My "kennel coop" is a chain link dog kennel with a tarp over it. When I first put up the coop I was getting 4-6 months out of a tarp. Lately it's been 4-6 weeks. The tarp looked FINE yesterday when I checked. Now that the rain has rolled in, the tarp is torn in several places and leaking directly into the chicken feed. Grrr. I used half a roll of Gorilla tape trying to patch the leaks. Hope it holds through tomorrow. Chickens and I will all be very wet if I have to change the tarp in the rain. It takes me a couple of hours to change the tarp, and the chickens always freak out when I do it. I pulled out as much wet feed as I could and moved the feeder out from under the drip, but if the wind changes direction or the leak spreads it will likely get wet again. Chickens may have mash in that feeder by dinner time. I'll change out the tarp and the feeder when the rain stops. Crossing my fingers hoping we don't get much wind...
My chicken run is made of horse panels with the 2" x 4" no climb fencing attached to it. The whole top part is also made of the same thing. Then I attached sheets of plywood over the top of that at the coop end where I keep the feed at. It also helps to give them extra shade i that area. At the far end away from the coop, I put in a misting system, and put one of those big long sunscreens over the top and sides.
