Advice for roof on run

[Beamgang]

What is your snow load? Where in general do you live, it will help us help you.

I am in the Treasure Valley in Idaho. We don't get a lot of snow in the Valley and it melts pretty quickly bc it is dry here.

 

[Beamgang]

No, not without a piece of wood in between, to screw the poly panels to. Could be as simple as a stick of 2x lumber fastened/screwed or strapped (like plumber's tape/hanger strapping) to the conduit pipe structure, then screw down your roof panels with roofing screws. Personally I'd go for opaque metal panels, they're not much more investment over the clear ones in my local stores, but I know for sure they'll last longer being galvanized metal.

If you get snow load or if those trees dump a lot of leaves when the weather is wet, I'd consider using a more beefy support structure than metal conduit pipes.

As for attaching to the poly fence - you could put just a few anchor points mounting something like the conduit pipe or a 2x lumber "rail" for you to mount your stuff off of.

The tree will be an issue with the rigid roof panels, I don't have any good suggestions on that sorry - thinking may be leave a rectangle cut out and fill that gap with metal fencing material. In my run I used chicken wire overhead to keep the local bobcat out, the chicken wire allowed me to get up on the tree with something that will move as the tree grows or sways. The idea of doing solid roof on one half of that run space, up to one side of the tree might be a good idea, and use fencing for the rest to resolve that issue. Overhead fencing will need support too, or it will sag, so likely your support structure would be on the whole thing not just under the roofing.

Thank you!!! This is very helpful!

 

[mowin]

I am in the Treasure Valley in Idaho. We don't get a lot of snow in the Valley and it melts pretty quickly bc it is dry here.

Ok, it sounds like snow load should be a issue, but whatever you decide on, some extra bracing is still a good idea.

 

[Beamgang]

Is the chain link run your coop? Or is there a coop (house,) inside the run or a plan to build one? Best long term solution is move chain link run and coop with roof inside run out a bit beyond the tree and in front of the vinyl fence enough that with a pitch of coop roof high enough, you can extend the coop roofing over the chain link run for runoff and snow load dump. I use water barrel for catchment with a gutter and chain into the barrel. It works great with installation of water cups. View attachment 3525766

The coop is inside the run. It was placed first and then chainlink panels were added around it and attached to the vinyl fence posts. It can't be moved at this point. (I am not sure how, actually.) I love your rain barrel set up! That is awesome!

 

[Beamgang]

Ok, it sounds like snow load should be a issue, but whatever you decide on, some extra bracing is still a good idea.

Thank you! Your suggestions helped a lot!

 

[MidtexChikChik]

Do you think the polycarbonate sheets would work over these? The storm we had ripped the tarps from the grommets that were secured to the sides. I don't think I want to do tarps again. Could those be secured to these pipes? I would like to do the hardware cloth on one side so that they do get some sun. My other concern is how to run the pipes etc around that tree and secure it from predators.

I've never used polycarbonate sheets so I don't know how it would perform. But think of the pipes as being round rafters and not flat like wooden rafters are. This may change what materials are best to use for the roof.

The galvanized pipes that you would install across the top of the run I'm going to refer to as rafters since that is how they might function to support a top/roof. The rafters don't have to run around the tree. You would run them from the back to the front across the skinnier dimension, from back to front, in one direction only. Your run looks like it's 10 feet wide since most of those kennels are 10 ft x10 ft. So the rafters closest to the tree would be placed on one side and on the other of the tree, running from the back to the front, 10 feet long. Whatever material you placed on top of the rafters is what would have to be cut out to accommodate the tree.

-> When you say you want to put hardware cloth on one side -- do you mean on the roof? If so, you will have to have strong support for the hardware cloth because it will sag from its own weight. You won't be able to staple the hardware cloth to the metal pipes or the walls of the run, although you could tie it on. That would be a lot of work if you use small mesh hardware cloth (1/4") and the smaller the mesh, the more it weighs the more it will sag. You would need 1/2" hardware cloth at the smallest due to the weight, I would think. That is, unless you add wooden rafters on top of the pipe "rafters", running crosswise.
-> Even using the galvanized pipes as rafters to help support it, heavy hardware cloth will sag in between each rafter so just be aware of that. Poultry wire or something with larger holes and less weight than hardware cloth might be a better choice and it will stretch better. Any metal product you use on the roof will sag some, so using a lighter weight fencing might be best--unless you decide to add wood rafters on top.
-> Or, you might look for a good quality netting that can be stretched across much more easily. I noticed the President of Chickenlandia (Youtube channel) talking about the netting she has spread over her large chicken yards in a recent video about a new yard addition.

-> When you put a solid roof up, you also have to plan for the runoff from the rain. If the rain runs toward the back, it doesn't seem like it has much room in this arrangement to go elsewhere, causing the chickens to may be standing in water so consider how the water will flow off the roof.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

The coop is inside the run. It was placed first and then chainlink panels were added around it and attached to the vinyl fence posts. It can't be moved at this point. (I am not sure how, actually.) I love your rain barrel set up! That is awesome!

Thanks! The only issue with the rainbarrel is that it does freeze.... SO... I don't suppose the other side of the Vinyl fence is your property? Meaning it's okay to send snow load over the fence or no? Weight and gravity is what it is so unfortunately flimsy non snow load bearing materials are always going to be sub-par. Looking at metals and wood is the way to go.

 

[MidtexChikChik]

I just read your answer to SandyRiverChick. I couldn't see from the photo that there isn't a back wall to the run except the vinyl fence. So, you couldn't use the 10 foot long pipes in that case because they wouldn't have anything to attach to. I think this also explains why the wind was able to move the tarp so much -- because it didn't attach to anything along the back? If there is any way to add more walls to the back, that is what I would recommend if you want to continue to use the dog kennel as a chicken run/coop.

 

[Sally PB]

Sorry, I don't have time to read all of this, but here are pictures of how I put polycarbonate roofing on a metal framed run.

The purlins are wood from a pallet, zip tied to the metal frame.

Screwed on with appropriate screws, and seams are caulked.

This is 83% transmission, and it's plenty bright in there. I broomed it off when we got snow, and it has held up fine to two Michigan winters.

The polycarbonate wasn't cheap, about $52 per 4x8 sheet. Very much worth it, though.

 

[Beamgang]

I just read your answer to SandyRiverChick. I couldn't see from the photo that there isn't a back wall to the run except the vinyl fence. So, you couldn't use the 10 foot long pipes in that case because they wouldn't have anything to attach to. I think this also explains why the wind was able to move the tarp so much -- because it didn't attach to anything along the back? If there is any way to add more walls to the back, that is what I would recommend if you want to continue to use the dog kennel as a chicken run/coop.

Thank you. I was wondering how I could make it work. I will have to add additional panels.