Chain Link Dog Kennel to Ft Knox Covered Open-Air Coop/Run Combo - Build Suggestions?

[FunClucks]

Folks, the search function on this site is failing me. Most of what I can find folks using chain link dog kennels for is moderate security daytime runs. Which is great, but I need to build a top security, fully predator proof Ft. Knox open air covered coop/run. I'm having trouble finding builds and good suggestions and deciding what to do about the following. Can you guys help me?

1) the roof - really stressing this one - need an angled roof of some type across a 10 ft span, and can't decide if having one side of the roof elevated by two feet is the way to go, or if I should run a center beam. Also, do I need to put concrete and 4"x4" fenceposts to support my roof, or can I use 2"x4" lumber to frame it out, or chain link top rail? Money and equipment is an issue. I think I have to run some wood around the bottom to secure the chain link to the bottom rail and to the hardware cloth, but that would be on the outside of the run. I plan to run hardware cloth over all sides and top of the coop/run, and put up a transparent tarp for rain and wild bird poop protection, so the weight of rain is mainly what the roof will see. We get snow maybe two days a year, a couple inches, so that's not an issue.

2) predator proofing all areas (doors, roof, ground) - why the heck anyone would build round edges and doorways I will never understand. So much more of a pain to reduce the opening size to 1/2" or less, and I'm looking for a good way to do that.

Attachment suggestions for 3) securing the chain link to the top and bottom rails - it's pretty floppy at the moment. All I could think was chain link metal fence ties, but that would be super expensive because of the quantity and a pain to secure every single square. Do they sell that wire by the roll? How far apart can the ties be before a predator can push under the chain link fabric? My 3 ft apron will be secured to the base of the coop (probably to 2x4s like I did for my previous coop) and to the ground with a multitude of yard staples.

Attachment suggestions for 4) securing the hardware cloth to the chain link. I have hog ties available (hated them last time, but maybe attaching to chain link is easier?) and metal zip ties. Also screws and 1" washers. I have maybe 12 2"x4" that are 8 ft long, and maybe 10 that are 10 ft long. I have ordered all the needed hardware cloth in 6ft height for the sides and roof, and 3ft height for the apron.

Current setup is 10ft by 30ft with a door on the north end and south east side. Each chain link panel has rounded corners at the top and is 10ft x 6ft and very light-weight. Tractor supply sells these panels. There's a foot difference in height midway through the east wall, I had to dig a trench and push the fence panel into it in order to get the fence panel to sit flat on the ground.

My previous open air coop/run is here. This one is pretty different on the sides and roof, so I'm struggling a bit.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/have-the-chickens-now-i-need-a-coop-please-help.1519455/

I want to use this coop to grow out the 24 colored eggers in the incubator, and then for some meat birds, so predator protection is key. Hatch date is in 9 days, so the clock is ticking.... I am super excited for my first hatch, but stressing about this coop. Any help you guys can give would be appreciated!!!

 

[Happy hen lover]

Question ? 1 what is roof besides tarp? As re you thinking of using extra 2x4s? If you have feral c
2 what predators do you have there.
3 a wild thought but I use that plumbers strap for everything , could bolt it to itself .
4 We used hog rings and zip ties to secure to our chain link fence. Then I bought bird netting to keep out yard birds.

 

[FunClucks]

Question ? 1 what is roof besides tarp? As re you thinking of using extra 2x4s? If you have feral c
2 what predators do you have there.
3 a wild thought but I use that plumbers strap for everything , could bolt it to itself .
4 We used hog rings and zip ties to secure to our chain link fence. Then I bought bird netting to keep out yard birds.

Roof would be hardware cloth and tarp. I need something to hold these up at some type of angle to shed rain and encourage ventilation. Can't decide if I should make a 2x4 frame with a handful of cross braces (like I did for the base of my shed), or if I should try do something else, maybe make a frame out of chain link fence top rail? That would be pricier and I'd have to angle it somehow.

Predators include fox, raccoon, possum, hawks, cats, dogs, mice, rats, snakes. I can't rule out stoats, weasel. Coyotes run around here too. Also anything that lives near water (there's a stream at the back of my yard). We have loads of deer, so anything that eats deer.

