Dog kennel run needs better roof design

[Altonafamily]

We have chicken wire for the roof right now with a couple tarps to keep one side dry.... Our problem is the tarps keep filling up and stretching the wire. The run is 12 x 15, I want it to be secure but I'm fresh out of ideas on how to get it covered!! HELP!!!

 

[Chick Charm]

Find a branch or get a pice of 7' or 8' piece of lumber and place it in the cent so that the rain runs off the sides. You maybe able to get away with cutting a hole in the chicken wire as it looks stretched enough.

 

[RonC]

Or you could make a framework out of pvc pipe to form a peak for the roof.

 

[bbethea104]

We used dog kennels for our runs too. There are several things I would recommend. First would be to put a piece of 2x4 or a pole and put it in the middle to make the tarp stand up like a tent so that the rain just runs down the tarp. However, Ive personally also found that strong winds and the sun over time will cause the tarp to rot out and will have to be replaced quite often. So what we did was we found some old tin and used this for the roofing. Im sure there are other things in which could be used as well. We took 2x4s and put them across the top to anchor the tin to so the wind would not blow the tin, then we took the brackets to go around the poles at the top of the dog kennel and screw the boards to so that the kennel was anchored to the roof. Where we live, we have really bad winds at times, so we also anchored the dog kennel in the ground using rebar so that the wind would not grab the tin and take the whole run. So far it has worked. The rain water also runs off of the tin but that is because the entire thing is sitting at a slight tilt and the tin is shaped the way it is. Whatever doesn't run off, dries pretty quick. I can show you a picture but I don't think the picture shows all the details but maybe it will give you an idea of what Im talking about.

 

[Tigertrea]

Currently I have the same thing as you and this summer will be changing it.

What I did on a dog kennel I had on the past was build a peak using 2X4s. (a simple frame around the top of the kennel, 2 uprights and a ridge pole). I used tarps for many years to cover it but, then decided on Shrink wrap (that boats are covered in for winter storage). The shrink wrap lasted a lot longer than any tarps I'd used. And, thankfully my ex owned a boat dealership so, we had lots of it around.

 

[Altonafamily]

Thank you so much guys!!! Great ideas!!! I have acess to the tin roofing and with 2x4s we have in the shed that would prob be our best bet!! I love the kennel runs, I hope people continue this thread to show them off!

 

[Altonafamily]

Ill post a pic when we complete it

 

[Dawns Funy Farm]

what i have is chickrn wire on top of dog kennel and covered withbig tarp . inside ibut two poles with large gatorade bottles on the top ends of the poles and but bottom end on bricks on the ground. this keeps the tarp peaked and the bottles keeps the pole from punching holes in tarp. i have used this pen for three years and it is still doing great.

 

[Altonafamily]

I ended up doing your design with chicken wire and the tarp with a couple poles and it lasted for about 5 months, Now we have a whole new idea.

 

[Altonafamily]

so we have put these PVC pipes in and are going to cover them so we don't have the tarp pooling