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blackacres
Wrangler of the Tiny Raptors
Part 5 - the run and shed improvements
My skilled husband had the frame for the run put up in no time. Now it was time to attach the chicken wire. The run is 6ft tall so I bought 50yd rolls of 72in wire to eliminate the need to fasten sections together. Armed with our wire, hammers and fence staples, we felt ready to tackle wrapping the run. We quickly had one end of the roll attached to the start of the run, stretched across the front and stapled all the way down. We then turned the corner and that is where things began to fall apart. My poor husband kept smacking his fingers with the hammer. The staples were hard to hold in place to hammer while simultaneously holding the wire taught. I was no longer of help because I was stuck holding the roll of wire upright so it didn’t loosed and become tangled. After many smashed fingers and explicit words, I suggested we find an automatic staple gun. The husband agreed so we took a break to commandeer one from a friend. Now armed with the proper automatic tools, we went back to work. We managed to complete half of South side, all of the West and were just rounding the corner to the North side when my Uncle came up the drive. He came out to the run and asked what we were doing; besides arguing. That amazing man stepped in and took over for me. Within minutes he and my husband had a system going and it was working! No bickering between them as there had been with me and the husband. Instead, teamwork, bullshitting, and laughing. Y’all, my Uncle probably saved my marriage that day! They worked all the way around the coop and, and within an hour had all the wire attached and my Uncle went home.Here a picture I took from my deck as they worked.
Next came installing the 3ft tall skirt around the run. Again, using my husband’s stockpile of composite decking. The best part of that isn’t even that it was free. The best part is that, because it’s composite, it will never rot or need to be replaced!
The time had come. How in the heck were we going to get a 50x50 aviary net over the top of this entire structure?! I started buy unrolling it and stretching it out in the yard. I then, carefully, walked it corner to corner, folding it in half. We slowly worked the whole thing up and over, to cover the entire run. This was NOT easy and my husband was more frustrated with this part of the build than he’d been the entire time. He kept getting stuck in the net and I kept laughing, making matters worse. But, we did get it done.
We then moved into the coop where I explained my vision for a poop tray and roosting bars. That part actually proved to be one of the easiest tasks.
My skilled husband had the frame for the run put up in no time. Now it was time to attach the chicken wire. The run is 6ft tall so I bought 50yd rolls of 72in wire to eliminate the need to fasten sections together. Armed with our wire, hammers and fence staples, we felt ready to tackle wrapping the run. We quickly had one end of the roll attached to the start of the run, stretched across the front and stapled all the way down. We then turned the corner and that is where things began to fall apart. My poor husband kept smacking his fingers with the hammer. The staples were hard to hold in place to hammer while simultaneously holding the wire taught. I was no longer of help because I was stuck holding the roll of wire upright so it didn’t loosed and become tangled. After many smashed fingers and explicit words, I suggested we find an automatic staple gun. The husband agreed so we took a break to commandeer one from a friend. Now armed with the proper automatic tools, we went back to work. We managed to complete half of South side, all of the West and were just rounding the corner to the North side when my Uncle came up the drive. He came out to the run and asked what we were doing; besides arguing. That amazing man stepped in and took over for me. Within minutes he and my husband had a system going and it was working! No bickering between them as there had been with me and the husband. Instead, teamwork, bullshitting, and laughing. Y’all, my Uncle probably saved my marriage that day! They worked all the way around the coop and, and within an hour had all the wire attached and my Uncle went home.Here a picture I took from my deck as they worked.
Next came installing the 3ft tall skirt around the run. Again, using my husband’s stockpile of composite decking. The best part of that isn’t even that it was free. The best part is that, because it’s composite, it will never rot or need to be replaced!
The time had come. How in the heck were we going to get a 50x50 aviary net over the top of this entire structure?! I started buy unrolling it and stretching it out in the yard. I then, carefully, walked it corner to corner, folding it in half. We slowly worked the whole thing up and over, to cover the entire run. This was NOT easy and my husband was more frustrated with this part of the build than he’d been the entire time. He kept getting stuck in the net and I kept laughing, making matters worse. But, we did get it done.
We then moved into the coop where I explained my vision for a poop tray and roosting bars. That part actually proved to be one of the easiest tasks.
Loving it. Does your hubby know you're reporting and recording this for posterity? 
