How do you weatherize your enclosed run?

[coop-er]

These are all great suggestions-I am starting my first winter with my chickens and like the OP also have the "feel bads" when I think of them out there. So here is my question.......does anyone wrap the walls of their coop on the outside in addition to the exposed/hardware cloth run? I am sure my walls are not 100% airtight. Should I put plastic over the outside on the west side where our weather blows in from? Any thoughts on this?

 

[Original Recipe]

Quote:
With plastic sheets, gauge is hundredths of inches. So 30 ga. plastic is 0.030" thick, 40 ga. is 0.040, and so on. This is confusing because you generally think of gauge in sheet metal or wire where the larger the gauge, the thinner the material. With plastic, the larger the gauge, the thicker the material.

 

[thomasboyle]

This is my first winter with chickens. I was at Home Depot the other day and was all set to buy a roll of 4 mil plastic sheeting to wrap my run with. I had some concerns that it wouldn't hold up to the wind, then I remembered reading on here about the shower curtains. I found one that was marked "Heavy Gauge" so I bought one to try. The temp was in the 20's with a stiff breeze when I went out to staple it up. The lousy thing became so brittle in the cold that it shredded like tissue paper in my hands. Glad I only bought one. I know others on here have had good luck with them, but I won't waste my money on them again.

I've since decided to go a different route, and I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before. I've done a bit of upholstery work with boat seats, covers and bimini tops. There are several vinyl sheet products (Plastipane is one that comes to mind) that are used for window material in boat tops, sailboat sails, and pop-up campers. These are available in heavy thicknesses from 20 to 40 gauge which is several times thicker than the heaviest sheeting you can get from the hardware stores. It's UV stable and remains flexible down to -30 degrees. It's crystal clear rather than opaque like sheeting, which is important to me since my run is very small and I want the girls to be able to see out. I am going to make fitted panels for mine that I will be able to use season after season.

I had the same experience - I bought "super thick" shower curtains on EBay. I knew I was in trouble as they tore when I removed them from the package! They didn't last a week. A few days later, I found heavy duty shower curtains at a local dollar store, and opened a package and knew this was what I was looking for. A much thicker, heavy gauge soft clear vinyl. I put them up and they lasted all winter without any tears or rips. I am going to be using them again this year. So some curtains are junk, some are great! I'm going back to the dollar store this week to see if they have any more I can buy to stock up on. If I recall they were $5 for a 6'x6' curtain. My run is 15x15, so I bought 8 of them. $40 to keep old man winter at bay is a good deal to me!

 

[aart]

Quote: THANK You!!!

 

[MrsBachbach]

I want to look at all options.....so need to know the measurement conversions.

Tarps are very pricey....why folks are looking at shower curtains and table cloths.

It's funny where you can find good materials priced right if you think outside the box.

Yes, but my experience with shower curtains and such is they don't last. The weather and sun rays etc, deteriorate the plastic and they start falling apart over time. They are good for a season or two, but thats about it in my experience. It might have something to do with the quality bought though. I've had my clear reinforced tarps for three years now and no signs of rips, cracks or wear. They will last years. Also, I was needing larger sizes than what is available in shower curtains and tablecloths.

Can't help you with the guage question though.

 

[aart]

Yes, but my experience with shower curtains and such is they don't last. The weather and sun rays etc, deteriorate the plastic and they start falling apart over time. They are good for a season or two, but thats about it in my experience. It might have something to do with the quality bought though. I've had my clear reinforced tarps for three years now and no signs of rips, cracks or wear. They will last years. Also, I was needing larger sizes than what is available in shower curtains and tablecloths.

Can't help you with the guage question though.

Thanks...my gauge question was answered in a post above by ' poster Original Recipe'.

I agree that shower curtains and table cloths won't last for years, probably no UV protection blended in like with tarps.
Could you provide a supplier of the clear reinforced tarps you purchased?

 

[The Lazy L]

"How do you weatherize your enclosed run?"

I don't.

Back wall (North) is built from steel roofing material.

East, West and South wall are open.

Roof is asphalt shingles and fiberglass panels.

 

[bucky52]

we use heavy gauge plastic.lowes or tractor supply both carry it.We staple.Than we take strips of wood and attach it top and bottom with wood screws,than for more secure messures.we attach some strips of wood in the middle.this will keep it in place until we remove it in the spring.A battery drill makes it so much easier.

 

[ll]

We purchased a fabulous weather-proof CLEAR tarp from mytarp.com =
arrived quickly and has grommets on all 4 sides.

I had 2 free sheets of extra thick plexiglass that we screwed along the bottom for a windblock,
and are happy with the results.

 

[QuietPony]

Don't these plastic tarps and whatnot make a "thwap thwap thwap" noise when the wind hits it?
That would annoy the holy hell out of me.

For that reason, I used landscape fabric doubled up on itself for the side that gets the winter winds with the idea that it would just be a wind break for them with less noise. How did I get this to stay up without it ripping, you ask? I used a crochet needle and a long piece of twine to it. Then I had a needle and thread, which I wove in and out of the chain link fence in foot long sections (with a helper kid on the inside of the run getting hen pecked). I am a bead weaver, so sewing secure lines is something I do on a smaller scale. It was great to try it out on a larger scale. We have already had some pretty big winds and I sat in the run myself to test my windbreak and I was quite impressed. You can hear the wind howl but not feel it in the run even with a large chunk (facing SE) of it uncovered.