Covering our chicken run... yay or nay?

[Heat]

My husband and I are trying to get a run set up so our chickens (and soon ducks) can come out during the day without worrying about our neighbors dog getting in and eating another chicken. Since she went up and over I have entertained the thought of putting chicken wire over the top of the run. However, due to experience with this I am cautious due to the possibility of snow in the winter.

I have been reading about aprons and the like around the bottom of the run, but in all honesty we live on top of a bed of rocks and it would be cruel and unusual punishment to ask my husband to dig around the run (that I have already had him move fence posts for). And due to the rocks that are directly below the grass I don't think anything will be trying to dig under the fence.

My question is, what has been done to keep dogs out of the run? Eventually we will be fencing in the property with a 6 ft wood fence, but we need something in the meantime. Any ideas for covering the run?

Thank you for any help

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I don't know how large your run is or what it is made out of, but here is a shot of my chicken tractor, where I used PVC pipe and chicken wire to cover it. I threw a tarp over one half of the tractor and held it in place with zip ties to provide shade. It will also give some shelter from the rain and would probably work well in snow because the snow would slide off the sides rather than pile up on top.



This tractor is 6'X12' and the 10' PVC pipe I used spanned it very nicely. Because I spaced the joists & pipe 3' apart, it was easy to make 36" wide chicken wire (or hardware cloth) span the space between. A 12'X12' tarp would cover all of the run leaving a 2' open space at the bottom on both sides, but could also be adjusted to go all the way down to the ground on one side if you have strong winds that you want to protect your hens from in the winter.

 

[Heat]

Thank you Hummingbird Hollow! I think I may do something along those lines...

I was picturing something like this when my mom was putting up her hoop houses I just wasn't able to quiet picture it...

Thank you for the awesome picture.. now to have the hubby take a look ;-)

 

[joan1708]

An electric fence should deter the dogs! Hope you don't have small children, that could be a deal breaker.

 

[Heat]

We were thinking about an electric fence as well, but we are working with limited funds right now as this wasn't quiet in our budget when we originally built the coop and yard. I have a Heeler/Malamute mix who guards over the flock (and us) with his life so we didn't think twice about our neighbors (my Uncle-in-law) dog who has never acted aggressive until that point.

I have a 4 year old who plays with the dog... so it is hard to be mad at a dog who's only issue (so far) is eating chickens (she doesn't even bother the cats that run around)... just need to protect the flock since I am now aware of the unfortunate situation :-/