Does my run need a solid roof?

[Chickentender7]

In the process of building a larger run, roofing materials are just not in the budget right now. Can I get by with just hardware cloth for the roof to protect from aerial predators? At least for a year or so until we can add roof panels?
We get rain and snow but not astronomical amounts. Our flooring is sand.
If this will work, to provide some shade and a little protection from rain could I just use a tarp in part of the run?

 

[rosemarythyme]

You don't "need" a roof however it's obviously more protection from predators and climate. Depending on your climate and soil conditions, sand as litter may not be a good option without a roof in place.

Also be aware that snow is very heavy and will build up easily on something like hardware cloth, so not sure how much you get (not sure what "not astronomical" equals" nor how well you've structured the run to deal with the weight if it does build up.

 

[Poppy Putentake]

One idea:

If you made the top of the run "house shaped" (sloped like the roof of a house), and you put polyethylene sheeing on it, it would shed snow.

If you enclosed most of the sides also with polyethylene sheeting (with lots of ventilation area also) it would be something like a little greenhouse in the winter -- a bit warmer and protected from wind and rain.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree with what @rosemarythyme said but I want to reinforce what she said about snow. We aren't known for having a lot of snow. Sometimes it is light and fluffy but mostly it is wet and heavy. Any area that gets snow will experience wet snow at some point of the season. That likes to grip to anything and accumulate. Even my hoop pens made from remesh wire with 6X6 inch openings. Somewhere I have pictures of the hoop pen loaded with snow to the point that the center was almost compressed to the ground. One of my pens had a woven wire roof for hawks. Even with 4X4 " openings the wire always caught such a lload of snow that I had to use vertical 2X4s in the run to prevent it from collapsing.

 

[ChaosMom]

Our run has hardware cloth on top (as well as everywhere else) and then a heavy-duty tarp over half of it.

I hadn’t noticed that it had accumulated rainwater, but when my very tall daughter went in, her bun caught on the wire of the sagging roof! We had to push it off from below, getting drenched in the process.

A single-slope metal roof is now on the list.

 

[Sally PB]

Half of my run has a solid roof, the other half is covered by a heavy duty tarp from TSC, the black/silver one. That tarp has gone through 3 winters and is still holding up well.

The support is metal frame work with a good pitch to the roof. I have chicken wire over the metal to provide support between the metal bars. We do get snow here, and I broom it off at morning open if it's more than an inch. This has worked out very well.