How big should a door/opening of a hangout structure for chickens be?

[Eggcentric NanaJ]

Haha, I could've just blacked over the flood waters in the back - the photo is from early last year so we all survived it. 2020 was worse, the chickens ended up locked in the coop for 2 days as the water was about 4" high across the yard.

Floods are hard on everything. Glad you and yours are Ok.

 

[cityhomesteading]

Yeah I have 2 "shelters" in the run and both are completely open across the length (ignore the flooding in the photo lol). The birds seem to enjoy hanging out in them regardless of the weather, but they get used most heavily when it's rainy.

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Mine are the same with the coop - unless the weather is absolutely miserable (like cold, driving rain) - they only go inside if they have a reason to be in there. But I need to keep the human door closed (unless there's an extreme heat wave) to keep the elements out.

This is adorable. Are you on the west or east side? I’m on the west side of the mountains and was planning on doing an entirely covered run thinking they don’t want to be in the rain. Am I wrong? Could I leave most of my 10x10 run open on the west side?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Could I leave most of my 10x10 run open on the west side?

Depends on how well it drains. You do not want a run that stays wet for different reasons. The run can get wet even if covered as rain can blow in from the side or rainwater runoff can flow in. That's not a big deal if it dries out in a few days but if it stays wet long enough for anaerobic bacteria to set up the run will stink and it can be unhealthy. You can probably deal with a muddy run for a couple of days. While that is inconvenient by itself it is not unhealthy.

If your soil is kind of sandy so the water drains quickly or the slope is such that it will drain you may be OK, but if water stands it can get bad. A waterproof roof sloped so water drains off to an area that it does not run back into the run might be a good idea. As far as the chickens go, they can decide for themselves if they want to be in the rain or not as long as they have a choice. Unless it is ridiculous mine generally like to be out in the rain patrolling the grassy areas where worms might come to the surface.

 

[cityhomesteading]

Depends on how well it drains. You do not want a run that stays wet for different reasons. The run can get wet even if covered as rain can blow in from the side or rainwater runoff can flow in. That's not a big deal if it dries out in a few days but if it stays wet long enough for anaerobic bacteria to set up the run will stink and it can be unhealthy. You can probably deal with a muddy run for a couple of days. While that is inconvenient by itself it is not unhealthy.

If your soil is kind of sandy so the water drains quickly or the slope is such that it will drain you may be OK, but if water stands it can get bad. A waterproof roof sloped so water drains off to an area that it does not run back into the run might be a good idea. As far as the chickens go, they can decide for themselves if they want to be in the rain or not as long as they have a choice. Unless it is ridiculous mine generally like to be out in the rain patrolling the grassy areas where worms might come to the surface.

It’s on a slope and the water would drain away from the run towards our house. I think I’ll put a roof on it. My original plan was to add gutters and rain barrels to help water the garden area over there. I don’t think it would have time to dry out. It can rain for days on end here. Thank you!

 

[3KillerBs]

Unless it is ridiculous mine generally like to be out in the rain patrolling the grassy areas where worms might come to the surface.

I've seen mine out foraging in between the major rain bands of tropical storms.

 

[GCrumb]

Our chicken 'gazebo' is a roof-and-three-walls structure. We take the food away at night.

The 'coops' are very small and there's really no room to hang out inside. It's roosting bars and nestboxes. The chickens are only in there during the day if the weather is really, really bad. It was the same when there were four and removing a roosting bar made some standing room in there, though.

They hang out in the gazebo a lot. They are protected from the wind, have shade, and are out of the wet, but they can see what's going on around the yard. I plan to put the coops up on legs so they can also serve as more gazebos. I'll make them different -- plywood vs. translucent plastic walls, and which side has a wall, maybe slat walls that will cut the wind but not completely. That way they won't all have to hang out in the same gazebo, and can choose according to weather conditions, and the gazebos will better break up line-of-sight in the run.

 

[rosemarythyme]

This is adorable. Are you on the west or east side? I’m on the west side of the mountains and was planning on doing an entirely covered run thinking they don’t want to be in the rain. Am I wrong? Could I leave most of my 10x10 run open on the west side?

I'm on the west side. My run is only netted over, but if you can afford to cover it with a solid roof, I'd recommend that as the birds will definitely appreciate it on our many rainy days.

 

[cityhomesteading]

I'm on the west side. My run is only netted over, but if you can afford to cover it with a solid roof, I'd recommend that as the birds will definitely appreciate it on our many rainy days.

Thank you! I managed to fit the panels in the back of my car sans the car seat