From tool shed to Coop?

[jthornton]

In my case I have 1" x 2" and 1" x 1" enclosing my run however the whole picture must be exposed. I have a 5' chain link fence with 3 hot wires that enclose the chicken yard and the run and at night nothing bigger than 1/2" can get to the chickens in the roost house.

JT

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Update: slowly beginning to work on the new Run. I have 3 of the 7 vertical posts sunk in cement already.

TWG

PS: Last week my brother lost 2 hens because something dug under and inside his "dog pen" Coop (bought at Tractor Supply). I quickly installed a 24" dig skirt on his coop which for a week prevented any further loss. This morning however, he lost another hen - whatever it was reached through the 1" x 4" wire mesh of the dog pen, pulled a hen up against the bars, and ripped it piece by piece through to the outside. If this isn't rock solid evidence to always use 1/2" Hardware cloth, I don't know what is. He's got some choices to make on what he wants to do because that critter knows there is a buffet in place...

 

[jthornton]

A hot wire outside the run works well and is entertaining if you happen to be in there when a dog comes by... nothing has made it past my 3 hot wires since installing them.

JT

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Got 5 of the 7 vertical posts in cement, and a few of the horizontal cross-members installed. I think I might be able to sink one more of the verticals with the current Run in place.

Texas Wine Guy

 

[jthornton]

Looking Good! And tall enough for you too!

JT

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Update 9-14:

Got 6 of the 7 vertical posts sunk in concrete. Also built a run door threshold out of pavers and concrete, then installed a kennel door panel. Since the door panel has a 2x6" mesh, I covered the entire thing with 1/2" hardware cloth. Kind of simple way to create a good, solid door for the run. Seem to work very well.

I have 100' of hardware cloth on order to arrive mid next week. Then things get real busy, once I have all the materials on hand to finish.

Making progress!

Also, to our surprise the new Wyandotte arrival (2 weeks) just started to lay eggs yesterday! We're up to an average of 3 a day now!

TWG

 

[jthornton]

That run is looking pretty nice, what are your plans for the roof? The big mistake I made on my run roof was to not have big overhangs, I ended up adding a 2' overhang on one side to protect my nest box.

JT

 

[TexasWineGuy]

That run is looking pretty nice, what are your plans for the roof? The big mistake I made on my run roof was to not have big overhangs, I ended up adding a 2' overhang on one side to protect my nest box.

JT

For now, just Hardware Cloth. I have the option later to put something up that can cover the run from rain, but for now, as-is.

TWG

 

[hispoptart]

Wow you are really doing an awesome job! Your girls are going to be so happy. I'm doing something similar, and your last pick with your door gave me a great idea. I'll have to measure it, but I have an old back porch screen door that it solid metal the bottom have and has a sliding window with screen on the top half. If it isn't to tall that would make a great run entry door. It's really heavy, takes to people to carry it.

 

[TexasWineGuy]

Wow you are really doing an awesome job! Your girls are going to be so happy. I'm doing something similar, and your last pick with your door gave me a great idea. I'll have to measure it, but I have an old back porch screen door that it solid metal the bottom have and has a sliding window with screen on the top half. If it isn't to tall that would make a great run entry door. It's really heavy, takes to people to carry it.

@hispoptart

Just note that the "screen" material on that door will not keep out local predators. If you have ANY predators in your area, you will need to add 1/2" Hardware Cloth mesh on the "screen" part of that door.

TWG