Chain Link Dog Kennel to Ft Knox Covered Open-Air Coop/Run Combo - Build Suggestions?

[dbounds10]

Folks, the search function on this site is failing me. Most of what I can find folks using chain link dog kennels for is moderate security daytime runs. Which is great, but I need to build a top security, fully predator proof Ft. Knox open air covered coop/run. I'm having trouble finding builds and good suggestions and deciding what to do about the following. Can you guys help me?

1) the roof - really stressing this one - need an angled roof of some type across a 10 ft span, and can't decide if having one side of the roof elevated by two feet is the way to go, or if I should run a center beam. Also, do I need to put concrete and 4"x4" fenceposts to support my roof, or can I use 2"x4" lumber to frame it out, or chain link top rail? Money and equipment is an issue. I think I have to run some wood around the bottom to secure the chain link to the bottom rail and to the hardware cloth, but that would be on the outside of the run. I plan to run hardware cloth over all sides and top of the coop/run, and put up a transparent tarp for rain and wild bird poop protection, so the weight of rain is mainly what the roof will see. We get snow maybe two days a year, a couple inches, so that's not an issue.

2) predator proofing all areas (doors, roof, ground) - why the heck anyone would build round edges and doorways I will never understand. So much more of a pain to reduce the opening size to 1/2" or less, and I'm looking for a good way to do that.

Attachment suggestions for 3) securing the chain link to the top and bottom rails - it's pretty floppy at the moment. All I could think was chain link metal fence ties, but that would be super expensive because of the quantity and a pain to secure every single square. Do they sell that wire by the roll? How far apart can the ties be before a predator can push under the chain link fabric? My 3 ft apron will be secured to the base of the coop (probably to 2x4s like I did for my previous coop) and to the ground with a multitude of yard staples.

Attachment suggestions for 4) securing the hardware cloth to the chain link. I have hog ties available (hated them last time, but maybe attaching to chain link is easier?) and metal zip ties. Also screws and 1" washers. I have maybe 12 2"x4" that are 8 ft long, and maybe 10 that are 10 ft long. I have ordered all the needed hardware cloth in 6ft height for the sides and roof, and 3ft height for the apron.

Current setup is 10ft by 30ft with a door on the north end and south east side. Each chain link panel has rounded corners at the top and is 10ft x 6ft and very light-weight. Tractor supply sells these panels. There's a foot difference in height midway through the east wall, I had to dig a trench and push the fence panel into it in order to get the fence panel to sit flat on the ground.

My previous open air coop/run is here. This one is pretty different on the sides and roof, so I'm struggling a bit.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/have-the-chickens-now-i-need-a-coop-please-help.1519455/

I want to use this coop to grow out the 24 colored eggers in the incubator, and then for some meat birds, so predator protection is key. Hatch date is in 9 days, so the clock is ticking.... I am super excited for my first hatch, but stressing about this coop. Any help you guys can give would be appreciated!!!

Working on ours right now. We built a roof from PVC and zip tied it with hardware cloth. I will get some better pics for you tomorrow.

 

[dbounds10]

Folks, the search function on this site is failing me. Most of what I can find folks using chain link dog kennels for is moderate security daytime runs. Which is great, but I need to build a top security, fully predator proof Ft. Knox open air covered coop/run. I'm having trouble finding builds and good suggestions and deciding what to do about the following. Can you guys help me?

1) the roof - really stressing this one - need an angled roof of some type across a 10 ft span, and can't decide if having one side of the roof elevated by two feet is the way to go, or if I should run a center beam. Also, do I need to put concrete and 4"x4" fenceposts to support my roof, or can I use 2"x4" lumber to frame it out, or chain link top rail? Money and equipment is an issue. I think I have to run some wood around the bottom to secure the chain link to the bottom rail and to the hardware cloth, but that would be on the outside of the run. I plan to run hardware cloth over all sides and top of the coop/run, and put up a transparent tarp for rain and wild bird poop protection, so the weight of rain is mainly what the roof will see. We get snow maybe two days a year, a couple inches, so that's not an issue.

