Chicken Run - Buy or Build?

[Soon2BChixMom]

Weasels can squeeze through any hole a mouse can. They are climbers as well. So to be totally safe if weasels are a concern everything would need to be less than a 1/2 inch in size. Mink might "reach through" if they can't tear it apart, but weasels are much more agile as far as getting to their prey.
My run is not up to the weasel proofing standards; however, my coop is for their night time safety. My run is heavy duty cattle panel surrounded by 1×4 welded wire protected by an electric wire. There is also aviary netting over the top. If something could reach in or climb, it will get zapped first. It is not weasel or mouse proof, but larger predators will be detoured.
I can't worry 24/7 about my birds, but provide for them and hope they have a good life.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I say build! While it can be totally frustrating, it is so rewarding in the end. My husband and I built our coop and run together. Neither one of us had any experience or any idea what we were doing but it turned out great! It's been about 4 years now and it hasn't collapsed yet! Here's a link to our book about the whole building process if you're interested

http://onemountainacres.weebly.com/adventures-with-chickens/building-the-coop

 

[paintedChix]

A little off topic - do others actually have problems with mice? My chickens - even as 8 week old chicks - will go after, kill and eat field mice and voles (larger than the mice). If they don't "finish" their meal, the outdoor cats will...

The breeds that were involved in the "vole race" this summer were a mix of birds - none of which were actually supposed to be out, but were. The 1-1/2 yr old roo is a smallish Ameraucana/mixed bantamX, 2 chicks were blue Australorp pullets, several lavender orpington cockerels and an orpington pullet... Was HILARIOUS to watch them chasing the vole (Orps do run like CornishXs do, LOL). The next day, Mr. Blue (7 yr old male barn cat) carried the "departed" vole off.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

A little off topic - do others actually have problems with mice? My chickens - even as 8 week old chicks - will go after, kill and eat field mice and voles (larger than the mice). If they don't "finish" their meal, the outdoor cats will...

The breeds that were involved in the "vole race" this summer were a mix of birds - none of which were actually supposed to be out, but were. The 1-1/2 yr old roo is a smallish Ameraucana/mixed bantamX, 2 chicks were blue Australorp pullets, several lavender orpington cockerels and an orpington pullet... Was HILARIOUS to watch them chasing the vole (Orps do run like CornishXs do, LOL). The next day, Mr. Blue (7 yr old male barn cat) carried the "departed" vole off.

We tend to have issues with mice. I think my entire flock may be defective lol. Turkeys and chickens will just watch them run by. I used to have 1 hen that would actively Chase them but she recently passed away. She was a CX mix so she couldn't actually catch them but if I caught one in a trap, she was more than happy to finish the job.

 

[olayak]

Also off topic a little, can Cornish X males live together? It looks like we have two girls, two boys. I don't want to re-home one to a sanctuary, but that's what will happen if they're fighting. I'm hoping you guys will tell me that males, if raised together, can live peacefully?
Thanks
Kathy

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Also off topic a little, can Cornish X males live together? It looks like we have two girls, two boys. I don't want to re-home one to a sanctuary, but that's what will happen if they're fighting. I'm hoping you guys will tell me that males, if raised together, can live peacefully?
Thanks
Kathy

If raised together, they SHOULD be fine. I have about 8 boys running around together right now with the flock with no issues.

 

[paintedChix]

Can't answer to that one. Never kept our CornishXs long enough to fight...

I currently have a lot of roosters of different breeds. The oldest one is now 8 months old. He is definitely going after his 6m old "brother" (same breed - Rhodebar) and 2 other roos, also 6m old (Crested Leg Bar - production line) in the pen/coop (free range 24/7) now. The younger boys watch and they will MOVE when he comes around... I did have a tail injury to a younger roo (same age as the other 2) CLBs and 2 days later he was dead. I should have separated him, but he seemed to be doing fine so I didn't... .

Had a group of 7 Ameraucana in one pen. They were hatched in early April, so they are just 6 months old. I still couldn't tell all of them apart (which were roo/which hen) but definitely recognized 1 as a roo. He and what turned out to be another roo, were both dead in their 10x36 coop/run the week before Hurricane Florence hit us. Think that they'd started fighting (maybe??) and in the heat (100+ during the day when I found them that eve) they had heat exhaustion or heart attacks? I don't know. Both missing a LOT of feathers, had some bleeding scratches, the smaller 1 I hadn't recognized as a roo had 1 eye swollen shut, but other than that - not a mark on them... ?? Looks like I have 2, possibly 3 roos left in that coop/run w/ 2 pullets...

In another pen - I currently have 2 - 55 Flowery Hen cockerels (w/ 8 pullets) and 2 Bielefelder cockerels (w/ 6 pullets). The 55 Flowery Hen cockerels (hatched in Feb) are now smaller than the "B"s - hatched in May. So far, I've not noticed them fighting, but the 55 Flowery pullets DO go after the "B" pullets... They were all combined for the 1st hurricane and left together while building more permanent coops. Then thrown back together for this "little" hurricane...

