Fencing in a 10x20ish run. Need suggestions please.

[Toothpick]

This is ours---10 x 20, pressure treated wood, completely enclosed with 1/2" hardware cloth, including the top.
Still to come---a polycarbonate roof on half of the run (before winter!!!) and some other tweaks.
Work in progress but we feel the girls are safe and they seem quite happy.
We hand-dug the post holes because we have way too many rocks that would have busted a rented post-hole digger. Good times.

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Ultimately that is what I want. So I don't have to worry about them. Or...just worry less.

How tall is it? I can probably do something like that for roughly the same price. It looks relatively simple too.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

Ultimately that is what I want. So I don't have to worry about them. Or...just worry less.

How tall is it? I can probably do something like that for roughly the same price. It looks relatively simple too.

The run is a little over seven feet, I think. We were dealing with a slight slope and also wanted to make sure it cleared the coop.
We used posts that were ten feet tall, burying at least two feet (varied with the slope).
We also dug down and out and buried hardware cloth all around.
DH was insane with the leveling---went out in the dark and laser-leveled everything. The posts were a bit uneven at the top but he whacked them off with a circular saw and all was well.

 

[Toothpick]

The run is a little over seven feet, I think. We were dealing with a slight slope and also wanted to make sure it cleared the coop.
We used posts that were ten feet tall, burying at least two feet (varied with the slope).
We also dug down and out and buried hardware cloth all around.
DH was insane with the leveling---went out in the dark and laser-leveled everything. The posts were a bit uneven at the top but he whacked them off with a circular saw and all was well.

Very nice. I have a slope as well so getting my level will be a major pain. I'm thinking at least 6' so we can walk around inside when needed. And the chickens can roost here and there.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

One of the best parts of having a run that you can walk in is that you can spend quality time with your girls, lol.
I love sitting on one of those logs and having them come up to me for treats. It also allows me to observe them for injuries and monitor their growth.
And yeah, I talk to them and they talk back.
They jump up on my lap and cuddle in and purr.
Life is good.

 

[Toothpick]

They jump on your lap? Wow. That would be neat. Mine don't run from me per se. But they don't exactly willingly let me pick them up and pet them. They will do their submissive thing. Where they squat and spread their wings. Makes it easy when I need to toss one back in the run.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

Very nice. I have a slope as well so getting my level will be a major pain. I'm thinking at least 6' so we can walk around inside when needed. And the chickens can roost here and there.

You might consider a laser level to help with the final top cut if you have a slope. Not expensive and a good investment---invaluable for hanging groups of pictures inside your house!
And please get yourself a post level---very cheap (less than $5) item that you attach to your post with a rubber band that allows you to check the level of your post both horizontally and vertically so you don't end up with a free-form chicken run.
Not that the chickens would care.....

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

They jump on your lap? Wow. That would be neat. Mine don't run from me per se. But they don't exactly willingly let me pick them up and pet them. They will do their submissive thing. Where they squat and spread their wings. Makes it easy when I need to toss one back in the run.

I've had as many as four on my lap at a time.
I raised them from two days old and they run and greet me whenever I enter the run. Of course the fact that I usually have meal worms, nasturtium leaves, oregano, marigolds, or ice cubes (yes, ice cubes) probably has something to do with their displays of apparent affection.
But I'll take it....kinda nice and makes me smile.

 

[User395221]

Not that the chickens would care.....

I just attached the aviary mesh to the uprights, no framing. It's all probably a bit "out of whack" but with "just mesh" you don't really need it to be square and true. Near enough is good enough. The only place it needs to be (pretty much) properly square is to hang the gate.

 

[NancyNurseCxMama]

I just attached the aviary mesh to the uprights, no framing. It's all probably a bit "out of whack" but with "just mesh" you don't really need it to be square and true. Near enough is good enough. The only place it needs to be (pretty much) properly square is to hang the gate.

And even then, a hand planer will make all things right.
With predator issues there is a bit more attention that must be paid to strength and opening sizes but really....the chickens do not care.

 

[User395221]

a hand planer will make all things right.

true, there are ways of dealing with it. I just left heaps of room, and put a "filler timber" across the gap - but I'm in a low-predator location.