2) predator proofing all areas (doors, roof, ground) - why the heck anyone would build round edges and doorways I will never understand. So much more of a pain to reduce the opening size to 1/2" or less, and I'm looking for a good way to do that.

Attachment suggestions for 3) securing the chain link to the top and bottom rails - it's pretty floppy at the moment. All I could think was chain link metal fence ties, but that would be super expensive because of the quantity and a pain to secure every single square. Do they sell that wire by the roll? How far apart can the ties be before a predator can push under the chain link fabric? My 3 ft apron will be secured to the base of the coop (probably to 2x4s like I did for my previous coop) and to the ground with a multitude of yard staples.

Attachment suggestions for 4) securing the hardware cloth to the chain link. I have hog ties available (hated them last time, but maybe attaching to chain link is easier?) and metal zip ties. Also screws and 1" washers. I have maybe 12 2"x4" that are 8 ft long, and maybe 10 that are 10 ft long. I have ordered all the needed hardware cloth in 6ft height for the sides and roof, and 3ft height for the apron.

Current setup is 10ft by 30ft with a door on the north end and south east side. Each chain link panel has rounded corners at the top and is 10ft x 6ft and very light-weight. Tractor supply sells these panels. There's a foot difference in height midway through the east wall, I had to dig a trench and push the fence panel into it in order to get the fence panel to sit flat on the ground.

My previous open air coop/run is here. This one is pretty different on the sides and roof, so I'm struggling a bit.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/have-the-chickens-now-i-need-a-coop-please-help.1519455/

I want to use this coop to grow out the 24 colored eggers in the incubator, and then for some meat birds, so predator protection is key. Hatch date is in 9 days, so the clock is ticking.... I am super excited for my first hatch, but stressing about this coop. Any help you guys can give would be appreciated!!!

Took a quick video before it got to dark. Here is ours

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View media item 7953618

 

[FunClucks]

Took a quick video before it got to dark. Here is ours

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View media item 7953618

Love it! Thank you!!! Super helpful!!!

 

[MidtexChikChik]

Folks, the search function on this site is failing me. Most of what I can find folks using chain link dog kennels for is moderate security daytime runs. Which is great, but I need to build a top security, fully predator proof Ft. Knox open air covered coop/run. I'm having trouble finding builds and good suggestions and deciding what to do about the following. Can you guys help me?

1) the roof - really stressing this one - need an angled roof of some type across a 10 ft span, and can't decide if having one side of the roof elevated by two feet is the way to go, or if I should run a center beam. Also, do I need to put concrete and 4"x4" fenceposts to support my roof, or can I use 2"x4" lumber to frame it out, or chain link top rail? Money and equipment is an issue. I think I have to run some wood around the bottom to secure the chain link to the bottom rail and to the hardware cloth, but that would be on the outside of the run. I plan to run hardware cloth over all sides and top of the coop/run, and put up a transparent tarp for rain and wild bird poop protection, so the weight of rain is mainly what the roof will see. We get snow maybe two days a year, a couple inches, so that's not an issue.

2) predator proofing all areas (doors, roof, ground) - why the heck anyone would build round edges and doorways I will never understand. So much more of a pain to reduce the opening size to 1/2" or less, and I'm looking for a good way to do that.

Attachment suggestions for 3) securing the chain link to the top and bottom rails - it's pretty floppy at the moment. All I could think was chain link metal fence ties, but that would be super expensive because of the quantity and a pain to secure every single square. Do they sell that wire by the roll? How far apart can the ties be before a predator can push under the chain link fabric? My 3 ft apron will be secured to the base of the coop (probably to 2x4s like I did for my previous coop) and to the ground with a multitude of yard staples.

