Easy chicken run plans?

[Janefish]

Hello!
I am getting 4 chicks this week and would like to start building a chicken run. I've never had chickens before and my husband and I have very limited woodworking skills. We have a coop (someone built one for us) but would like to make the run ourselves to save money. I see lots of info on coops but not much on runs. Anyone have links to a very simple chicken run? Thank you so much!
Janefish

 

[Mikee1948]

Lots of posts on this subject here. Without knowing your location (rural, fenced yard, etc), save yourself some heartache and use hardware cloth for your fencing.

 

[Jaxon4141]

For easy chicken runs I use welded wire fencing.

They're easy to make and each section take very little time or talent to make. Each piece is made from two 2' pieces and one 7' piece of fencing.

Just attach the 2' pieces to the ends of the 7' pieces, cut a hole for the chickens, zip tie around the arch and all that is left is to attach one for or wider skirts along the outside of the arch and your done. Put them together to make a run as long as you'd like.
They can be cover with anything to provide shade or keep the weather out.

If you feel you need smaller openings you can add screen or hardware cloth.

There not to heavy so you can move them around like I do in my garden.

 

[Nicole01]

My husband went to the store and put posts in the ground. He added the wire and eventually the roof and side panel for sun, wind, snow and rain protection. It's right off our house. The coop is actually inside the garage. We did not follow any plans. He built it 22x5x5. 5x5 is what the welded wire comes in. He originally wanted a 4ft run for height, but the taller the better since it needs to be cleaned out daily unless you have a mobile coop.

We cover it in the winter. They have access all year round, which is very nice for space.

For 4 chicks the run should be 10 square feet per chicken is the standard, which is 40 square feet. If your building a run and not moving it, bury the wire in the ground 18 inches. Use wire stronger then chicken wire, so dogs and raccoons don't rip right through it. We added a skirt along the bottom, so cat and raccoon arms don't get inside.

 

[Abby11182]

your chicken run looks simple enough for even my building-challenged self to manage, I think it's fantastic! But how do you get into it to clean and everything? I'm thinking of making a taller version of your design but am stumped on how to make the end of it open and close for me to enter. Any ideas?

 

[Abby11182]

Jaxon4141 - your chicken run looks simple enough for even my building-challenged self to manage, I think it's fantastic! But how do you get into it to clean and everything? I'm thinking of making a taller version of your design but am stumped on how to make the end of it open and close for me to enter. Any ideas?

 

[Jaxon4141]

I move them about once a week, so there is nothing to cleaning up. I pick a bed I want them to clean up and move them there. This setup is for chickens working the garden for me. When all the vegetation is gone I move them again and plant that area with vegetables or pasture mix I use for the chickens. Each unit is not very heavy when taken apart, but when put together the units and pavers it becomes quite heavy. I've tried different heights, but when you get over 2' high the runs become harder to move. Also if you get over 3' high you will need additional support like PVC or PEX. You can get into the run anywhere you want, just take the pavers off the predator guards and lift that section out. No need for a door. A lot more pictures about these chicken tunnels in my default album.

 

[alyssa rs]

Hi,

I am going to try this plan. Thanks for posting. It looks like you are using a bucket waterer on top of the run. Is that correct and if so, how is that bucket of water help up there?

best,
Alyssa

 

[mikesmullin]

you can also use those plastic clips so its easy to get them apart and reconfigure the run http://www.plasticsfasteners.com/images/Img167.jpg

i like the dude who made tunnels around his yard and uses his chickens to turn the garden and trim the walkways

 

[BLT79]

we want our run to be tall enough for us to get into and hang out with the chickens, clean the run, etc. We priced chicken wire and oh my gosh! that is going to cost more than the wood! I found a coop on craigslist we are going to get, and I found one of those outdoor dog kennels. We are going to put the coop inside of that, my husband is going to put a roof over the kennel, and some chicken wire or something at base to go under ground to keep predators out! this is saving us money! good luck!