Building a run?

[Stockton Grapes]

As for keeping dogs, and animals from digging under the fence line for a free meal. And as far as using hardware cloth, or metal lathe for tile jobs, that stuff gets expensive to lay down and bury. I dug a 2 ' wide and 2' depth trench with a back hoe, and then back filled the trench, will big rocks, like 12" up to 24" and near the top I broke glass, from old bottles I found and had collected. Then put a layer of 3" of dirt over that. Then on the inside of the run. I back filled the base with big rocks also. And then added soil on top of that. It was all free.

 

[4 the Birds]

We used 8 metal fenceposts, 4 on each side, pounded into the ground, then arched cattle panels using the posts for support. Then we covered the arch with chicken wire, needed because of the many hawks in the area, tying it into the crosspieces of the cattle panels. Hardware cloth is used as an apron, then running up two feet and sewn to the chicken wire for security. Looks nice, lots of headroom for me to work in, no carpentry skills needed (good thing for us!) and it's working great. We had one sunny day and the chickens were looking for shade. We tossed landscape fabric over the arch in two places and we have the happiest chickens in town.

The added benefit was the cost savings. The cattle panels were only 20 bucks each, the fence posts came from a neighbor. The only real expense was the hardware cloth, but that would have been an expense regardless of what we used to frame the run so we we would have bought it no matter what kind of run we built. Our coop and run can be seen from the street (I live in town) so we wanted to make sure it did the job without being an eyesore.


Work in progress:
:


All finished. This was taken during our snowstorm 2 days ago, so the chickens decided to stay in. The next plan is attach lattice panels to the fence posts along just the front side and hang flower pots to add a little more "curb appeal".

Very nice job with the run! Great example of a quick and effective run build.

 

[Blooie]

Very nice job with the run! Great example of a quick and effective run build.

Thank you very much! It's working out better than we even planned.

 

[rdilbarova]

Okay, so after advice from all of you guys (thanks so much!), I think I know what I am going to do.
So, my aim is as predator proof as possible while keeping it aesthetically pleasing as possible because I live in the suburbs.


My run is about 11 feet x 23 feet. Half is covered by a wooden fence which borders my property, the other half is the one that currently has the snow net up.

I am going to use wire fencing (not chicken wire anymore, after being advised against it) that is about 1 in x 2 in but very sturdy.
QUESTION HERE:
Is it okay that the gap between wire is so big? I know a raccoon can stick his hands through but my girls know to avoid them and would probably back away from the net. At night, they are locked in (with a master lock) into the coop, so I feel like this is a non-issue.
Their coop window is chicken wire right now, but I will be replacing it with hardware cloth shortly.

I will be reinforcing the perimeter by laying about a foot of fence externally outside of the fence in one half, and will be digging it into the other half (since it borders my neighbors property).
The border I have decided to leave wood, but I figured out my cement issue- I can just fill the holes with gravel instead (this is supposed to work just as well).
Finally, netting will go on top of all of this to deal with attacks from above.

 

[jetdog]

Okay, so after advice from all of you guys (thanks so much!), I think I know what I am going to do. 
So, my aim is as predator proof as possible while keeping it aesthetically pleasing as possible because I live in the suburbs.


My run is about 11 feet x 23 feet. Half is covered by a wooden fence which borders my property, the other half is the one that currently has the snow net up.

I am going to use wire fencing (not chicken wire anymore, after being advised against it) that is about 1 in x 2 in but very sturdy.
QUESTION HERE:

Is it okay that the gap between wire is so big? I know a raccoon can stick his hands through but my girls know to avoid them and would probably back away from the net. At night, they are locked in (with a master lock) into the coop, so I feel like this is a non-issue. 
Their coop window is chicken wire right now, but I will be replacing it with hardware cloth shortly.

I will be reinforcing the perimeter by laying about a foot of fence externally outside of the fence in one half, and will be digging it into the other half (since it borders my neighbors property). 
The border I have decided to leave wood, but I figured out my cement issue- I can just fill the holes with gravel instead (this is supposed to work just as well).
Finally, netting will go on top of all of this to deal with attacks from above.

You must have the smartest chickens in the world to back away from any predators, coons will work in pairs and scare them back and forth until they grab ahold of anything and pull it through the wire. It is highly recommended to close all gaps in any structure to avoid possible attacks. Glad to hear you will be going with the hardware cloth.

 

[rdilbarova]

You must have the smartest chickens in the world to back away from any predators, coons will work in pairs and scare them back and forth until they grab ahold of anything and pull it through the wire. It is highly recommended to close all gaps in any structure to avoid possible attacks. Glad to hear you will be going with the hardware cloth.

Because my one side is solid wooden fence, I think they will be ok. I have seen the way they react to predators before and they run and cower in the corner that is enclosed by the fence, farthest from the sides of the wire fence from which the coon can grab.

What would you recommend just in case though? Chicken wire plus the 1x2 fence?

 

[jetdog]

Hardware cloth is proven against predators, probably your best bet

 

[rdilbarova]

Hardware cloth is proven against predators, probably your best bet

Okay, I am going to go with a 2 ft high 'skirt' of hardware cloth on the bottom.



PS- I have a thumb latch that I'd like to use for the gate (the kind you press on with your thumb to get the lock to open).
Coon safe or no?

 

[rdilbarova]

Actually, nix that. After two minutes of thinking about it, I realize it is a stupid question.
Probably will go with a latch secured with one of those locking carabeners (sp?) instead.

 

[Matthfoster]

I have seen people with fenced in runs and people with out. We have a 7 foot fence all around, wondering if that will do? We dont have chicken in yet. looking for some adult hens.