Decision making for new run area - posts, construction

[goldiehenandcompany]

Hello all! I’m hoping for some guidance as I begin building a more permanent run area for my three geriatric, special needs chicken friends I recently brought in. They have a prefab coop that I would like to place inside of a run. I have no build experience and just obtained run plans for a 6x12’ space.

It does not account for securing the structure to the ground; is it necessary/recommended to bury the 4x4 corner posts into the ground? We are in Central Oregon - high desert climate with four seasons of weather. Very sandy soil.

My other question is around lumber choices. I’m thinking I should go pressure treated with either all, or just the parts that will make ground contact. Does that sound like next practice?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

 

[Mouthpear]

Hello all! I’m hoping for some guidance as I begin building a more permanent run area for my three geriatric, special needs chicken friends I recently brought in. They have a prefab coop that I would like to place inside of a run. I have no build experience and just obtained run plans for a 6x12’ space.

It does not account for securing the structure to the ground; is it necessary/recommended to bury the 4x4 corner posts into the ground? We are in Central Oregon - high desert climate with four seasons of weather. Very sandy soil.

My other question is around lumber choices. I’m thinking I should go pressure treated with either all, or just the parts that will make ground contact. Does that sound like next practice?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

It all depends if your area gets high winds or stormy conditions. Snow loads also are a factor. Frost line.

Also make sure that any pressure treated or just treated wood is also rated for ground contact. Not all treatments are the same.

 

[Mercibelle]

When I constructed my coop and run, I went a bit overboard with it's construction. I'm not an expert and many people here probably have much better solutions and ideas, but I'll toss in what I did with my coop/run.

I sank my corner posts and the load bearing posts in the center approximately two to three feet into the ground. All of my wood was pressure treated and all wood that was placed into the ground was first charred and covered in roofing tar then wrapped with roof protector underlayment for added protection from moisture. (I legit live in a swamp so I was extremely worried about these posts rotting out on me.)

This is a really hasty picture I took of my coop where you can see the remaining char on the lumber. I'm not really sure if this is a problem to do in a coop and didn't think it through with building it. I've never really seen my hens or rooster pecking at the wood so it hasn't caused any issues with my flock.

 

[goldiehenandcompany]

It all depends if your area gets high winds or stormy conditions. Snow loads also are a factor. Frost line.

Also make sure that any pressure treated or just treated wood is also rated for ground contact. Not all treatments are the same.

Thanks for the input! We certainly get a decent amount of snow, luckily not so much high winds (rare).

 

[goldiehenandcompany]

When I constructed my coop and run, I went a bit overboard with it's construction. I'm not an expert and many people here probably have much better solutions and ideas, but I'll toss in what I did with my coop/run.

I sank my corner posts and the load bearing posts in the center approximately two to three feet into the ground. All of my wood was pressure treated and all wood that was placed into the ground was first charred and covered in roofing tar then wrapped with roof protector underlayment for added protection from moisture. (I legit live in a swamp so I was extremely worried about these posts rotting out on me.)

This is a really hasty picture I took of my coop where you can see the remaining char on the lumber. I'm not really sure if this is a problem to do in a coop and didn't think it through with building it. I've never really seen my hens or rooster pecking at the wood so it hasn't caused any issues with my flock.

Thanks so much for sharing! Sounds like you did your due diligence to make sure it would last in your conditions. It looks really nice!