BrendaJune
Chirping
We have been working on our chicken run for a year. It wasn't quite finished when my daughter informed us that she and her family were moving to North Carolina from California. She has four chickens that just started laying and she can't keep them. My husband said we would take them so the pressure to finish was on. We are in Nevada an have had two bears visit our backyard in separate visits. One came to the back door window and looked in. He left his nose prints all over the window. We saw both bears because our dogs woke us up with such a racket that we checked outside to see what was going on. We watched them leave, both times. Anyway, back to the run. I told my husband that we needed the "Fort Knox" of chicken runs and he took me at my word. The corner posts are set in concrete with Simpson ties. The posts are 4x4's screwed to a 2x4. The other eight posts are set in gravel in three foot holes. The run is 20' x 20'. The coop is in the run. It is raised and very stout. We bought the coop from a local builder then my husband retro fit it with windows and more ventilation. He also trimmed it out to match our house and I painted it with the same house paint. I would love to post pictures but I don't know how. 
Old, blond and female. 
The coop is 4' x 8' with four nesting boxes. We screened the whole run with 1/2" hardware cloth and that will be covered with cattle panels when we get to that point. There is a lower wall that is buried a foot deep with hardware cloth attached that extends 18" horizontally around the perimeter, covered with dirt and rocks. The lower wall is about six inches to two feet above the ground because of the slope. The door is heavy with three large hinges and two different types of latches. The roof is currently just bird netting to keep the hawks out and is 7' high. The roof will have cattle panels also. We plan on putting a slanted roof on half the run for shade and weather protection. Two sections of wall will be covered with siding for wind protection and blowing snow. The one good thing about this lock down is my husband and I were able to work on getting the run habitable by working on it 7 days a week, 6 to 10 hours a day! It is just the two of us and we've never done this before. We are old and slow. We are getting 3 - 4 eggs a day and that is plenty for us. The birds are so sweet and gentle. Very curious, too. The cats ignore them and the dogs don't seem interested either. No one has access to the chickens so I'm not worried about the pets. Their names are Attila the Hen, Ruby, Opal and Peaches. They are half Rhode Island Reds and something else that my daughter didn't remember. We know a bear could get in if he REALLY wanted to so we are looking into electrified fencing.
I've been a member for two years and have finally gotten my chickens!
Old, blond and female. The coop is 4' x 8' with four nesting boxes. We screened the whole run with 1/2" hardware cloth and that will be covered with cattle panels when we get to that point. There is a lower wall that is buried a foot deep with hardware cloth attached that extends 18" horizontally around the perimeter, covered with dirt and rocks. The lower wall is about six inches to two feet above the ground because of the slope. The door is heavy with three large hinges and two different types of latches. The roof is currently just bird netting to keep the hawks out and is 7' high. The roof will have cattle panels also. We plan on putting a slanted roof on half the run for shade and weather protection. Two sections of wall will be covered with siding for wind protection and blowing snow. The one good thing about this lock down is my husband and I were able to work on getting the run habitable by working on it 7 days a week, 6 to 10 hours a day! It is just the two of us and we've never done this before. We are old and slow. We are getting 3 - 4 eggs a day and that is plenty for us. The birds are so sweet and gentle. Very curious, too. The cats ignore them and the dogs don't seem interested either. No one has access to the chickens so I'm not worried about the pets. Their names are Attila the Hen, Ruby, Opal and Peaches. They are half Rhode Island Reds and something else that my daughter didn't remember. We know a bear could get in if he REALLY wanted to so we are looking into electrified fencing.I've been a member for two years and have finally gotten my chickens!
I'm in Australia so my only experience with bears is our *drop bears* [they don't actually exist 
] They sound scary. How is your flock doing?
I've never kept them as I have lots of smaller breeds.
