A-Frame run

[MoonflowerMama]

Hello, has anyone built an A-frame run that is attached to their coop? I'm currently looking into doing this and looking for ideas and suggestions. Also, if anyone has pictures I'd love to see them. Thanks!

 

[Dusty Chicken]

I built a very simple A frame structure that abuts my coop door. I built it about 9-10 years ago when I was having problems with overhead predators. In the spring I was having issues with Ravens, Eagles, Hawks & Owls!! I would keep my girls confined to this little run while I was at work & then open it up in the afternoon when I got home from work.
I have an automatic door on a photo sensor so it would open & let them into the A-frame run. There is a door on the far side of the a-frame that I could open or close depending on the circumstances. I have not had overhead problems in the last few years so I rarely close the A-frame door but it now acts as an outdoor covered run. the girls really like it in the winter, it gives them a dry dusting area out of the rains.
I built it in 2, 5'sections covered with poultry wire. Their run is safe from most predators so the goal was just to protect from overhead predators. When the rains started in the fall I covered it with a tarp to give them a dry area outside to dust & hang out. It was a very simple afternoon build, I cannot believe it is still standing!
This was one of the best additions that I have made to expand my tiny little coop.

 

[MoonflowerMama]

Thank you. Very cool!

 

[Wrooster]

We built one with 4 pairs of 12-foot pressure-treated 2x4's 4 feet apart. The 2x4's were buried about a foot. There were 1x4's between them 4 feet up. Flimsy but it worked. There was a cross-piece about 18" below the connection of each pair of 2x4's. I left a gap at the top of each pair for a 1x4 ridge piece but never installed it. We covered the lower parts with chicken wire and the top with a good tarp. Built a pretty nice human door in one end and a chicken door next to it which opened into a huge fenced area. It was never meant to be elegant or permanent but it lasted several years. When we tore it down it had been up for about 8 years, unused for 3-4, and the wood was largely intact.

There was a lot of chicken wire covering gaps and we buried some chicken wire around the perimeter.

The coop was like a little house about 2 feet from the side of the A-frame and a foot or so off the ground. We built a "skybridge" to connect that to the A-frame. The end rested on cinder blocks. It never worked very well because it was an awkward connection between the A-frame and the skybridge. Better planning would have helped.

Overall, it was a great success considering the low cost and effort.