Attachment suggestions for 4) securing the hardware cloth to the chain link. I have hog ties available (hated them last time, but maybe attaching to chain link is easier?) and metal zip ties. Also screws and 1" washers. I have maybe 12 2"x4" that are 8 ft long, and maybe 10 that are 10 ft long. I have ordered all the needed hardware cloth in 6ft height for the sides and roof, and 3ft height for the apron.

Current setup is 10ft by 30ft with a door on the north end and south east side. Each chain link panel has rounded corners at the top and is 10ft x 6ft and very light-weight. Tractor supply sells these panels. There's a foot difference in height midway through the east wall, I had to dig a trench and push the fence panel into it in order to get the fence panel to sit flat on the ground.

My previous open air coop/run is here. This one is pretty different on the sides and roof, so I'm struggling a bit.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/have-the-chickens-now-i-need-a-coop-please-help.1519455/

I want to use this coop to grow out the 24 colored eggers in the incubator, and then for some meat birds, so predator protection is key. Hatch date is in 9 days, so the clock is ticking.... I am super excited for my first hatch, but stressing about this coop. Any help you guys can give would be appreciated!!!

We built a predator proof run using the chain link kennel by attaching 10' galvanized pipe across the top, creating "rafters". You can buy brackets to attach pipe to the frame, creating a T-shaped joint, without drilling or welding.
We then used the rafters as support for the predator proof roof we made using hog panel from Tractor Supply. We used the panel with the smaller diameter hole (approx 3" x 6") and cut pieces to fit. We rested them on the cross pieces (now acting like rafters) and zip tied them to the perimeter walls of the coop and to the "rafters" of galvanized pipe. If you don't have access to the hog panels with the smaller dimension holes, you could stretch poultry wire or other wire over it instead.
We chose to add 80% shade cloth over the top of that because sun and heat are our biggest problems.
You can buy the typical clips (wires) used to attach chain link to the frame. We bought them at Home Depot, 30 in a bag. To get it really tight, we placed them every 10" or so and it was very tight. We put large paving blocks on the ground, up against the base of the kennel and placed large potted plants on the pavers to keep them from being moved by stronger predators like dogs or coyotes. I saw someone place large rocks all around the base of their coop to deter digging.

 

[FunClucks]

We built a predator proof run using the chain link kennel by attaching 10' galvanized pipe across the top, creating "rafters". You can buy brackets to attach pipe to the frame, creating a T-shaped joint, without drilling or welding.
We then used the rafters as support for the predator proof roof we made using hog panel from Tractor Supply. We used the panel with the smaller diameter hole (approx 3" x 6") and cut pieces to fit. We rested them on the cross pieces (now acting like rafters) and zip tied them to the perimeter walls of the coop and to the "rafters" of galvanized pipe. If you don't have access to the hog panels with the smaller dimension holes, you could stretch poultry wire or other wire over it instead.
We chose to add 80% shade cloth over the top of that because sun and heat are our biggest problems.
You can buy the typical clips (wires) used to attach chain link to the frame. We bought them at Home Depot, 30 in a bag. To get it really tight, we placed them every 10" or so and it was very tight. We put large paving blocks on the ground, up against the base of the kennel and placed large potted plants on the pavers to keep them from being moved by stronger predators like dogs or coyotes. I saw someone place large rocks all around the base of their coop to deter digging.

Thanks for the information!

 

[aart]

We then used the rafters as support for the predator proof roof we made using hog panel from Tractor Supply. We used the panel with the smaller diameter hole (approx 3" x 6") and cut pieces to fit.

Plenty of preds can fit thru 3x6 openings.....but would be a decent base for adding smaller mesh.

 

[FunClucks]

For the roof of the open-air covered coop/run I asked for help with in this thread, I ended up using some 10ft top rail, and cutting some short 15" stubs of toprail. I attached one end of the 10 ft cross braces to the top of the 6ft dog kennel chain link panel and the other end to the top end of the 15" section. The 15" section was mounted to the top of the other side of the dog kennel, so it made a slanted roof. Lots of T-brackets, and everything had to be balanced just right before mounting. I ran a line of top rail along one of the 30ft sides of the 30"x10" run, mounted on top of the 15" stub section and attached the cross braces to that.