Just dispatched a 3 yr old EE rooster. He kept coming after me - and the 3rd time he managed to put a hole in my leg thru my britches... Painful, not wanting to heal. We didn't eat him either - didn't want his "onery-ness" in mine, my hubby's or my granddaughters' bellies, LOL. Nice fertilizer for the fruit trees going in the next few months! Hopefully, that dissipates his "onery-ness"...

 

[olayak]

If raised together, they SHOULD be fine. I have about 8 boys running around together right now with the flock with no issues.

Phew! Thanks! You gave me hope!

 

[martins show birds]

Haven't finished checking out what the rest of the thread states, but since the first page seems to be copies of the same posts several times, I'll answer now.

Yes, weasels and other "armed" predators can reach thru 1x1" wire - they can also tear chicken wire easily. Some can reach through 1/2"x1/2" (which by the way, totally sucks).

Yes, not only can those gaps let predators in, but your chicks at that age can get thru quite easily. Older chicks can get thru the gaps on them, too. Ask me how I know, LOL!!

Easy to build, temporary, and affordable run. HMMMMM... hoop cattle panels ($22/ea @ TSC). You can attach them to a tire frame, a wood frame, a PVC frame OR you can drive t-posts into the ground to hold the panels where you want them. You could even put 1 side against a tree or 2.

Then you can cover lower portion w/ small enough wire to prevent predators (recommend HW cloth) from getting in and cover the top with at least 2x4 wire to keep your mature chickens in (chicks aren't going to fly 8' high, usually). Or you can roof it with a variety of different roofing products - as simple as a tarp or green house panels or roofing panels. You can add as many panels as you want to make it longer.

Again, a variety of options for the end not attached to your coop. Use cut panel for gate, build a framed out door (if I can do that with a simple circular saw, a handful of screws, 2 hinges, staples from a hand held staple gun and chicken wire, anyone can!!), use PVC...

We use our hooped cattle panels as the actual coops and the chickens free range during the day. I also now have cattle panels hooped over some square pens that were built by the previous owner of this property (have 2 done, need to do the other 2) - so now I can stand up in those pens. We are building fenced areas off of those coops - hoping don't need to cover them (would be pricey - even using hooped panels) but may have to as I have several breeds that I am now breeding that are very flighty even w/o considering predators...

View attachment 1558672 View attachment 1558673

The feed bags on the bottom of the pen served two purposes - kept "chicks" in the 2x4 wire that was up on the pen when I had to put them there before an out of state run while having someone else take care of lots of young chicks and now they help to provide wind/rain protection. Both of these pics were taken AFTER Hurricane Florence ripped through. Now we have the aftermath of Hurricane Michael (wind and rain, but didn't hang out this time) - both of these survived WELL. I was impressed. Yes, I know. My pens are "kinda hilly billy country" in looks. You can certainly make them look nicer and there are many on this forum who have.

We have had predators and I will be replacing the 2x4 wire (old and rusty, actually) with HW cloth since eventual plan is to have much younger chicks in these pens... The chicks that could get out are 55 Flowery Hens that were 12 weeks old (pullets & cockerels) - body build/size similar to Leghorns.

If you REALLY want to use those pre-built panels - I recommend chain link dog kennels. Wire is actually stronger, gaps are smaller and they are about $300-500 less in cost for the same size pen(s)... You would still need to put some type of wire to prevent predators from getting in and keeping your chicks in at that size..

Snow load - you can still use hooped panels. Search "Blooie". Her and her hubby have a whole series w/ pics of how they built a run in WYO and how it handled snow load.

Good luck with your CornishX as pets. It's good to be working with a vet on that since they aren't usually long lived birds...

looks good

 

[sprede]

I am a new backyard chicken farmer myself and am about 2 months into it. I didn't want to put to much cash into this experience just yet but I did buy a pretty solid chicken coop but lacked a decent run. We happened to have a 10 x 10 dog kennel (about 200 bucks new) that we ended up putting around the coop for now and bird netting to keep flying predators out. Since we are in a rental I did not want to build anything permanent.

Now, those dog kennels will keep most larger animals out (dogs, coyotes, cats, maybe bears and mountain lions?) but not anything that can get through the fencing gaps. I put my young chickens away in the coop and lock them in so rats or any other of those type of critters can't get into the coop. We also have two Aussies that guard them during the morning and evenings till we put them away so that helps out as well. Once we get into a permanent home I would definitely build my own run.

With all the ideas out there and how to's it wouldn't be hard. From what I have seen and read, you can put one together with a few 4x4 posts, 2x4s and some wire mesh. If you can build a box then you can build a chicken run. Go online to google images and type in "Easy Chicken Run" and you'll see what I am talking about. Now if you are really want to Bear proof that thing then maybe finding a local handy man/woman would be best.