No bobcat or bear or wolves.

Super helpful, thank you!!!

 

[SmiYa0126]

@aart I:ve seen some nice builds that you've done, anything to help?

 

[Percheron chick]

I had some temporary grow out pens made from chain link panels. My predators were coyotes and owl. I covered the pens with cattle panels. To support the middle, I used 1' pipe(top rail for chain link fence I had laying around) to span the opening and just wired the cattle panel to the chain link panels. Just 17 ga hot wire. Super handy to have a small roll.
I lined the bottom 2' of the chain link panels with chicken wire. Has kept newly hatched chicks and goslings in. Leave a few inches sticking out the bottom to fill in the gaps. If it's huge, fill it in with HW cloth.
I never covered it for rain. They had a large dog house to get out of the weather in and to sleep in. I did cover the top with shade cloth in the summer.
You can easily make some framework with PVC. Some elbows, a few tees, zip ties or hot wire and a saw. Now just wire the HW cloth to the frame. Done. Can drop it down a few inches on the chain link to close up the gaps and even things up.

 

[David61]

ok, think about putting a hawk net over the chain link pen. put and apron along the bottom so no digging in. Now put a small armored hardware cloth coop in that for the ladys to sleep in at night.
secure day run and armored roost box coop.

 

[paintedChix]

I didn't cover ours for chickens, but for dogs. We used 2 arched 16' cattle panel. To make it secure for birds would need either 2x4 wire or HC of your choice size. It didn't go full 10' length to front so for birds, again smaller gauge wire draped from front edge of CP to top of pen. The dog pen I did this on used much lighter "pole framing", it would not support a wooden framed roof unless doing a full on framing project w/ 4x4" or 4x6" inch posts sunk into the ground. We didn't want to do that. We used a medium weight tarp, but you could do heavier canvas tarp or even a tin roof over the CP.

If I used for birds, I'd used 4' tall 1/2" HC. Wrap it to protect the corners. Fold so 2' on the ground & 2' up the chain link. Pin the ground portion down. We've used heavy duty zip ties successfully. I have seen predators rip hog rings apart as fast as zip ties, so I go w/ easier for me, zips.

You can go all the way up chain link w/ HC if your predator situation is such that you need it. You can cut another CP down to fit the area as well.

Many different ways to do the gate/entrance door. Choose which way you want it to swing. Then you can use a board attached to opposite side of swing (on inside if you want door to swing out). The board can be wired, zipped or bolted into place. You can use wire HC, just incorporate enough width to allow for door to open - whichever way you want it to swing.

You can use a tarp around back & part of sides to make enclosed coop area or tin/roofing materials. So many different choices.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y1fKYqCFpa4yK6T36

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S325DVMjruRC8cRZ7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SUicd2L3tcsQPWwJ6

I will be moving this pen from backyard & may change it to a bird pen this summer. I will post a thread on how I do it.

 

[FunClucks]

I didn't cover ours for chickens, but for dogs. We used 2 arched 16' cattle panel. To make it secure for birds would need either 2x4 wire or HC of your choice size. It didn't go full 10' length to front so for birds, again smaller gauge wire draped from front edge of CP to top of pen. The dog pen I did this on used much lighter "pole framing", it would not support a wooden framed roof unless doing a full on framing project w/ 4x4" or 4x6" inch posts sunk into the ground. We didn't want to do that. We used a medium weight tarp, but you could do heavier canvas tarp or even a tin roof over the CP.

If I used for birds, I'd used 4' tall 1/2" HC. Wrap it to protect the corners. Fold so 2' on the ground & 2' up the chain link. Pin the ground portion down. We've used heavy duty zip ties successfully. I have seen predators rip hog rings apart as fast as zip ties, so I go w/ easier for me, zips.

You can go all the way up chain link w/ HC if your predator situation is such that you need it. You can cut another CP down to fit the area as well.

Many different ways to do the gate/entrance door. Choose which way you want it to swing. Then you can use a board attached to opposite side of swing (on inside if you want door to swing out). The board can be wired, zipped or bolted into place. You can use wire HC, just incorporate enough width to allow for door to open - whichever way you want it to swing.