I used zip line to run across from one side of the run to the other in between the top rail cross braces because I had it on hand and it was cheaper than purchasing more top rail and brackets, also it made the top lighter. I have to re-tighten it every so often. I walk around every few months and check the tightness of all the T-bracket bolts/nuts, and whether the 15" stubs are standing straight up like they should be, and whether anything is bowing when it shouldn't. I covered the whole structure including the roof with 1/2" 19 gage hardware cloth., and put a tarp over everything. The tarp was big enough I used 7ft T-posts to make a covered walkway on one side of the coop I will have to take some pictures and put them on here - it's pretty impressive I think. I ran chicken wire across the middle and grew out meat birds on one side, and had a bachelor pad with pullets in an isolation cage in the middle of the other side. Once the meat birds were processed, the pullets got their own side with the roosters on the other.

I got busy with the meat birds, and the grow-out roosters, and now the new chicks, and as soon as I have my third coop built (hoop coop this time), and my chickens sorted out (does one ever completely finish sorting out one's chickens?), I'll load up the pictures of the open air coop/run discussed in this thread, and how I eventually finished it out. Seems like there's never quite enough time in the day, and I always have one more good idea I want to try.

Always wanting to improve, so I appreciate everyone's suggestions on this thread, regardless of my progress on the coop/run build listed here.

 

[aart]

I will have to take some pictures and put them on here

Please do!

 

[MidtexChikChik]

Plenty of preds can fit thru 3x6 openings.....but would be a decent base for adding smaller mesh.

Yes, depending on your local predators. But we covered it with a thick mesh shade cloth (80%) and others would cover it with a tarp.
And we had to go thru all of this gymnastics to avoid creating a run with a roof so we wouldn't run "a-fowl" of the city ordinance that limits how many structures with rain runoff allowed. So far, they haven't quibbled over dog houses and the like but wouldn't be surprised comes the day!

 

[MidtexChikChik]

For the roof of the open-air covered coop/run I asked for help with in this thread, I ended up using some 10ft top rail, and cutting some short 15" stubs of toprail. I attached one end of the 10 ft cross braces to the top of the 6ft dog kennel chain link panel and the other end to the top end of the 15" section. The 15" section was mounted to the top of the other side of the dog kennel, so it made a slanted roof. Lots of T-brackets, and everything had to be balanced just right before mounting. I ran a line of top rail along one of the 30ft sides of the 30"x10" run, mounted on top of the 15" stub section and attached the cross braces to that.

I used zip line to run across from one side of the run to the other in between the top rail cross braces because I had it on hand and it was cheaper than purchasing more top rail and brackets, also it made the top lighter. I have to re-tighten it every so often. I walk around every few months and check the tightness of all the T-bracket bolts/nuts, and whether the 15" stubs are standing straight up like they should be, and whether anything is bowing when it shouldn't. I covered the whole structure including the roof with 1/2" 19 gage hardware cloth., and put a tarp over everything. The tarp was big enough I used 7ft T-posts to make a covered walkway on one side of the coop I will have to take some pictures and put them on here - it's pretty impressive I think. I ran chicken wire across the middle and grew out meat birds on one side, and had a bachelor pad with pullets in an isolation cage in the middle of the other side. Once the meat birds were processed, the pullets got their own side with the roosters on the other.

I got busy with the meat birds, and the grow-out roosters, and now the new chicks, and as soon as I have my third coop built (hoop coop this time), and my chickens sorted out (does one ever completely finish sorting out one's chickens?), I'll load up the pictures of the open air coop/run discussed in this thread, and how I eventually finished it out. Seems like there's never quite enough time in the day, and I always have one more good idea I want to try.

Always wanting to improve, so I appreciate everyone's suggestions on this thread, regardless of my progress on the coop/run build listed here.

Would love to see a picture of the final masterpiece!