Hmmm... I've never truly had a fully enclosed & protected predator proof run. Seems different predators have had the abilities, at different times of the year, to penetrate those defenses. Geez - even the electrified poultry netting (strong enough to drop me to me knees, gasping in pain, but can't remember the exact outputs - sold with the different set ups from Premier 1) don't stop hunting dogs that are used to wearing electric fencing collars. I haven't really decided how I will be doing the grazing paddocks next year through our pony pastures and our large front and back yards... Have already purchased supplies to do smaller pasture tractors that will hold 25 chicks to about 2-3 months of age and then fewer than that as they get older (5x8 sizing - about 3' tall?). That appears to be size I can easily and quickly maneuver about by myself.
This year, I got a bit complacent. The birds had been combined out of their movable grazing pens (which protected them from March thru September) and into small, more structurally sound pens through the two hurricanes. Then they got bored - so I let them start free ranging as I was building new pens & coops... a few months later and still working on them - I came home to lots of missing birds and a large group of dead ones all scattered in between the coop/pens, the back and front yards of our house. Our dogs were all going absolutely "crazy" (2 pitXs, a mini aussie and a 30# mix of ???) - but were all still enclosed in their own backyard area in their chain link panel fencing (the next day they all dug out under their own fencing, but left the handful of birds still free ranging alone - as I've noticed they've done in the past).
So currently all of our birds are confined to different 4x8', 8x8' pen/coops and a truck topper coop with 16x16' run (it is one of the ones I was repairing and re-roofing - it doesn't contain the birds - the CLBs and the RBs were quite adept at getting up and over the 8' fence themselves). Two of the 8x8 coop/pens have 10 & 9 birds in them - the rest have half that number. At the moment, the one with the 9 - 55 Flowery Hens in it all seem to be happy and content. In fact, when a couple of the girls followed our granddaughters out the door last weekend they appeared to be majorly stressed when they couldn't get back into their pen and my VERY flighty birds allowed me to walk up to them, pick them up and return them to their spot (WOW, that was new!). The other pen, with a mix of 8 pullets and two roos seems to have 2 CLB (Jill Rees show line - 1 generation removed from imported stock) that are ALWAYS unhappy and wanting to go out when I appear at the door of their pen. I was hoping to have more 8x8 pen/coops done so I could split these birds up - but bad weather and the stomach flu virus combined with lots of additional hours at work the past 4 months has meant not getting them completed. Working on that and permanent as well as movable paddocks for them to all be out in that are protected from marauding dogs, the single coyote we've seen and hawks. It's a big work in progress, LOL.
The "coop/pens" i'm referring to are CP hooped types with tarp roofs. Starting to experiment with other materials for roofs. The paddocks (runs?) are 4-8' tall and some will have netting over them to keep birds in and wild birds out and others won't. May still have various movable, temporary pens - don't know (not set up at the moment at all).
The granddaughters and I are regularly getting the feed sacks and trashcans full of leaves and pine straw and weeds as well as prunings from the various shrubs around the house and shredded junk mail. The birds all delight in those and they quickly spread them about, lay eggs in them now (most in their nest boxes but a few not) and dig for extra worms (I try to dig in some areas when we are gathering fresh leaves to bring the forest soil into their individual pens). The birds can stay dry in bad weather OR they can go to areas that aren't fully protected and can/do get wet. They do dig down into their own pens to dust bathe and I've got dust boxes in a couple now that work better...
I MISS the free ranging birds. So does my husband - who actually ASKED the other day about just allowing the extra roosters (several purebred Ameraucana, CLB, RB and a whole group of bantam barnyard Xs of ?? crossed with Ameraucana & EE) out to free range. BUT those are all meant to go to freezer camp and actually at least 5 will be going into FC tonight and tomorrow morning... I don't want to lose those birds at all. The ones that we'd already lost were parts of various breeding groups that would have provided future layers for our families (2 daughters married & we have 5 grand children; the 3rd engaged. None are currently in a position to have chickens, so they get eggs and processed birds from us - they are pressed into "service" whenever they all stop by in one capacity or anther in exchange for their birds/eggs). The last 2 bantam barnyard mix hens are now gone were gotten in that December day raid...
My pasture layers are now all gone as well. They were gotten during the day, while I was at work, while free ranging in the pony pastures inside a 7 acre pasture fenced in goat/sheep field fence and hot wire - top and bottom.. 20 birds total (18 laying hens - hatchery stock & 2 roos). The ONLY birds left in my pasture are the ones who'd been locked into the 1 - 8x8 coop w/o being allowed to free range. SO, they've now been split into smaller groups into the extra 2, now empty coop/pens... They will not be allowed out now until I have pens/runs done for them as well. It makes me sad. The whole point was to have these birds free ranging, but obviously that isn't going to be - at least not during the months of December - March, which appears to be when I have hungry, marauding "domestic" dogs and coyote able to cruise through our pastures (and even up right next to our house). The pony stallion that I had that would have protected his mares by killing such dogs has been deceased since 2012 and we dearly MISS him as well. The others we've had just aren't the same as he was. They stand and watch the coyote and they will run from dogs -
- again.
So - I say it totally depends on a person's situation. Since we've been on this property - I would have to say all birds need to be contained and protected from both Ariel and canine type ground predators . As to coop vs run - I've always used open coop/runs - since discovering the CP hooped coops - will never have a completely closed coop with a floor again. Our daughter plans to return to my parents' property in MT, near the Canadian border. We've been discussing coop options and honestly, they will probably go with a pole barn style shed open to the ground and CP hooped run that may or may not be covered with plastic &/or tarp(s). Yes, I do know of the snow and wind loads as well as the expected predators - having lived on that property myself for several years when our 3 daughters were toddlers to elementary school ages when Larry was overseas.