You can use a tarp around back & part of sides to make enclosed coop area or tin/roofing materials. So many different choices.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y1fKYqCFpa4yK6T36

https://photos.app.goo.gl/S325DVMjruRC8cRZ7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SUicd2L3tcsQPWwJ6

I will be moving this pen from backyard & may change it to a bird pen this summer. I will post a thread on how I do it.

Thank you for the information!!!

 

[mowin]

Me, I'd sink 4x4s every 8' to frame out my run. Leave the one side high and the back side 1' lower if you don't get any snow. Frame the top, middle and bottom in with 5/4 x6" decking boards. I'd forget about the dog panels and just use HC. Put on whatever roofing you prefer.

 

[Jackisews]

Folks, the search function on this site is failing me. Most of what I can find folks using chain link dog kennels for is moderate security daytime runs. Which is great, but I need to build a top security, fully predator proof Ft. Knox open air covered coop/run. I'm having trouble finding builds and good suggestions and deciding what to do about the following. Can you guys help me?

1) the roof - really stressing this one - need an angled roof of some type across a 10 ft span, and can't decide if having one side of the roof elevated by two feet is the way to go, or if I should run a center beam. Also, do I need to put concrete and 4"x4" fenceposts to support my roof, or can I use 2"x4" lumber to frame it out, or chain link top rail? Money and equipment is an issue. I think I have to run some wood around the bottom to secure the chain link to the bottom rail and to the hardware cloth, but that would be on the outside of the run. I plan to run hardware cloth over all sides and top of the coop/run, and put up a transparent tarp for rain and wild bird poop protection, so the weight of rain is mainly what the roof will see. We get snow maybe two days a year, a couple inches, so that's not an issue.

2) predator proofing all areas (doors, roof, ground) - why the heck anyone would build round edges and doorways I will never understand. So much more of a pain to reduce the opening size to 1/2" or less, and I'm looking for a good way to do that.

Attachment suggestions for 3) securing the chain link to the top and bottom rails - it's pretty floppy at the moment. All I could think was chain link metal fence ties, but that would be super expensive because of the quantity and a pain to secure every single square. Do they sell that wire by the roll? How far apart can the ties be before a predator can push under the chain link fabric? My 3 ft apron will be secured to the base of the coop (probably to 2x4s like I did for my previous coop) and to the ground with a multitude of yard staples.

Attachment suggestions for 4) securing the hardware cloth to the chain link. I have hog ties available (hated them last time, but maybe attaching to chain link is easier?) and metal zip ties. Also screws and 1" washers. I have maybe 12 2"x4" that are 8 ft long, and maybe 10 that are 10 ft long. I have ordered all the needed hardware cloth in 6ft height for the sides and roof, and 3ft height for the apron.

Current setup is 10ft by 30ft with a door on the north end and south east side. Each chain link panel has rounded corners at the top and is 10ft x 6ft and very light-weight. Tractor supply sells these panels. There's a foot difference in height midway through the east wall, I had to dig a trench and push the fence panel into it in order to get the fence panel to sit flat on the ground.

My previous open air coop/run is here. This one is pretty different on the sides and roof, so I'm struggling a bit.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/have-the-chickens-now-i-need-a-coop-please-help.1519455/

I want to use this coop to grow out the 24 colored eggers in the incubator, and then for some meat birds, so predator protection is key. Hatch date is in 9 days, so the clock is ticking.... I am super excited for my first hatch, but stressing about this coop. Any help you guys can give would be appreciated!!!

Here are some photos of our chain link dog kennel chicken coop. The green shade cloth in the first photo faces east. All three sides of the top half of the back of the coop is covered with vinyl siding that I got at a yard sale.

This photo shows the kennel ceiling covered with hardware cloth and a heavy duty tarp. We used natural branches for perches on this side of the coop.

We used an old ladder in this part of the coop to support the perches.

Here it is from the inside facing east. We keep this shade cloth up year round to protect from the early morning sun. In the winter we add a tarp over the shade cloth which we open during the day.

And here is the finisshed coop. Each chain link panel is covered in hardware cloth as well as the ceiling. There is a predator proof hardware cloth apron around the pereimeter of the coop.