Covered run? Advice? Pictures added.

[soffielove1000]

They've all settled down and the boss hen has allowed even the rooster in the food, water, and hen house.


Thank you all for the advice! We've actually decided to remodel the pen entirely to something like this:


Should be setting it up within the next couple weeks. For now, everyone is staying put and seems happy enough.

Regarding quarantining: I'll make sure to do that next time around. I've been keeping a close eye on all of them for any signs of distress or sickness.

 

[Mikee1948]

If you have raccoons or yotes you better cover it, and replace that chain link fence with hardware cloth.

 

[MyLittleRedCoop]

This is a topic that we just had to decide for our flock, as we are building a larger coop and run... So I have been talking with friends who own chickens, as well as pouring over all the options on this website and others, trying to get the most effective solution without breaking the budget. Here is what I've found:

I've heard of people running regular twine across the run at about 1 ft intervals, and criss-crossing them, creating a woven effect to prevent anything from entering. Can get saggy in the middle - Not great for large areas for this reason. This won't keep out sparrows or other smallish birds, who can still carry germs and other undesirables into the coop, as well as eat up all the food, but it does keep out the bigger preditors like owls, eagles, hawks and vulctures. It is also fairly effective at keeping chickens in.

Some people use a shade tarp, but that is prone to collecting water or snow. Could be great if installed at a slant, though, just for shade? (and if the sides are "covered" somehow, to close up gaps) If attached well, it does a fine job of keeping other birds out and chickens in. Also prone to sagging in the middle.
( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HKIUAG/?psc=1&s=hi&ref=noref&ie=UTF8 )

I've also seen people using bird netting across the top. It blocks without collecting any snow or rain, the way a tarp would. It does keep out smaller and larger birds. It also costs much less than a tarp. Can get a little saggy in the middle, but since this is all one large sheet, a post holds it up nicely. (This is what we are going with, with a corrugated roofed area right off the coop for shade and rain protection)
( http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener...8&qid=1350672216&sr=8-1&keywords=bird+netting )

Another method that looks very neat and durable is framed metal fabric that is attached to the sides, but that would probably be better suited to a wooden run with similar sides. It's also a lot more work, and more expensive.

I agree with earlier posts, though, that a shaded area would be a good thing, whether as a part of your covering or as a separate shelter under or over your bird-proofing.

Good luck!

 

[LaPetiteFarmer]

We also live in So Cal and we used a deer netting for the top (home depot). It's really cheap and they can't fly away. We don't really have any predators though. As for the shade they go under their coop.

 

[kian]

We used plastic lattice for the top of our run. It casts some shade and so far, the hawk that lives on the telephone pole across the street has been kept out. The chicks are too little to fly out or to try to.

 

[aggiemae]

Our\ set up is similar in shape except we made the floor of the coop 30" of the ground with a short clean out door instead of a walk in. This provides the same amount of coop space and also allows about 30 sq feet of run space under the coop.

 

[beccram]

We had a lot of metal siding left over from when they built my horse barn, so we used that to roof over our run. They still get a lot of sun during the day due to placement of the coop, and we can still keep the rain out. It is sloped to where it drains clear of the coop too - which is great!

 

[Alaskan]

This is a topic that we just had to decide for our flock, as we are building a larger coop and run... So I have been talking with friends who own chickens, as well as pouring over all the options on this website and others, trying to get the most effective solution without breaking the budget. Here is what I've found:

I've heard of people running regular twine across the run at about 1 ft intervals, and criss-crossing them, creating a woven effect to prevent anything from entering. Can get saggy in the middle - Not great for large areas for this reason. This won't keep out sparrows or other smallish birds, who can still carry germs and other undesirables into the coop, as well as eat up all the food, but it does keep out the bigger preditors like owls, eagles, hawks and vulctures. It is also fairly effective at keeping chickens in.

Some people use a shade tarp, but that is prone to collecting water or snow. Could be great if installed at a slant, though, just for shade? (and if the sides are "covered" somehow, to close up gaps) If attached well, it does a fine job of keeping other birds out and chickens in. Also prone to sagging in the middle.
( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HKIUAG/?psc=1&s=hi&ref=noref&ie=UTF8 )

I've also seen people using bird netting across the top. It blocks without collecting any snow or rain, the way a tarp would. It does keep out smaller and larger birds. It also costs much less than a tarp. Can get a little saggy in the middle, but since this is all one large sheet, a post holds it up nicely. (This is what we are going with, with a corrugated roofed area right off the coop for shade and rain protection)
( http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Gardener...8&qid=1350672216&sr=8-1&keywords=bird+netting )

Another method that looks very neat and durable is framed metal fabric that is attached to the sides, but that would probably be better suited to a wooden run with similar sides. It's also a lot more work, and more expensive.

I agree with earlier posts, though, that a shaded area would be a good thing, whether as a part of your covering or as a separate shelter under or over your bird-proofing.

Good luck!

great detailed answer....

but I disagree with the bird netting over the top.

I live with moderate humidity and snow, and so that snow sticks to everything, including the plastic net. A person in Fairbanks said that snow never stuck to their wire roof, but Fairbanks has dry snow, not sticky.

My snow sticks to wire, to rope, to plastic, etc. etc.