How big of a run for 10-12 chickens?

[Percheron chick]

My chicken coop is an empty stall. The walls are half wire and half wood. I typically get a handful of -teens night and I do not enclose the wire portion in the winter. Heat kills more chickens than cold does. Solar exhaust fans are relatively cheap if that's easier.

 

[TxChick77]

If your run is going to be large, and the coop is secure for night, you might get away with using larger mesh fencing for the run and use the HC for an anti-dig apron around coop and/or run...or save it for another application. I used 2x4 welded wire for my run, roof included, to keep hawks out, which is does very well......bent it down along the ground for an apron. Run is not predator proof, but it'll slow most thing down a great deal. Apron, mesh at corners is out of scale in the graphic but you get the idea, don't forget the corners: Hawk proof run:

The run will be approximately 12x14. With one side adjoining to backside of the garge. My problem is I bought all this HC from eBay and returning it will cost me $$ so I'm wanting to use as much as I can. My only predictors I need to worry about are the occasionally coon, hawks and stray dogs. 100ft for $89 shipped vs 25ft for $30 at Home Depot...I couldn't pass it up. I'll look into the welded wire for the top or would bird netting/mesh with poultry wire work for the hawks? I'm thinking how I would construct the welded wire and supporting the top inside...

 

[bdjh]

If it doesn't get much below freezing, I personally wouldn't worry about closing anything in for winter. I have to heat my coop UP to freezing, and keep inside temps hovering right around freezing all winter while it's -30 to -40 outside......and they do just fine.

As for the power feed, that's a great idea.....as an enrichment activity, most people here have opted to hold weekly karaoke nights for their chickens. They're fascinated with flashing lights, and go mostly for 80's ballads. You'll find they lay better, and don't roam so far when free ranging.

 

[PapaChaz]

You put that Hardware Cloth on Craigslist and you'll get your money back maybe even a little more in a heartbeat if you don't want to use it. But in TX you're risking more of a predator problem than some of us are

 

[IAMADOL]

I find a lot of coop sellers lie about how many birds can go into their coops. They don't subtract the nesting box square footage. And they don't explain that the heavier breeds need more space. I find the whole thing reprehensible!

 

[TxChick77]

If it doesn't get much below freezing, I personally wouldn't worry about closing anything in for winter. I have to heat my coop UP to freezing, and keep inside temps hovering right around freezing all winter while it's -30 to -40 outside......and they do just fine.

As for the power feed, that's a great idea.....as an enrichment activity, most people here have opted to hold weekly karaoke nights for their chickens. They're fascinated with flashing lights, and go mostly for 80's ballads. You'll find they lay better, and don't roam so far when free ranging.

Ha. Great to know.

 

[Finnie]

You could make a sort of Pergola top to your run, with rafters every 24" on center, and attach your strips of HC to that. Or, you could "sew" the strips together with some kind of clips (which I haven't found yet, but I believe are out there, probably last longer than zip ties). And then you could make the "ceiling" of your run with minimal rafters, and cover it with the connected HC. It kind of depends on how you construct the sides of the run.

I like the metal poles over the top of aart's run, but I don't know if you could get those in 12 foot size.

aart, where did you get those? I might consider using something like that myself.

 

[bdjh]

I find a lot of coop sellers lie about how many birds can go into their coops. They don't subtract the nesting box square footage. And they don't explain that the heavier breeds need more space. I find the whole thing reprehensible!

We were at our local farm store the other day, and they had a rabbit hutch that "Could easily be used as a coop for up to a dozen chickens"......it was literally 2'x'2' TOPS. It was cute, but more like a doll house than anything else. It might have held 2 chickens.....but a dozen? Only if they were frozen and shrink-wrapped.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The ways I’ve found to connect wire is either J-clips (rabbit section of Tractor Supply), hog rings, or use wire to thread them together.

 

[Finnie]

Thank you, Ridgerunner, I did see hog rings at TSC, but not the j-clips. I guess I didn't know to look in the rabbit section. So, I just googled those items, and it seems you need a good j-clip clamping pliers, and not the cheap kind TSC has, or your hand will get super tired. They are saying this one on Amazon is worth the money: http://www.amazon.com/Bass-Heavy-Duty-J-Clip-Pliers/dp/B00GEZ73XW