worked extremely well that the ground inside the run stayed unfrozen. The girls had plenty of room all winter long.

600262c2-bb8b-1a59.jpg

Using the clear material you have should work. Make sure theirs a pitch(angle) at the top for the rain to run off. We also had to use a lot of wood support for the roof in order to hold the snow and install properly. It's very windy here as well. It gets so windy, my bantam hen gets blown away and she can't walk through it, which makes her mad.
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