Beyond frustrated

[Cindy in PA]

Tarps are not your friend is you have to worry about snow load bringing down your run.

 

[MillersFarm]

Yup, Been raining non-stop down here too I'm almost used to the mud now.. The pigs and ducks sure aren't helping.

 

[fldiver97]

It’s not fun to deal with mud, ice, snow.... I also started with this cute prefab for a handful of chickens. Quickly realized that it wasn’t going to work. Weatherproofing and reinforcing only got me so far. Built a walk in run with a slanted opaque roof. Better but not great. Live and learn, do what you can. I finally have a coop and run that looks good, is safe and functional but it took a while. As long as it’s secure, dry and not drafty - win!! Sometimes paint will help the looks, pallets in the coop may help temporarily to get everyone out of the muck. Good luck!

 

[andreanar]

I think our worst problem is money! Instead of just saving up, buying what we need and doing things the right way, we try to fix things up with the money we have at the moment. Which ends up just temp. fix and ghetto rigging things. I swear, with all the money we've spent jerry rigging things, we could have had a chicken palace!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I think our worst problem is money! Instead of just saving up, buying what we need and doing things the right way, we try to fix things up with the money we have at the moment. Which ends up just temp. fix and ghetto rigging things. I swear, with all the money we've spent jerry rigging things, we could have had a chicken palace!

We have pieced things out in the past when money was tight buy one board here or one roof panel there. You could switch your tarps out for roof panels, whether tin or fiberglass. Buying a piece of two as you can afford them. Eventually you will get them all.

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

Tarps are not your friend is you have to worry about snow load bringing down your run.

Very true. It hasn't snowed here since 1976 and I don't think you would refer to what we had as snow ;-)

 

[animalyodelers]

I think our worst problem is money! Instead of just saving up, buying what we need and doing things the right way, we try to fix things up with the money we have at the moment. Which ends up just temp. fix and ghetto rigging things. I swear, with all the money we've spent jerry rigging things, we could have had a chicken palace!

Oh man, this is us too. I feel ya.

 

[aart]

Tarps are not your friend is you have to worry about snow load bringing down your run.

Rain can be just as bad if tarp is not supported well.

 

[Chullicken]

Chickens are really marketed over the last few years as 'Fresh eggs and a fun hobby for all!'...reality is they can get expensive, require some long hours and a constant attention to detail which involves spending time with them whether as a hobbyist or commercial and its a lot cheaper to buy eggs than raise your own.

I was a dairy farmer and with cows, it was always pretty straightforward solving their issues...chickens can be an emotional nightmare with more question marks than light bulbs going off over your head in some emogie. I have a lot of the same concerns some of the other people have, and I've had yours as well. I'm invested in them though, as they are my pets so I do make some sacrifices from my life to ensure they live well. I just put down my pet rooster the other day with an extremely heavy heart. He had some issues nobody could seem to fix and it turned into a quality of life issue for him and the rest of my flock. A few days ago and I'm still extremely bothered by it that I failed him somehow. These are the unsaid things involved with keeping livestock.

Can't possibly solve all your rants here in this forum, it's more of you having to do some research and take the time. There are plenty of avenues around spending a mortgage payment on them. Classifieds, people you know and stuff just on the side of the road for free. People are always trying to get rid of stuff that is no use to them, but very well could be a use for you. Moisture and water is the bane of poultry... it's not good for them. Seems fun thinking about being booty deep in chicken sludge and it can be, it won't be very fun when they start getting sick. Sand is literally dirt cheap by the bag (Couple bucks a bag for All-Purpose Sand), PVC roof panels are around $15 at the depot. Makes a huge difference. As far as your door, I can't help with your carpentry skills from here. But, I've taken plenty of things apart I've built and redid them so they work better. My grandfather used to tell me ' It's not a real problem unless you try to do something about it.' That is how I approach these things. Good luck with everything.

 

[Noreaster Egger]

Look into wood chips to put over the mud. They solved almost all of my mud issues. I got 1 huge free load from Chip Drop and it raised the elevation in my run about a foot. Once it starts breaking down the birds love digging in it too.