First time chook keeper needs help!

[RedKell]

Hi all
This is my first time every owning chickens, and I am so excited! I pick up 2 little 1 month old Rhode Island Reds on the weekend.
In the meantime I need to build a run for them, and a coop. The coop i have figured out, but the run is doing my head in! I want it tall enough to stand in, and big, as they will need to stay in it all the time (real estate regs) Any suggestions on an easy and cheap way to go about building one?
Also at 1 month old, can they be outside? We live in a warm climate, so cold is not an issue.
Any help would be great

 

[vehve]

Dog kennels might be a quick and dirty fix. They can be a bit of an eyesore, but are usually pretty sturdy. You probably would need to add some hardware cloth or something similar to predator proof it a bit, added both to the net, and dug under the ground a bit. And some sort of roof, tarps being the quickest, or just cover the top with net.

*Edit* Oh, and if they're not used to being outside, it might take a bit of time acclimating to the new environment, maybe a heat lamp or something could be useful. Just watch them to see how they react. If they're not fully feathered, you might wan't to keep them inside for a bit still, maybe just keep them out in the day.

 

[iwiw60]

Greetings from Oregon!

Be sure to visit the BYC forum for people who are building their coops and runs...TONS of ideas and pictures!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/9/coop-run-design-construction-maintenance

Good luck with your new little flock!!

 

[RedKell]

Thank you for your replies. The dog kennels are a good idea, but unfortunately I don't have access to any. I live in a fairly remote town, and finding second hand building supplies is turning out to be very hard. I think I will have to buy most materials new

 

[vehve]

The net is going to be your biggest expenditure. Putting up frame for it isn't that bad, 2x4's do cost a bit but of course, everything is relative. I think I ended up spending about three times more than I estimated initially, and then I was using quite a lot of materials that where left over from previous projects. I did go a bit overboard in build quality though, without the chickens i would be comfortable sleeping in that thing through the winter.