Chicken Greenhouse

[TheRealWitwiki]

Any thoughts about turning chicken pen into a makeshift green house for the winter? I started wrapping my pen with a 3.5 mil plastic about a week ago and haven’t been able to finish because of rain. I’m tired of a soggy chicken pen and wanted to know if anyone has tried this and had any luck. I was thinking it would help keep the rain/snow from making the straw in pen so nasty and keep the wind off my chickens. If it works was thinking of doing the same for my ducks.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Do a search in “hoop coops” and you’ll see many examples of something like you are considering. A roof of any sort is a big help on the run, especially in winter! Mine had a HW cloth roof but we put plywood over it for the season, for exactly those reasons. Also it would fill up with snow and there would be no run!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Depends on how much you're planning to wrap up. Lots of folks cover part of their run during winter to ward off winds, but you still need to leave ample ventilation open.

 

[aart]

Any thoughts about turning chicken pen into a makeshift green house for the winter? I started wrapping my pen with a 3.5 mil plastic about a week ago and haven’t been able to finish because of rain. I’m tired of a soggy chicken pen and wanted to know if anyone has tried this and had any luck. I was thinking it would help keep the rain/snow from making the straw in pen so nasty and keep the wind off my chickens. If it works was thinking of doing the same for my ducks.

Unless you're growing plants in there, it's just a wrapped run and not a greenhouse.
Sorry, just poking some fun.

Many have wrapped runs...important to keep some ventilation open tho, as @rosemarythyme pointed out. and if you get snow be careful that the framing under the plastic can hold up to the snow load.

Mucky runs can be fixed other ways tho. Good drainage and large chipped wood will hold up to most anything....even the feet of snow we get here. Look at the run off around your run, from the ground slope to roofs to hardscaping nearby...all can contribute to a soggy run, and most can be 'fixed' to reduce the impact.

Pics of your run and around it would garner more specific suggestions.
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