Elevated garden bed over chicken run

[australorpia]

I currently have a run that is 2' wide, 25' long and 3' high. Due to limited gardening space (used to garden the area of the current run), I was thinking of building an elevated raised bed or a couple of them attached together to gain some space back. Any ideas pr precautions to watch out for? Has anyone taken up such project?

 

[3KillerBs]

In the photo is overkill, and i will probably do 3 pairs of legs instead of 4.

My family is known for over-engineering.

My husband's brother was an airport engineer and my father figured that anything not built to last 100 years was a temporary make-do.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes, the run is 2 feet wide due to living in the city and tight quarters but made it work somehow. There are 2 parts to the run. One part is 6ft tall, 10ft long, and 6ft wide that I can get into to give food and replace the wood chips in that run. In the 2 feet wide portion, I lift up the hardware cloth from the top to access it, so If I build this garden, i would have to access it from the side to add on wood chips and remove composted wood chips/manure.

This is the reason why i would like to reclaim back some of the growing space to hopefully plant shallow rooted crops like greens, dwarf tomatoes, etc... Everything used in the garden is OMRI approved, but I wont even use anything anymore due to the 6 compost piles going at this time plus the rabbit manure we get from our rabbits.

So the only part you're planning to put a raised bed on is on top of the 2' wide portion I assume?

Since I doubt there's many folks who've tried doing a set up like this, you might want to start small and do one shorter section of garden bed for year 1 and see how things go, as far as how this affects the run underneath. I think as long as the chickens have a drier section of the run to use it might be okay, but hard to say without actually testing it out.

 

[australorpia]

The structure would need to be EXCEEDINGLY strong to bear the weight of wet soil without collapsing.

Where, in general, are you? In my climate I have no luck with any form of container garden due to needing to water multiple times a day in mid-summer but people in cooler, damper climates may see considerable success with them.

Northern Illinois.
I was thinking 4x4 support legs with 2x6 tub. All lumber.
The attached photo is what i was thinking.

 

[aart]

Think about water leaking out into the run, might make for some big stink.

The run is 2' wide?

wondered about this too.....and how the keeper would access the run if/when needed.

 

[australorpia]

The run is 2' wide? Or is that a typo? I'm trying to imagine how this would work in such a narrow space.

The raised beds you posted look fantastic. Don't see why it wouldn't work as long as the chickens are kept excluded from accessing the beds and tearing out your plants. Obviously you will need to steer clear of chemical fertilizers and overwatering as that will drip onto the area below that the chickens would be accessing.

Yes, the run is 2 feet wide due to living in the city and tight quarters but made it work somehow. There are 2 parts to the run. One part is 6ft tall, 10ft long, and 6ft wide that I can get into to give food and replace the wood chips in that run. In the 2 feet wide portion, I lift up the hardware cloth from the top to access it, so If I build this garden, i would have to access it from the side to add on wood chips and remove composted wood chips/manure.

This is the reason why i would like to reclaim back some of the growing space to hopefully plant shallow rooted crops like greens, dwarf tomatoes, etc... Everything used in the garden is OMRI approved, but I wont even use anything anymore due to the 6 compost piles going at this time plus the rabbit manure we get from our rabbits.

 

[Krugerrand]

When I needed easily removable hardware cloth sides, I wrapped the hardware cloth around sections of cattle panel. I found them easily 'hingable' and lockable. If you do something like that, it's good to build your height so that it corresponds to where the cattle panel will hit. (And, I'm not sure offhand, if cut lengthwise the 2 halves would be the same height, as one side has a few tighter sections than the other.)

 

[3KillerBs]

The structure would need to be EXCEEDINGLY strong to bear the weight of wet soil without collapsing.

Where, in general, are you? In my climate I have no luck with any form of container garden due to needing to water multiple times a day in mid-summer but people in cooler, damper climates may see considerable success with them.

 

[Aunt Angus]

how the keeper would access the run if/when needed.

This is what I was thinking. If you can get in there, then it might be just fine.

 

[Aunt Angus]

When I needed easily removable hardware cloth sides, I wrapped the hardware cloth around sections of cattle panel. I found them easily 'hingable' and lockable. If you do something like that, it's good to build your height so that it corresponds to where the cattle panel will hit. (And, I'm not sure offhand, if cut lengthwise the 2 halves would be the same height, as one side has a few tighter sections than the other.)

View attachment 3399107

View attachment 3399108

Clever!