chicken Run with no roof?

[toletiquesbysam]

I don't have a roof on my run. I have had a possum come into the coop/run but that's cause the door was open since my chickens free range too. The run does get wet and my chickens don't mind, it dries out well and I keep their feed inside the coop but have numerous waterers outside. If I had an issue with flying predators then I would add some netting but having an open run is fine with me!

 

[bigstack]

My mother in law just uses garden twine kriss crossed over the run. She just weaves it through the fencing. There is 12 inch gaps but it works to deter the hawks. They see the twine and don't want to try to go through it.

God Bless!

 

[MotherJean]

Okay, all this talk about predators confused me so I went back and reread the original post(s) and looked at the photos. Stampntam has some sort of plastic deer netting over top of the run. She isn't concerned about predators. Her reason for wanting a roof on the run was to keep the run dry and to keep the feeders dry, so this thread strayed a bit off topic.

 

[ColoradoMike]

I'm afraid I can't blame your husband for not wanting to put even a partial roof on that run. It's a beautiful structure, no doubt, but it would need to be shored up to support a roof w/ snow loads on it. I like the suggestions of constructing a smaller lean-to type structure within the run intself, where you can provide adequate shelter for the feed. Maybe make a few little shelters for both the feed and for the chickens to escape the sun/rain.

Nice setup, BTW.

 

[silkieowner]

how about instand of ptting a roof on your coop make something like a tabla o something then put the feed under the table then it won't get wet, This is what i'm thinking of doing as i have a open run with wire on top. But my chookies get free range in the yard when were home if were not home there in the pen.

 

[stampntam]

thanks everyone for your input, I think your words have changed his mind, you know he just could not hear it from me.(I don't know anything, lol) One thing a roof will also help give some shade in summer.

 

[Intheswamp]

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...and give them somewhere to gather when it's raining so that they'll get out of the coop (and reduce the poop load in there). Even in PA I'll bet the extra shade will be appreciated...being down here in south Alabama I'm planning for excess shade as the summers can be killers. I would pay close attention to building it for your snow load. Down here that's kind of an unknown thing, but from time to time we get a freak snow that brings down a few carports, etc.,....but still folks down here don't take snow too seriously, I would think that in your area it's very serious.

As for your netting on the rest of the run, I've seen photos of runs with net/wire over the top that have had heavy snows on them. It seems the snow easily builds up into a solid mass on the netting and can cause it to collapse. You might want to eyeball it over the summer and see if it needs some extra support under it... maybe some heavy wire strung between the horizontal supports?....some pre-cut 2x4 "seasonal" supports to be placed under the framework for a few months, etc.,.

Best wishes and congrats on getting some cover coming!
Ed

 

[bayareapilot]

Just a thought.... I'm new at all this and weighing the decision myself. I have one of Ware Mfg.'s 'Premium Chick-N-Pen'. While my chicks are still waiting to be old enough to go out in the coop, I'm making plans and putting things in-place, early. Since I don't want something that will block the sun off the run (since the chickens can always go into the coop for shade if they need it) I'm playing with the notion of using Plexiglas-LIKE panels (real plexiglas would be too costly) and create a peaked roof over the run. It would allow light in but keep a fair portion of rain off of the substrate (construction sand) in the run. Still running the idea through my head, but on initial analysis it seems reasonable.





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[patandchickens]

bayareapilot, you might want to rethink the idea of requiring the chickens to depend on the indoor part of the coop for shade (especially when you have a *small* coop like that and live in the SF area). Believe me, even with a solid (opaque) roof on the run, they will have PLENTY of access to sunny area, since the sun will never be directly overhead and will always slant into the run. And the larger an area of OUTDOOR shade they have, the cooler and more comfortable (and healthier, in hot weather) they will be.

Just a thought,

Pat

 

[bayareapilot]

Okay... thanks! I was more thinking since I have the 'Chick-N-Cabin' which will be connected to the 'Chick-N-Pen' run that if I had something over the top of the run that the substrate would stay drier on the days that it rains. I positively have to have a covered run (even if only the screen top that the product I've bought has with it) since I have a family of hawks that live nearby and are always flying over my yard in the daytime. Couldn't risk an open top run.


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