Chain Link Dog Run - Pros and Cons

[tenderkat]

Hello Everyone,

My husband and I are just about finished with our coop. We started digging out the run area as best we could yesterday, but it is time consuming and expensive.

We scored a free chainlink dog kennel off craigslist today, and I am hoping to use this temporarily while we wrap up all our loose ends with the run we are currently working on. When we get that done, we hope to tie the two in together, which will double the size we have planned. The dog kennel is 6x8x6, has a wire floor, a covered top, and is made by Elcar.

I would love for anyone to share their personal experience with chainlink dog runs, pros and cons, and any suggested or recommended modifications. This way we will know a little more when we pick up the run.

Thank so much!!

 

[KellyHM]

I use them for all my chickens. The only con I have is that it's hard to keep a good cover on them. Tarps get ripped off or bogged down by the rain. Otherwise they're wonderful!

 

[happyhensny]

THEY ARE AWESOME! Ok, I think so anyway. We have 2 coops. Coop A is 4x8 with an 6x14 kennel attached. We have wire the roof, secured the bottom. Coop B is 8x8 with two kennels connected. We have had the neighbors dog - a Great Dane - show up, terrify our chickens BUT did not get any. They are strong and meant to keep dogs in and they keep them out just as well. Just be sure to secure the roof and around the base to ward off climbers and diggers. Have fun!

Edited to add: we use metal roofing panels for the roof of the run sloped away from the coop and they are strong enough to handle the great quantities of snow we get here.

 

[TexasVet]

I only use dog kennel panels now, and think they're wonderful because they're quick to set up and reconfigure. I don't cover mine now that the coop is raised; the birds just dive for cover if a hawk appears. And it's easy to run a hotwire at the bottom and top, so you dont' have to bury the panels or wire in the ground to keep out predators.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[Imp]

Love mine. I covered with another panel and roofed with the corrugated plastic panels. Also the floor is chainlink. My chickens freerange all day so they really don't use it. It's more of a vestibule.

Imp

 

[LizzyJo]

I have one. The top is open on half and shaded with a tarp on the other half. I agree that rain is a problem with the tarp--it collects rain to drop on you when you go in to do something about it.

The wire bottom doesn't sound good to me. My girls dig holes all over the place for dust baths, they would have trouble if there were a wire bottom. If you have digging predators the wire on the bottom might be important.

The dog, being a neurotic without sheep has taken the chickens as his personal responsibility. They don't bunch up, They don't run in proper circles. They just ignore him. He knows they must be punished for not acting like sheep, so he charges the side of the run and hits it so hard that over time it started bowing in. I put a little garden fence around part of it and left one end exposed to the dog--let it bend.

Oh, I remembered another plus. I had a big plastic waterer that I put in the pen originally, but the girls kept perching on it and pooping in the water. So I took the tray part that holds the water and set it up outside the run fence, but inside the little garden fence that the dog can't get into. Now no one poops in the water and when they want a drink, they just put their widdle heads thru the openings in the wire. Neat and tidy.

 

[The Wolf Queen]

Im gonna do something similar. Basically its a chainlink run. Ill go around it with chicken wire and if I get one without a cover I will go over the top with chicken wire as well. I will also get one to 3 tarps to make walls (Tarp will be cut so each wall can be rolled up or unrolled on its own and fastend with thick string). To go to my thread click here ---> https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=211014

 

[tenderkat]

Thankyou for all your responses. We started setting up the pen, and have nixed the wire bottom for several reasons. There is an 11x6 chainlink panel that fits over the top, and we will use steel roofing panels for the rest.

My main concern is making sure this thing is as predator proof as possible. My girls will be locked up in their house at night, but on the offchance a coon decides to be out earlier in the evening or later in the morning, I want to make sure they can't engage in any mutilation.

I will be wrapping the lower portion of the chainlink run with 1/2x1/2 inch hardware cloth, but what is the best way to tie it to the panels? I have read of people using zipties, but are these really strong enough? And, how wide of a gap between the panels would allow something to squeeze through on top?

I'm also a bit concerned regrading the chainlink portion of the roof. Will a hawk, or owl, or other predatory bird fly THROUGH the chainlink to get to my chickens?

Any and all predator proofing advice necessary with dog kennel runs would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[MIKE555444]

Chain Link Fence makes the best protection IMO. If the bottom and top are covered then it should be perfect.

Nice thinking!!

 

[TcherDawn]

This is our temporary set up. I use plywood on the corners for some shade, but it has not hit 80 degrees here yet this summer in NH, so shade is not of the utmost importance here. It has hardware cloth around the bottom 3 feet because the gaps in it are so wide almost anthing predator wise could get in or reach in, besides the fact that anything that approaches the kennel and the chickens stick their neck out to see it and make themselves vulnerable.