BUILD Phase 9 - Run Hardware Cloth & Man Doors
There is light at the end of the tunnel! I'm starting to see a glimpse of it! 
The walls of the run will have 1/2" hardware cloth (HWC) for airflow and also critter control. The size I ended up buying was 48"x100'. I installed it vertically in 4' sections. The hardware cloth is screwed on with washer screws then I put trim over top (held in with screws) of the seams where they joined together durably.
The hardest part was rolling out the hardware cloth and getting it to stay flat without kicking back up and stabbing me. I do have some battle wounds from this part of the project!
After installing the hardware cloth, I sanded and painted the man doors for the run. I remember the day was extremely hot (in the 90's) and the doors were completely dry with two coats of paint within hours! To install the hardware cloth, I used clamps to hold it onto the door and screwed it in with washer screws.
I did have an accident, then ended up with an emergency visit to the eye doctor.
When I was installing the hardware cloth, I needed to cut the width to fit properly. Well, when I reached the end, the tension was so tight it was like a spring and rolled right up to my face and hit me in the eye. My eye was watering, but didn't think much of it and kept on working. The next day, my eye was so red and sore that I called the doctors. Thankfully my cornea wasn’t damaged, but it was close. The hardware cloth tore through the Conjunctiva (thin layer of tissue that covers the front of your eye), but DIDN'T appear to have punctured my Sclera (the white of your eye). My eye pressure was good which is positive. 
Lesson learned. ALWAYS use safety glasses with the hardware cloth. I will be the first to admit, that I usually don't wear safety classes when doing things I should. After that incident, it was a wake up call and now I do! I could have lost my eye sight.
The next step was to cut out a chicken door. I measured my tallest chicken (the Rooster, who is named, Joey...a FRIENDS reference from my wife) to see what size I would need to cut.The main thing is to have it big enough for the biggest chicken to fit through. You don't want to have the chickens hit their feathers on the door and eventually rub or leave marks on them.
After several measurements and marking the door, I decided as of right now to not cut out a chicken door. Instead, I cut the inside man door from the coop to run and let them use that for now. Since it's summer time, I don't have to worry about weather and it can stay like this until I figure out my plan.
AND....more night time work!
Door is drying after being painted.
AND...hardware cloth install time!
Double doors for gable end. These are the doors on the end for clean out. Painted and drying.
Chicken door measurements in the coop wall.
Measuring Joey...He's looking and thinking, "What the hell is happening!"
Decided to hold off on the chicken door and cut out the man door from the coop to run.
The walls of the run will have 1/2" hardware cloth (HWC) for airflow and also critter control. The size I ended up buying was 48"x100'. I installed it vertically in 4' sections. The hardware cloth is screwed on with washer screws then I put trim over top (held in with screws) of the seams where they joined together durably.
The hardest part was rolling out the hardware cloth and getting it to stay flat without kicking back up and stabbing me. I do have some battle wounds from this part of the project!
After installing the hardware cloth, I sanded and painted the man doors for the run. I remember the day was extremely hot (in the 90's) and the doors were completely dry with two coats of paint within hours! To install the hardware cloth, I used clamps to hold it onto the door and screwed it in with washer screws.
I did have an accident, then ended up with an emergency visit to the eye doctor.
When I was installing the hardware cloth, I needed to cut the width to fit properly. Well, when I reached the end, the tension was so tight it was like a spring and rolled right up to my face and hit me in the eye. My eye was watering, but didn't think much of it and kept on working. The next day, my eye was so red and sore that I called the doctors. Thankfully my cornea wasn’t damaged, but it was close. The hardware cloth tore through the Conjunctiva (thin layer of tissue that covers the front of your eye), but DIDN'T appear to have punctured my Sclera (the white of your eye). My eye pressure was good which is positive. Lesson learned. ALWAYS use safety glasses with the hardware cloth. I will be the first to admit, that I usually don't wear safety classes when doing things I should. After that incident, it was a wake up call and now I do! I could have lost my eye sight.
The next step was to cut out a chicken door. I measured my tallest chicken (the Rooster, who is named, Joey...a FRIENDS reference from my wife) to see what size I would need to cut.The main thing is to have it big enough for the biggest chicken to fit through. You don't want to have the chickens hit their feathers on the door and eventually rub or leave marks on them.
After several measurements and marking the door, I decided as of right now to not cut out a chicken door. Instead, I cut the inside man door from the coop to run and let them use that for now. Since it's summer time, I don't have to worry about weather and it can stay like this until I figure out my plan.
AND....more night time work!
Door is drying after being painted.
AND...hardware cloth install time!
Double doors for gable end. These are the doors on the end for clean out. Painted and drying.
Chicken door measurements in the coop wall.
Measuring Joey...He's looking and thinking, "What the hell is happening!"
Decided to hold off on the chicken door and cut out the man door from the coop to run.
- Next page: Coop & Run Finished!
- Previous page: BUILD Phase 8 - Run Roof & Coop Roost Bar
