Adding a run to a prefab coop

[bdjh]

So, out of curiosity, why does it need to be covered?

If you're looking to build it to handle a snow load, you're talking about a pretty substantial roof.......A tarp, laid flat, will hold hundreds, possibly a thousand pounds of snow. You need some pretty solid walls to hold up that kind of weight. If you want it pitched to shed snow, you'll need rafters, or some sort of tent-like structure, which will need to withstand whatever kind of winds you get in Iowa.


GeorgiaGail's roof, like mine, keeps the predators out, while letting the snow pass through.

 

[Blooie]

I too, have posted these pics other places before so like georgiagail, my apologies to those thinking, "Oh, great, there's Motel Chix again!"

We did the hoop run using cattle panels arched over steel posts pounded into the ground, with a little while vinyl lattice added just to make it pretty. We can stand up to work in it, the chickens have plenty of room, and it was a snap to cover with plastic for the winter, making a nice "green house" for the girls. We put chicken wire on the panels against overhead predators, and hardware cloth about 2 feet up, "sewn" with wire to the skeleton of the cattle panels and over the chicken wire, then extended it out about 2 feet to deter diggers. It's worked amazingly well, even withstanding Wyoming's wild 40 mph winds and gusts to 60 without flinching. It's so easy to knock snow off the top - just a bump with a push broom from the inside and the snow slides off down both sides. Easy to expand too - we'll remove the end panel on the South end, add one more set of fence posts and one more panel, then reattach the end panel. That end panel is just a piece of welded wire fencing, again covered with chicken wire and the two feet of hardware cloth. I love this run, and I am more than satisfied with it. We just draped greenhouse plastic over it for winter and it stayed really nice in there.


Motel Chix, with the addition of the lattice.


The run and the people door leading into it. That box-like structure you see is the "tunnel" that runs between the coop and the run. We had to offset the run to allow for a tree hubby didn't want to remove. Makes a perfect windbreak, so the pop door is left open 24/7.


The run. looking toward the north.


Snow load on the run.


The inside of the plastic covered run during winter. The pen you see at the left is currently home to 15 chicks.

 

[City-Chickee]

I was thinking (and I could be wrong...this is my first go of it

- roof of some sort would add shade, and keep most of the snow and rain out of the run to keep it dry.
Also, the run is where I would have their food / water and I don't want other critters (raccoons, oppossums, rats) getting in there to eat their food or try to get to the chickens and eat them...

 

[City-Chickee]

Are the cattle panels pretty easy to work with? They look really strong! Wondering if they're hard to bend?

Love lattice That does make it pretty

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Are the cattle panels pretty easy to work with? They look really strong! Wondering if they're hard to bend?

Love lattice That does make it pretty

Cattle panels are very easily manipulated - our run is a hoop coop with cattle panels and we have even used them to rig temporary hay rings around round bales for livestock as well. You just need to be careful to keep them from "springing back/loose" while attaching them to something in the hooped form, so having to people is handy, but not absolutely necessary as it is possible to do with just one person and a little thought.

 

[Blooie]

x2 Ol Grey Mare is correct about the springing back but that's the only issue with them. Strong, lightweight, flexible, and, best of all, cheap! Shade, rain and snow, and overhead protection are all of the reasons we wanted a covered run, and we haven't regretted it one bit. I also feed and water them in the run, so they need to be able to access it year round.